Prayer is central to the life of a Christian. It is our direct line to God, a means of growth and connection which anchors our spirit in Christ. Prayer is the first and last line of defense we have in life’s great struggles. Some have even called it, “Hope Personified.” Above all, Christians believe our prayers do not go unheard. That God, in his infinite wisdom and mercy, does respond, though not always in the way we want or expect.

Faith like this can be difficult to understand, especially in today’s culture, where prayer has taken on such a negative connotation. One prime example occurred recently on twitter when Guardians of the Galaxy star, Chris Pratt, posted an encouraging message of prayer for actor/filmmaker Kevin Smith. Entertainment Weekly reports that after learning Smith had been hospitalized following a massive heart attack, Pratt tweeted his encouragement by writing,

“Kevin we don’t know each other too good but I have loved you since Clerks and I’m praying my a** off for you cause I believe in the healing power of prayer. Can you please pray with me people!?”      

In a follow-up message he also wrote,

Praying for you. I will continue to. You inspired me with Clerks when I was a senior HS. I’m tagging my Lb/rb football coach who showed me the movie cause he believed in me and knew I’d be inspired. @hodge1916 🙏♥️🙏

North Point Community Church Senior Pastor Andy Stanley stressed the need for pastors to move the spotlight off of themselves and make leaders of the rising generation. 

“If you live for yourself, if you lead for yourself, in the end, you will have nothing to show for yourself but yourself,” Stanley told church leaders and other attendees at the Exponential Conference in Orlando, Florida, on Tuesday.

“You have to decide to do this or you won’t do it. It is not intuitive to give your life away, it’s not intuitive to give your leadership away, it’s not intuitive to give your opportunities away, it’s not intuitive to say ‘let’s move the spotlight off of me.'” 

The influential megachurch pastor said that church leaders who do not seek to make new leaders will limit their impact and limit church growth, with Stanley saying they are “not multipliers.” 

“If you’re not a multiplier, you’re like a blockage in the bowel system. Everything backs up behind you. And your organization gets sick. And it’s your fault,” he said.

The Exponential Conference kicked off…

The Harvard College Faith and Action group is on “administrative probation” for a year after the group pressured a leader of the group to resign because of a same-sex relationship.

“After a thorough review and finding that HCFA had conducted itself in a manner grossly inconsistent with the expectations clearly outlined in [the Office of Student Life’s] Student Organization Resource and Policy Guide, OSL has placed HCFA on a one year administrative probation,” said Harvard College spokesman Aaron M. Goldman.

HCFA co-presidents Scott Ely and Molly L. Richmond said the group was placed on probation because of their “standards for leaders.”

“We reject any notion that we discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation in our fellowship,” the co-presidents wrote in an email Wednesday. “Broadly speaking, the student in this case was removed because of an irreconcilable theological disagreement pertaining to our character standards.”

Richmond also told The Boston Globe: “To be clear, we are an autonomous student group, and we do not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation.”

In September, HCFA leadership reportedly asked for the resignation of a female Bible course leader in the group after they found she was dating another female student, according to The Harvard Crimson.

The Harvard College Student Handbook says that…

Billy Graham’s daughter, Anne Graham Lotz, says that she believes her father’s death will serve as a “Heaven’s shot across the bow” to the Church today and stated that, in general, the failure of churches are the reason why the United States is in a spiritual “mess.”

The 69-year-old author and evangelist sat down with WRAL-TV for an interview on Monday to talk about the impact of her legendary evangelist father, who passed away last week at the age of 99.

“I believe my father’s death is Heaven’s shot across the bow. It’s time for the Church to wake up,” Lotz said. “It’s time for the world to wake up because you’re not promised tomorrow. You need to decide now where you’re going to spend eternity.”

Lotz asserted that she hopes her father’s death will “shake the Church.”

“You can’t leave it up to Billy Graham to share the Gospel anymore,” Lotz, the founder of AnGeL Ministries, contended. “That is our privilege. That is our responsibility and we need to be sharing the Gospel with others.”

Evangelist Billy Graham has been ranked among the top 10 in the Gallup Poll’s  “Most Admired Man” list more times — 61 —  than any other man since Gallup began the poll of Americans in 1948.

That’s also more times than any woman has appeared on its “Most Admired Woman” list.

The Gallup Organization owed Graham’s record-breaking appearances on the list in part to his longevity. Graham died on Wednesday (Feb. 21) at the age of 99. To make the list, you must be a living person.