During one Mercy Network meeting, I broke the men into four groups of three and asked them to pray for each other, specifically focusing on the topic of having a gospel witness and how it relates to their own hearts.

I could tell that it was a meaningful time. After praying together, we spent about a quarter of an hour hearing from some of the men about their churches. We didn’t have time to hear from everyone, but what was shared was an encouragement to us all.

• One of the men has pastored the same church for nineteen years, has approximately 100 people in his congregation, and lives in an area that is extremely violent. His building is pretty run-down, and he is currently meeting with a couple where the husband has been unfaithful and is not really interested in changing. He brings these things before the Lord every day.

• Another man has been in his church for eight years and has 125 people in the congregation; he is encouraged that the church is growing spiritually. He asked specifically for prayer for two separate couples, both of whom have been trying to have children without success.

• One of the older pastors, Joseph, has pastored his church for twenty years. He is a good shepherd and helps lead two other churches as well. He specifically asked us to pray for a woman in his church who has had three surgeries for the same problem and is not getting any better.

• The last pastor to share was a man whose church had burned down only a week earlier. Evidently a neighbor lit it on fire over a land dispute, and the entire building was lost. He asked that we pray for the Lord’s guidance and provision during the coming months.

After hearing from these four men, we all prayed together. I am constantly reminded of the power of prayer; God chooses to work through the requests we bring before Him, and we honor Him by praying with confidence.

Wiley Kennedy serves as Director of International Ministries with Connect 2 Ministries. To learn more about Wiley, visit Who We Are, and to learn how you can make a difference, visit Join an Outreach Program.