Prayer is a pivotal part of life at ERBF, a response in a conversation that God initiates with us. Richard Foster writes, "The primary purpose of prayer is to bring us into such a life of communion with the Father that, by the power of the Spirit, we are increasingly conformed to the image of the Son."
He also states:
If we truly love people, we will desire for them far more than it is within our power to give them, and this will lead us to prayer: Intercession is a way of loving others.
We at ERBF show our love for God and our love for others by coming into prayer. Here are some ways we do so at our church.
1. Pre-service Prayer (Sundays 9:30 - 10:00 am)
Each Sunday morning we have a prayer group that meets to pray together before the service in the Conference Room (across from the Welcome Centre). Everyone is welcome to join us.
2. Post-service Prayer (Sundays 11:20 - 11:40 am)
Each Sunday morning, immediately follow our worship service, people from our prayer team are available to pray with you in the "Prayer Corner" at the front of the sanctuary. Everyone is welcome.
3. Prayer Chain
If you have a prayer concern/request that you would like held in prayer by the chain of people on our prayer team, please email us at prayer@erbf.com
If you would like to join the prayer chain and receive the prayer requests and updates by email so you can hold others up in prayer, please email the church office with your request ("add me to the prayer chain") at office@erbf.com
4. Prayer Events
During the course of the year we have a number of prayer events like our Week of Prayer emphasis in January, and several 1/2 day of prayer events during the year (a "Prayer Training Workshop" on May 26, 2024 and a half-day of prayer on November 2, 2024). If you are interested in signing up to receive emails regarding these prayer events, email the office at office@erbf.com.
Resources
The "Daily Bread" ministry has a "Discovery Series" of booklets to help nurture prayer, spiritual growth, handle life's challenges, etc. We invite you to check them out at https://discoveryseries.org/topics/?cat=all
a) When Life Hurts - a series of booklets featuring practical biblical wisdom for a variety of life challenges.
b) Spiritual Growth - learn to spend time with God in prayer and in His Word.
c) God is With You - to help you find hope when the going gets tough
d) Resources to Grow Your Faith - understanding the Bible, salvation, forgiveness, etc.