Let Us Pray

District Diaries December 2025 Edition
by Marvin Penner

I don’t know about you but sometimes I get caught up in a lot of planning, vision casting and goal setting. These things are good but I’ll admit that they can distract me from sensitivity to the Holy Spirit. I have been thinking about the call that I have, and we have, in the Alberta Parkland District to live out the great commission. Acts 1:8 says that “…you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Our “Jerusalem” and “Judea” are your hometown and the area of the APD. I couldn’t help but notice that a few chapters later we see this happening, not through the planning of people but through the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul. While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off. (Acts 13:1-3)

I’d like you to notice two things that this group of disciples were doing. They were worshiping the Lord and they were fasting. A lot of things can be said about worship, but I think we can at least agree that in worship we focus on enjoying God for who He is and deepening our relationship with Him. 

I understand fasting to be a way of expressing to God with our whole being that we hunger for God even more than our physical needs. Acts 13 is describing a rather intense expression of devotion to God. It doesn’t seem that they were seeking direction or imploring the Lord for anything specific. They were seeking after God, not what God can give or do.

In this context we read that the Holy Spirit spoke. It is a little like Genesis 1, when God’s word brings new things into existence. Only in this instance, the something new required the participation of the people God is speaking to. When they knew God’s direction, they simply did it. It seems like they are living out what Paul later taught us; “For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Eph. 2:10) What are the works that God has prepared for the church in the APD and how can we become the people who hear what He is saying to us?

Can we learn from the example of the disciples in Acts 13? This example shows us that God wants to lead His people towards mission. We learn that when we know His direction we should be ready to go, whatever that means or costs us. But we also learn that we would do well to prioritize knowing God in worship above all else through fasting and prayer together.
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I don’t think it is enough for me to simply write down some devotional thoughts. What am I going to do? What are we going to do? I will commit to you two things. I will fast and pray at least once a month. I will set up a way for those who want to pray together to meet up online for this purpose. If you are interested, watch for the invitation to join together for worship and prayer.