Ministry Update: A Call to Prayer

Hello friends and family!

This past week, Moody Bible Institute hosted the Missions Conference, a three-day event aimed at bringing students a wider view of God’s heart and mission for the world. This was the first year I got to participate in the conference in person, and it was one of the most emotionally moving, spiritually filling, and directionally confirming times of my life. As most of you know, I’m here at Moody to study Linguistics in hopes of one day translating the Bible for a people group who have not yet read the Word of God in their own language, and that call on my life has never felt more clear than it does now.
Throughout the worship, sessions, and seminars this week, God kept laying one thing on my heart: prayer. I found myself challenged to consider: How am I praying for those around me? Do I pray out of expectation or obligation? Do I recognize the weightiness of my communication with God, or is it something I’ve taken for granted?

The call to prayer found in James 5 has been a splinter in my heart, convicting me every time I think of prayer as the bare minimum. Every time “I’ll pray for you” slips meaninglessly and habitually from my lips, Every time I bow my head in class, in the Moody chapel, or with my friends, and my mind threatens to tune out, James’ words remind me, “Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much” (13-16). As James points out, there is immense power in the obedient act of prayer: it is something I have neglected for too long, and I now recognized my own need for the prayers of others. As I resolve to make prayer a priority in my own life, I want to include my community of family and friends to partner with me. If God has taught me anything during my time here at Moody, it is the power of community and the great purpose He has with who He surrounds you with.

Moving forward, I humbly ask you for your prayers. As I begin taking more concrete steps towards following God’s call in Bible translation, I know things are going to get challenging, and to have an established group of believers that I know is interceding on my behalf would be invaluable. I’m putting together an email list for prayer partners who would like to receive quarterly prayer and ministry updates from me. If you’d like to be one of these people, there is a place for you to sign up below!

Thank you so much for reading this update and for playing an important role in my life. If you are seeing this, it is because you have made an impact on my life and ministry — you are someone whose prayers I value and appreciate! As I’ve been learning that every prayer matters, I would be so grateful to know that you are praying for me. I would also love to be praying for you, so please reach out if there’s anything specific I can be in prayer about!

Thanks again! May the Lord richly bless you today in unexpected ways!

In His service,
Audrey Gotcher