This Wednesday evening we followed our usual pattern of using the word to focus our prayer. Instead of using the Psalms like we so often do, we turned to the beginning of Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5. This one of Jesus most well known teachings and the famous beatitudes give us a great place to turn and meditate on how our hearts are aligned to the Lord.
Below is the prayer guide we used to guide our time together. It follows our normal pattern of word and praying UP, IN, and OUT. Spend some time in prayer at home today!
Prayer 1
5 Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.
2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons[a] of God.
10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
PRAY UP – That the Lord would let these blessed statements reveal his character to us and that we would move us to hunger and thirst for righteousness.
PRAY IN – For Faith to be a merciful and meek people, dependent upon Jesus for everything, pure in heart so we would love one another well.
PRAY OUT – To learn to see the blessing in persecution and reviling and that the Lord would give us strength go to out into our domains of society he has placed us to be peacemakers
Prayer 2
13 “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.
14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
PRAY UP – That we would be drawn near to our father in heaven with a desire for him to make us salty, may we exibit the “flavor” of the kingdom because of our time near to God
PRAY IN – Pray that faith would be a city on a hill and that we would use our gifts given by the spirit to help each other grown in spiritual maturity.
PRAY OUT – That we would throw away our baskets and that the light of the Gospel would shine bright from this place and that the good works the father puts on our hearts would be a testimony in and of themselves to people who are far from God
Prayer 3
17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
PRAY UP – That God would open our eyes to his unchanging goodness and purposes and that through our pursuit of him in his word we would marvel at him in greater and great ways.
PRAY IN – That as his church would be not only hears of the word but also doers and that we would be a place that exemplifies the righteousness of Christ and not our own.
PRAY OUT – That we would be bold to proclaim God’s law and his Gospel and that we would be living examples of a faith in Christ to imitate.
Pray for the needs of the church….
Pray for our global and local ministry partners…
Pray for someone you know who is lost and far from God…
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