Wednesday Praying the Word

Making Disciples

Please Pray:

...that we would glorify God through making disciples,

fulfilling the Great Commandment (Mark 12:30-31)

and the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20).

“O Jesus, Lord and Savior, I give myself to Thee;

For Thou in Thine atonement, didst give Thyself for me;

I own no other Master, My heart shall be Thy throne;

My life I give,henceforth to live, O Christ, for Thee alone.”

1. The Great Commandment: Pray that we show our love for God and each other.

³⁰ “ ‘And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. ³¹And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Mark 12:30-31

¹²This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.  

John 15:12

³⁵By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.

John 13:35

^20“I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; ²¹that they all may be one; as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be one in Us; that the world may believe that You sent Me.”

John 17:20-21

²(F)ulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord of one mind. ³Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. ⁴Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.

Philippians 2:2-4

¹⁰Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. 

1 Corinthians 1:10

¹⁴For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 

Galatians 5:14

2. The Great Commission: Pray that we would be disciples of Christ, making disciples.

¹⁸ And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. ¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.

Matthew 28:18-20

Ø    For our families to grow together as disciples.

¹⁵“Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve...But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord”

Joshua 24:15

¹Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it.

Psalm 127:1

²That the older men be sober, reverent, temperate, sound in faith, in love, in patience; ³the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things. ⁴that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed. ⁶Likewise exhort the young men to be sober-minded.

Titus 2:2-6

¹⁹Husbands, love your wives and do not be bitter toward them.

Colossians 3:19

¹Likewise, you wives, be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, they, without a word, may be won by the conduct of their wives, ²when they observe your chaste conduct accompanied by fear. ⁷Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered.

1 Peter 3:1-2, 7

²⁰Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord. ²¹Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.        

Colossians 3:18-21

⁹ How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word. ¹⁰With my whole heart I have sought You; Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments! ¹¹Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You.

Psalm 119:9-11

¹²Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity.

1 Timothy 4:12

¹Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, before the difficult days come and the years draw near when you say, “I have no pleasure in them.”

Ecclesiastes 12:1

Ø   For singles and their children to be discipled, using this season to glorify Him

⁷ For I wish that all men were even as I myself. But each one has his own gift from God, one in this manner and another in that. ⁸But I say to the unmarried and to the widows: It is good for them if they remain even as I am.

1 Corinthians 7:7-8

^32b He who is unmarried cares for the things of the Lord--how he may please the Lord. ^34b The unmarried woman cares about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit.

1 Corinthians 7:32b, 34b

Ø    In our lives. Pray we would bear fruit following Christ.

⁸By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.

John 15:8

And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.

Luke 14:27

Tuesday Praying the Word

Local Witnessing and Faithful Giving

Please Pray:

...That God would lead us to be a witnessing church

and our faithful giving will impact our community.

“People need the Lord. People need the Lord.

At the end of broken dreams, He’s the open door.

People need the Lord. People need the Lord.

When will we realize that we must give our lives?

Forpeople need the Lord.”

WITNESSING 

1. OutReach. Pray for those who witness and evangelize and for those who hear.

²³Then the master said to the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.                                                  Luke 14:23

²¹So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me I also send you.” ²²And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

                                                                                                                            John 20:21-22

²⁰For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.                  Acts 4:20

¹⁶For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God to salvation to everyone who believes, for the Jew first, and also for the Greek. ¹⁷For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just will live by faith.”

                                                                                                                         Romans 1:16-17

⁸Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner: but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, ⁹who has saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.     2 Timothy 1:8-9

²⁰Let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.                                                          James 5:20

   FAITHFUL GIVING                                                                                     

1.  Obedience: Pray for a growing awareness of everyone’s responsibility to give.

¹⁰“Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and prove Me now with this,” says the Lord of hosts, “if I will not open for you the windows of heaven, and pour out for you such blessing, that there will not be room enough to receive it. ¹¹And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, so that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground; nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,” says the Lord of hosts.

                                                                                                                        Malachi 3:10-11

2. Joyful Giving Spirit. Pray we have an attitude of gratitude for all the Lord has given us.

¹⁸In everything give thanks; for this the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.                     

                                                                                                                 1 Thessalonians 5:18

⁷So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. ⁸And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.     2 Corinthians 9:7-8

¹⁸Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share.

                                                                                                                           1 Timothy 6:18

¹⁰He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.                                                                          Luke 16:10

⁸Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law.                                                                                                               Romans 13:8

¹(I)f you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the Lord your God will set you on high above all nations of the earth. ²And all these blessings shall come upon you, and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord your God. ¹²The Lord will open to you His good treasure, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand. You shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. ¹³And the Lord will make you the head, and not the tail; you shall be above only, and not be beneath; if you heed the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, and are careful to observe them.          Deuteronomy 28:1-2, 12-13

3. Our daily needs: Pray that we will have faith to believe God will meet our daily needs.

¹¹Give us this day our daily bread.                                                                   Matthew 6:11

²⁰So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.                        Matthew 17:20

³⁸Give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.                                                                               Luke 6:38

4. Jubilee. Pray we retire the debt on our building, being mindful we are His spiritual house.

²⁷“For You, O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, have revealed this to Your servant, saying, ‘I will build you a house.’ Therefore Your servant found it in his heart to pray this prayer to You.”                                                                                                                                        2 Samuel 7:27

⁴Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, ⁵ you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.       1 Peter 2:4-5

Monday Praying the Word

Deacons and all who serve in the church

Please Pray

...the deacons and those who serve in the church, 

will assist in the ministry so that 

God would be glorified,

the gospel would be shared and shown,

and the people would be edified …

“Make me a servant, humble and meek.

