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Study Leader Rev. Dr. Vance Ross teaches AC session attendees how to pray
June 6, 2019 / By Kathleen Christiansen
The Upper New York Conference was blessed to have the Rev. Dr. Vance Ross as the 2019 Annual Conference Study Leader in the morning on June 6.
“What you need to know most about Rev. Ross is he is a passionate lover of Jesus Christ,” said Upper New York Area Resident Bishop Mark J. Webb. “He is a gifted communicator who will stir your spirit, touch your soul, challenge your mind, and convince your heart.”
Rev. Ross serves as pastor of the Historic Central UMC in Atlanta and is also dean of the Chapel of Spiritual Life at Emory University. Previously, Rev. Ross served as Director of Annual Conference Relations/Annual Conference Strategist for Vital Congregations at Discipleship Ministries.
He thanked God for allowing him and everyone the gift of being present at the Conference, Bishop Webb for his leadership, and Episcopal Office Manager Mary Bradley, who he called “a wonder, a marvel and a gift.”
Rev. Ross said there is enough leadership in the world, however, there is not enough spiritual leadership – which he defined as leadership that connects with the heart and mind.
“We need leadership, spiritual leadership that reminds us the main thing has to be the main thing,” he said.
His speech, which utilized humor and passion to enliven an early-morning crowd of AC session attendees, sought to explain the correct way to pray – relating it to this year’s theme of “Together in Prayer: Moving Beyond Our Comfort Zones.”
Rev. Ross turned to Matthew 6:5-15 to demonstrate how to pray, where Matthew encouraged people to privately pray behind closed doors instead of praying like hypocrites for attention in public. This passage also gives The Church the “Lord’s Prayer.”
The Study Leader invited AC guests to consider three assertions:
- Prayer should be for divine revelation and inspiration, not for public commendation. “Jesus seems to favor prayer that is in the closet, unseen, not heard publicly,” he said. “Prayer in the closet happens for a God connection and divine discovery.”
- Prayer, as Jesus prayed, does not ignore corporate for personal. “God is not exclusively mine or yours,” Rev. Ross said. “Prayer is communicating to God by unity with others, by togetherness with others.”
- Are we praying to exchange our will for God’s will or are we insistent on the cosmic bellhop? “Praying is then a divine human exchange of wishes,” he said. “Prayer is daily communication with God that moves us from our desires to God’s desires; we are listening to live God’s way.”
Rev. Ross closed his first session with a wish for the Conference: “May we have the courage, the commitment, and the desire in prayer to seek God’s will and not just our own.”