Praying For Your Church
Knowing ourselves from the epistle of James, 5:16,”The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much, “ and that in 1Peter5:8, our great adversary is mentioned, “Be on the alert, your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour,” we need to pray to keep our church vibrant, alive, and together in this church age we are now in. Subtle things can creep up from out of nowhere and disturb the flock. The flock operates best when it is at rest, lying down in green pastures, and being led beside quiet waters. Peter states in 1Peter 3:12, “For the eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous, and His ears attend to their prayer.” The Greek word here translated from Psalm 34:15 does not mean simply hearing your request but an intense, keen, hearing of what your request is. Your Father in heaven has great concern for what concerns you have. So here are some prayer requests you might be interested in.
Praying for the church would include, that we would have unity amidst our diversity, loving those with whom we have nothing in common but the gospel. 1John 5:1, “Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him.” And in 1John 4:21, “And this commandment we have from Him, that the One who loves God should love his brother also.” We are so indebted to God for His love toward us while we were unlovely, how can we not love the brethren around us? If God accepts each of us, how can we not accept one another? Jonathon Edwards states, “Love is the sure evidence of a saving work of grace in the soul, their hearts are knit together in love, they are made perfect in love, and love is the fulfilling of the law.” Do we indeed love our neighbor as we do ourselves?
Other requests to contemplate and bring before the throne of grace would be such things as promoting a culture and atmosphere around us to disciple others and that that would be an ordinary part of our Christian life. As we grow older in the faith, we should be becoming wiser to give good guidance, direction, and insight to those who may be younger in the faith. Freely we have received, freely give, and to whom much is given, much is expected, all came from our Savior’s lips.
That our Elders would be faithful in their use of the Scriptures to train and equip the saints for the work of the ministry. After all, the Scriptures are inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness. (2Tim.3:16)
That there would be a hunger, a thirst, a desire, for studying the word of God amongst the members so that they can guide and guard one another in it. This Word is part of our spiritual armor, we defend and protect, and are guarded by it for we are told to take up the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God (Eph.6:17).
That the preaching of God's word, that it would be carefully, accurately, and joyfully proclaimed, that it builds us all up in the most holy of faith, that the power and the love of the Holy Spirit would boldly be proclaimed for all to hear and understand. That God would indeed put insights for living into their minds from His, and that these things would not come back void.
That the Elders, deacons, leaders in the church would remain above reproach, kept from temptation, complacency, idols, and worldliness. That they would continue always to watch and pray so that they will not enter into temptation (Math.26:41). The devil can do much harm to the church here. The English Puritan William Gurnall stated, “If Satan can get in and poison the cistern from which the sheep drink from, the sheep are going to get sick.” So, we have much to pray for, and may it be with an attitude of thanksgiving, and praise, and adoration, to the One who has put the body of Christ together at Grace Community Church, His blood bought bride that by His hand of providence has brought them together every week to give glory to God and give ministry one to another!
Praying for the church would include, that we would have unity amidst our diversity, loving those with whom we have nothing in common but the gospel. 1John 5:1, “Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him.” And in 1John 4:21, “And this commandment we have from Him, that the One who loves God should love his brother also.” We are so indebted to God for His love toward us while we were unlovely, how can we not love the brethren around us? If God accepts each of us, how can we not accept one another? Jonathon Edwards states, “Love is the sure evidence of a saving work of grace in the soul, their hearts are knit together in love, they are made perfect in love, and love is the fulfilling of the law.” Do we indeed love our neighbor as we do ourselves?
Other requests to contemplate and bring before the throne of grace would be such things as promoting a culture and atmosphere around us to disciple others and that that would be an ordinary part of our Christian life. As we grow older in the faith, we should be becoming wiser to give good guidance, direction, and insight to those who may be younger in the faith. Freely we have received, freely give, and to whom much is given, much is expected, all came from our Savior’s lips.
That our Elders would be faithful in their use of the Scriptures to train and equip the saints for the work of the ministry. After all, the Scriptures are inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness. (2Tim.3:16)
That there would be a hunger, a thirst, a desire, for studying the word of God amongst the members so that they can guide and guard one another in it. This Word is part of our spiritual armor, we defend and protect, and are guarded by it for we are told to take up the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God (Eph.6:17).
That the preaching of God's word, that it would be carefully, accurately, and joyfully proclaimed, that it builds us all up in the most holy of faith, that the power and the love of the Holy Spirit would boldly be proclaimed for all to hear and understand. That God would indeed put insights for living into their minds from His, and that these things would not come back void.
That the Elders, deacons, leaders in the church would remain above reproach, kept from temptation, complacency, idols, and worldliness. That they would continue always to watch and pray so that they will not enter into temptation (Math.26:41). The devil can do much harm to the church here. The English Puritan William Gurnall stated, “If Satan can get in and poison the cistern from which the sheep drink from, the sheep are going to get sick.” So, we have much to pray for, and may it be with an attitude of thanksgiving, and praise, and adoration, to the One who has put the body of Christ together at Grace Community Church, His blood bought bride that by His hand of providence has brought them together every week to give glory to God and give ministry one to another!