When Paul addressed the people in Athens, he declared: “In [God] we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17.28). He affirms that people exist by God’s creation and sustenance. No God; no life.
The second of Vallejo International’s foundational values—that is, who we desire to be—is that we be “dependent on God.” Of course, this declared value does recognize that we already are dependent on God, whether we choose to acknowledge it or not. Yet we are confessing to consciously and intentionally ground our very existence on this truth. We are to keep this reality ever before us lest we get distracted by our successes and begin to deceive ourselves into assuming that whatever we achieve is a result of our own abilities and hard work.
It is so easy to default to our own wisdom and experience when faced with challenges and decisions in life and ministry. But as God’s people, dependence on him means every effort must be made to consult God and his Word in anything and everything that concerns us.
One such effort is the discipline of prayer. I have always maintained and taught that one primary characteristic of prayer is that it is our “declaration of dependence” on the God to whom we pray. When we approach God in prayer, we are acknowledging our need for him and for his work in our lives. In prayer we seek his guidance, and we submit to his leadership. In prayer we tap into the greatest resource available, God himself. With this understanding, Vallejo International refers to its mid-week prayer meetings as PowerLink.
One cannot overemphasize the priority of prayer in the life of a Christian, and in the life of the church. The promises of God to his people when they gather together in his name—especially in acknowledgement of their dependence on him in prayer—is worth knowing and applying. “Again, I assure you: If two of you on earth agree about any matter that you pray for, it will be done for you by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there among them” (Matthew 18.19–20 HCSB).
The early church lived out this reality in their life. Immediately after Christ ascended to his place at the right hand of the Father, we are informed that the believers “all joined together constantly in prayer” (Acts 1.14). And “they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching … and to prayer” (Acts 2.42). When their devotion to Christ was being challenged, “they raised their voices together in prayer to God” (Acts 4.24).
Here is a call to practice our dependence on God as individuals and as a church. God is pleased when we choose to declare our dependence on him and then act upon it.
—Keith Y. Jainga