Psalm 115:1  Not to us, O LORD, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness.

Summit Ablaze – Something exciting is happening here!  We are part of a yearlong prayer initiative that was launched this past Sunday by local church congregations here in Summit County (Akron,Ohio).  Importantly it is an expression of the greater Christian community and not just one denomination nor a small group of churches and organizations.

The aim is to cover the county with 100 hours of prayer each week during 2012. To reach that goal, churches, organizations and groups are being asked to commit to praying for the county for one week.  The hope is that these ‘fires’ of prayer throughout the county will become a spiritual revival.

St.Luke’s, where we attend, hosted the kick-off on Sunday and our congregation is blessed to have the first week of January as our responsibility to pray for the County.  We had signup sheets so we could each choose the hour(s) we would cover in prayer.  Our pastor Mike Kraynak noted, “Our goal is to pray with a faithful expectancy that God will do something. We may not know exactly what it is that God will do, but we know that whatever it is, it will make a difference.”

Yesterday while praying during one of the hours I’ve signed up for, the Lord impressed upon me three related important truths, to recognize in our prayers.  The first is Matthew 5:13-16 where Jesus talks about us being salt and light.  We must be ‘salty’ Christians – not having lost our ‘saltiness’ – and our lights must not be hid, but must burn brightly.  When we are such people, others will see our good deeds and praise our Father in heaven.  Our prayers must lead to us becoming more like this.

The second is Psalm 19:1-4 where it describes how the heavens declare the glory of God.  They are never silent in displaying truth about our God.  So too, is God’s intention for we followers of Jesus to live lives that perpetually proclaim His wonders.  He wants people to see Jesus when they see us!  When we are salt and light, they will!

The third truth is today’s verse that affirms that it’s not about us – but entirely about Him!  To His name be the glory.  He allows and enables His people to do wondrous things and become more and more transformed into the image of Jesus, yet we must remember it’s not about us.  It’s all about Him.  When God moves in response to the prayers of His people, we are simply thrilled that He allows us to be a part of what He is doing!

Please pray for us and this initiative here in our county.  Here is the link to an article that was published in the Akron Beacon Journal on Monday regarding Summit Ablaze:  http://www.ohio.com/news/local/local-christians-igniting-flames-of-revival-through-prayer-1.253176