Announcements for December 7, 2025

Lord’s Day Meeting – 9:30 AM

  • In-Person at the Bellevue meeting hall: 1835 Bellevue Way NE, Bellevue, WA 98004
  • Zoom

Announcements

DATEPRAYER MEETING LOCATION (7:30 PM)Prayer BurdensZoom
December 9Bellevue Meeting Hall (all languages)Redmond/Sammamish/Issaquah (English), Jeff and Sarah Macgillvray, 2313 192nd Ave SE  Sammamish WA 98075
December 16Bellevue Meeting Hall (all languages)
December 23No prayer meeting (December Training)

CLEANING SCHEDULE

TIME PERIODCLEANING GROUP (Zip Codes/Cities)
December 798052
December 1498074, 98075, 98027, 98028, 98029
December 21Medina, Clyde Hill, Kirkland, Kenmore, Bothell, Woodinville, Marysville, Carnation, Mercer Island, Seattle, Newcastle, Renton, Federal Way
USHERING SERVICE SCHEDULELORD’S TABLE SERVICE SCHEDULE
DateTeamDateTeam
December 7CDecember 72
December 14DDecember 143
December 21ADecember 214

Schedule

Thanksgiving Conference, November 27-30

Prayer Meeting Reading (Prayer Ministry of the Church)

Matt. 6:7 And in praying do not babble empty words as the Gentiles do; for they suppose that in their multiplicity of words they will be heard.

Matt. 6:8 Therefore do not be like them, for your Father knows the things that you have need of before you ask Him.

Luke 11:1-4  And while He was in a certain place praying, when He ceased, a certain one of His disciples said to Him, Lord, teach us to pray, even as John also taught his disciples. And He said to them, When you pray, say, Father, Your name be sanctified; Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone indebted to us. And do not bring us into temptation.

Brothers and sisters, your prayers should not be sound only, which do not have meaning. The prayers of many people in the prayer meeting are meaningless. If you do not say Amen when they pray, they condemn you for not being one with them. But if you say Amen to their prayer, they will repeat the same words over and over again. They do not pray to fulfill some goals but to generate some commotion. Their prayers are not for the purpose of releasing the burden but for finishing up their speech. Many prayers are offered as a result of man’s influence, and many words are uttered which are beyond one’s desires. These prayers are like the sound of a stream tumbling against the rocks; they are also like the sound of wheels rolling over pebbles. This kind of prayer has sound only, and it is meaningless. We should not be like those who pray this way.

“Therefore do not be like them, for your Father knows the things that you have need of before you ask Him.” This shows us that whether or not our prayers will be answered depends on our attitude before God; it also depends on our need. Whether or not prayers are answered depends not on the multiplicity of our words. If we pray for what we do not need, we will not be heard even if we have more words. If our asking is not out of necessity, it is greed and vain asking. God is happy to give us what we need. But He does not want to satisfy the desires that our self craves. Some have said that since God knows what we need, we do not have to ask anymore. This is a foolish word. The purpose of our prayer is not to inform God of something but to show Him our trust, our faith, our dependence, and our wish. Therefore, it is right that we pray. But when we pray, our desire should exceed our words, and our faith should exceed our words.

Now let us consider the prayer that the Lord taught. This prayer is commonly called the Lord’s Prayer, but this is wrong. This prayer is not the Lord’s own prayer; it is a prayer that the Lord was teaching us. Luke 11 points this out clearly (vv. 1-4). We should learn carefully from this prayer.

The Lord said, “You then pray in this way.” He did not say to pray with these words. If He had, all we would have to do is repeat these words every time we prayed. No, this is not what the Lord meant. The Lord meant that we should pray in this way. In other words, the Lord was teaching us how to pray; He was not teaching us to imitate His words, but to pray in His way.

Excerpt from The Collected Works of Watchman Nee. Volume 22. © Living Stream Ministry. Used by permission

Burdens for Prayer