Have You Prayed For Your Church Today?

This past Wednesday night we mixed up our prayer time a bit.  The group who gathered split up and each took different areas of the building to walk around and pray for specific people and areas of ministry.  If you weren’t able to make it, take some time to go through the list at home and lift up Faith, one another as the body of Christ, for the work of ministry, and for our mission of making disciples of Jesus.

Lift up your prayers, draw near to God through the throne of Grace that Jesus gave his life to make available for us, don’t delay, pray today!

 

Sancutary

Walk the sanctuary and spend some time in prayer.  Find a couple of specific spots to pray the Lord would work in the following ways:

• Pray for God’s word to be proclaimed with clarity, conviction, and boldness from the pulpit of Faith.
• Pray for the elders, and for their families, that they would be guarded from sin and they would lead well, according to scripture.
• Pray over the baptismal, that the Lord would stir hearts to salvation and many would profess faith in Christ in the waters at Faith.
• Pray for the Lord to raise up laborers for the harvest with a heart to serve in music, hospitality, and in the many other ways that are needed as we gather for worship.
• Pray for the Lord to fill the pews so that many would hear the Gospel and respond to the call of the Holy Spirit.
• Think about where some specific people sit, pray for them in the areas they tend to claim on Sunday mornings.

 

Kids area

Walk the kids rooms and spend some time in prayer.  Find a couple of specific spots to pray the Lord would work in the following ways:

• Pray for the nursery and pre k rooms, that we would be wise in how we use the spaces, and that we would use them for the Lord and his Kingdom work.
• Pray for the spaces in the basement, and that the Lord would provide what is needed to maintain the resource he has given us.
• Pray for the upstairs kids room, that it would be filled and the kids who are ministered to would be protected, loved, and given the Gospel.
• Pray at the “upper room” for the teens, that their hearts would be guarded from the world, they would embrace the Gospel, and be built up in God-glorifying community together.
• Pray at the Pastors study, that God would raise up men to preach the Gospel and to serve and shepherd the church.
• Pray for some specific kids that come to mind as you are in the kids area.

Lower Level and Fellowship Area

Walk the lower level and spend some time in prayer.  Find a couple of specific spots to pray the Lord would work in the following ways:

• Pray for our community groups. That they would be a blessing to each of us as we live life in Christ together and they would help us to grow spiritually and relationally.
• Pray for our community groups to grow and for wisdom in how to best use the space in the basement.
• Pray for God’s provision as we care for the resource he has given us.
• Pray for the Deacons and their families and for strength to continue their faithful service and that they would be blessed through their ministry to the church.
• Pray for Zomi Baptist Church, that their ministry would be blessed and that we would find ways to build a closer relationship and stronger partnership.
• Pray for the moms room, that it would be a blessing as it is need and for the moms and babies that use it.
• Pray for the fellowship area, that we would enjoy times of fellowship together and that it would help strengthen the bond of unity in Christ at Faith.
• Pray for specific people that you know have dedicated time and service in this space.

 

Outside the Building

Walk the outside of the building and spend some time in prayer.  Find a couple of specific spots around to pray the Lord would work in the following ways:

• Pray for the neighborhood around Faith, that we would be able to build closer bonds and reach people with Christ.
• Pray for the resources we need to be good stewards of the building and grounds.
• Pray for parsonage that it would be a blessing to the Bulls and to others who may use it in the future.
• Pray for the people who pass the building every day, that they would take notice of what God is doing at Faith and their hearts would be stirred to join us.
• Pray that we would be wise in how we use the building resource and that God would make it plain for ways in which we can use it better.
• Pray for the people who pull into the parking lot at random times and that it would lead to Gospel opportunities.
• Pray for the school next door, that we would find ways to bring the Gospel to the next generation around us.
• Pray for the safety of the church and that the Lord would protect us while we meet.
• Pray for the people who you know help care for the grounds.

 

Why do we pray?   To draw near to the Lord in faith.   Jesus makes it plain in his earthly ministry that we should be a people of prayer.  Meditate on this parable of Jesus from Luke 18 and see that  our God is a good God and he does not tire of us perusing Him in prayer, but on the contrary, wants to find his faithful church calling on his name all the way until he returns!

Luke 18:1-8

The Parable of the Persistent Widow

18 And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. ² He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. ³ And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ ⁴ For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, ⁵ yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’” ⁶ And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. ⁷ And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? ⁸ I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

 

English Standard Version (ESV)

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.