FAITH OF A CHILD, PRAYER LIKE A WARRIOR

Friend -- New Hawai’i State Coordinator Brings Vision and Energetic Passion for Prayer! The powerful volcanoes and beautiful jungles of Hawai’i display the glory of the Lord, and thousands of people have marveled at God’s creativity in creation when they see the magnificent eco-systems and views of the seemingly never-ending Pacific Ocean from the white, sandy beaches. Gilda Muro sees her beloved home and the Lord’s fields before her, where the harvest is plenty but the workers are few. Her desire is to ignite fellow workers to have a passionate prayer life, moving them from the sidelines and into the field for harvesting. God is calling believers to love one another and come together to pray for their world, and Muro is leading this charge in her home state. In March, she was commissioned to serve the Hawai’ian islands as the NDP state coordinator. Muro has served in various roles for NDP events for over two decades, participating in the annual NDP event at the state capitol, volunteering on phone calls and attending the NDP summits. “I want to see every island seeking God in prayer,” Muro said. “I know they already do, but prayer needs to be elevated even more so because of the situations we are seeing in our sphere, as far as division and chaos.” The more time she spent involved with NDP through her volunteer work, Muro felt the Lord impress a vision on her heart to see even greater things to be done in Hawai’i. Muro describes island churches having their own prayer gatherings, and God opened her eyes to see the need for Christians to regularly gather together to pray for their communities, state and nation. “I saw the need for pastors coming together, and the body coming into unity,”Muro said. “The theme of unity and being united together was integrated into my heart.” God is moving in His people to unite us together; not under a political party or a social group, but with His love poured out through the Gospel and the same Holy Spirit that is in all believers. Churches are coming together to pray. They are looking beyond denominational differences and seeing each other through God’s eyes—as brothers and sisters united in faith and spiritual adoption. When the time came for our previous state coordinator to retire, Muro expressed her desire to move into the position, as she felt the Lord leading her into more full-time ministry.  Nothing gets her fired up like spending time in prayer—it has been her passion since she was seven years old.  She looks forward to leveraging her position to bring Christians together in prayer through prayer workshops and retreats, and plans to emphasize the participation of the entire body, including children.  Jesus had a heart for children when He was on Earth, even when He lived in a culture that did not value children.  When adults turned children away, He had clear instruction:  “Let the little children come to Me.”  The Lord is still calling children to Himself today.  Muro believes teaching children to pray allows them to go to the Lord and experience prayer in a powerful way when their full, innocent trust is in their Heavenly Father. “Children can often get left behind,”Muro said. “I’ve been to so many events where kids can’t pray, so I’m encouraging parents, pastors and leaders to teach them to pray. If we can reach their lives early and teach them to seek the Lord in prayer, we have future ministers and evangelists and pastors. My goal is to see a change in the children, for such is the kingdom of Heaven.” Her passion for children stems from her strong faith in Christ from her own childhood, where her prayer life was cultivated by her mother’s advice: “Have faith in God, because I know He will answer.”  This was not wisdom borne from cliché, but of a lifetime trusting in God and seeing Him provide and guide, even from an early age.  There is no threshold from where to begin a “real” prayer life.  A small child asking God to protect their family is just as important as a grandparent praying the same prayer.  The Lord hears all of His children. Muro shares this wisdom on prayer in her radio show, She Prays, that is broadcast out of Honolulu on Saturday mornings.  This is an important and wide-reaching platform the Lord has given her, one that she will continue to use for ministry and for promoting prayer events on the islands. “Having faith and confidence and trust in the Lord in our prayers is so vital, in our walk with Him,” Muro said. “When we pray, those elements should be important.” As she takes her place as the new state coordinator, Muro brings a heart on fire for prayer.  God has also prepared her with a skillset to overcome the logistical challenges she will face in the new position.  She brings 20 years of experience in coordinating events and working with different groups of people from her time with a travel agency planning trips to Israel and the Holy Land.  She is not in the position alone—her husband Al is also her ministry partner.  The two call the island of Oahu home, where Muro has resided for the last 26 years.  “Having the commissioning was really pivotal in our lives, it brought us into the knowledge that we knew this is what God wanted us to do.” The geography of the Hawai’ian islands is continually being formed by the fires of volcanoes. We can see God at work in the same way: moving and re-forming the spiritual geography of the people with the fire of the Holy Spirit, igniting people to pray and unify the body of Christ in America’s fiftieth state. “Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”– Acts 2:46-47 NIV Gilda feels God’s calling to unite Christians in prayer.  Our faith is bigger than a temporary political party or a history of strife between denominations—the Holy Spirit is alive in us, and God is able to make us new creatures, releasing us from old arguments and division.   What are some ministries or groups of people in our areas that we feel the Lord is calling to unite together in prayer?  Are there multiple generations in our churches that rarely interact beyond weekly worship services?  Let’s pray and ask God to open our eyes to see where we can build bridges through prayer and promote the unity of the Church body as a whole.  There is something incredibly beautiful about God bringing together so many parts of the body of Christ! Upcoming Events About the National Day of Prayer The National Day of Prayer tradition predates the founding of the United States of America, evidenced by the Continental Congress’ proclamation in 1775 setting aside a day of prayer. In 1952, Congress established an annual day of prayer and, in 1988, that law was amended, designating the National Day of Prayer as the first Thursday in May. To learn more, or to find a National Day of Prayer event in your community, visit www.NationalDayofPrayer.org. To schedule a media interview, send your request to media@nationaldayofprayer.org, or contact Dion Elmore, Vice President of Marketing and Public Relations at The National Day of Prayer Task Force, (719) 559-9574. http://www.nationaldayofprayer.com/

-=-=- Mobilizing Unified Public Prayer for America National Day of Prayer Task Force · PO Box 64225, Colorado Springs, CO 80962, United States