This morning – and this happens once in a while – I’ve hit a fairly significant writing block. I don’t have any idea about what to write for my “Wake Forest Today” column (due in a couple of hours); I can’t begin to come up with any direction for my FOCUS magazine column (due by the end of the week); and I don’t have a clue where this blog post is going.

So I’ll begin – as the best of my work always does – with scripture. Today’s reading from The Upper Room devotional guide came from Colossians:

Paul wrote, “We have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding.” Colossians 1:9

Rebekah and I read these words, together, on the deck after breakfast. It’s a beautiful morning, cool and clear, so we took our cereal bowls outside and sat together on the rocking bench.

Scripture with a devotion is the best way to transition from the morning newspaper to the beginnings of the day’s work. We read, we reflect, we pray, and we root our consciousness – going forward – in the context of the transformational Spirit of God.

YEAR TWO: This week, at the beginning of Rebekah’s second year as pastor here at the Wake Forest Presbyterian Church, the certainty that people “have not ceased praying for [her] and asking that [she] may be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding” is not only a huge blessing, but a powerful resource in ministry.

So I’m going to use this post as a community-wide… state-wide… nation-wide… world-wide prayer request.

Yes, I understand I can’t make the assumption that every person who reads this blog is on the same page regarding faith. But I do have this confidence, and that is that all of you respect and value the great spirit, the life-changing ministries, and the positive community-building work of churches like Wake Forest Presbyterian.

PRAY for YEAR-2: On that basis, and because I believe that prayer makes a difference, I’m asking for a world-wide outpouring of prayer and love on behalf of this Great Adventure that is year-two of our new life in Wake Forest. We feel the Spirit of God moving here, active and fresh in all the imaginative and life-affirming power of new creation. We not only value your prayers, we depend on them.

We feel the Spirit of God moving here, active and fresh in all the imaginative and life-affirming power of new creation.

My morning began to shift, in terms of creativity and productivity, when Rebekah and I opened the scriptures and placed this day into the hands of God.

May your day – every day – take on such meaning and focus; and please remember to pray.

Love and blessings – DEREK