Lord let me lift up those who are weak.

And my the prayer of my heart always be:

Makeme a servant today”

... for the deacons and all who serve be faithful

⁸Likewise deacons must be reverent, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy for money; ⁹holding the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience. ¹⁰But let these also first be proved; then let them serve as deacons, being found blameless.

 1 Timothy 3:8-10

¹⁸Pray for us; for we are confident that we have a good conscience, in all things desiring to live honorably. 

Hebrews 13:18

... for the families in our church

¹¹Likewise their wives must be reverent, not slanderers, temperate, faithful in all things. ¹²Let deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well. 

1 Timothy 3:11-12

²⁸So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loves his wife loves himself.

Ephesians 5:28

 ...to see our ministry as a service to God

¹³For those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves a good standing and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.

1 Timothy 3:13

³¹ Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

1 Corinthians 10:31

⁷Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people

Ephesians 6:7

²³ And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, ²⁴knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance.

Colossians 3:23-24

¹¹If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

1 Peter 4:11

...the church will desire to read and uphold the Word of God

⁸This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth; but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

Joshua 1:8

...the church would be filled with (controlled by) the Holy Spirit

²Then the twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, “It is not desirable that we should leave the word of God and serve (Greek: diakonein, the root word for deacon) tables. ³Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. ⁴but we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word. ⁵And the saying pleased the whole multitude. And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch, ⁶whom they set before the apostles: and when they had prayed, they laid hands on them. 

Acts 6:3-6

⁵⁵But he (Stephen), being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.

Acts 7: 55

…to assist in extending the Kingdom of God.

⁵Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. ¹²But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized. ³⁵Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him. ⁴⁰But Philip was found at Azotus. And passing through, he preached in all the cities till he came to Caesarea.

⁷On the next day we who were Paul’s companions departed and came to Caesarea, and entered the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven (deacons, see Acts 6:5), and stayed with him. 

Acts 8:5,35, 40; 21:7

...to have a servant spirit

²⁵But Jesus called them to Himself and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. ²⁶Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. (diakonos) ²⁷And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave-- ²⁸just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve (diakonesai), and to give His life a ransom for many."

Matthew 20:25-28

²⁰But you, beloved, building up yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, ²¹keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. ²²And on some have compassion, making a distinction; ²³but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment defiled by the flesh.

Jude 1:20-23

Sunday Praying the Word

Ministerial and Church Staff and Their Families

Please Pray

...that the ministerial staff would seek counsel

and follow the example in ministry

from the Good Shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ

“Brethren, we have met to worship and adore

the Lord our God; Will you pray with all your power,

while we try to preach the Word? All is vain unless the Spirit

of the Holy One comes down; Brethren pray

and holy manna will be showered all around.”

...for the leadership’s protection from Satan’s attacks;

³¹And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon, indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. ³²But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.”                                 

Luke 22:31-32

...to them to be fruitful in labors and work.

⁹For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; ¹⁰that you may have a walk worthy of the Lord fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; ¹¹strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, to all patience and longsuffering with joy; ¹²giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.

Colossians 1:9-12

...that Christ will live through them and their ministries;

²⁰I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.

Galatians 2:20

...for spiritual maturity and good reputation;

⁶Not a novice, lest being puffed up with pride he fall into the same condemnation as the devil. ⁷Moreover he must have a good testimony among those who are outside; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.

1 Timothy 3:6-7

⁹holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict.

Titus 1:9

...for moral purity of the pastoral and entire church staff;

²A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach; ³not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous; ⁴one who rules his own house well, having his children in subjection with all reverence.

1 Timothy 3:2-4

⁶If a man is blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of dissipation or insubordination. ⁷For a bishop must be blameless, as a steward of God, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, ⁸but hospitable, a lover of what is good, sober-minded, just, holy, self-controlled.

Titus 1:5-8

“²⁸Therefore, take heed to yourselves, and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God, which He purchased with His own blood.” 

Acts 20:28

...to be servant-leaders, examples to the church;

¹The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed. ²Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by constraint but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; ³Nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. ⁴And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.

1 Peter 5:1-4

⁷In all things showing yourself to be a pattern of good works; in doctrine showing integrity, reverence, incorruptibility, ⁸sound speech that cannot be condemned, that one who is an opponent may be ashamed, having nothing evil to say of you.

Titus 2:7-8

...to receive God’s wisdom, not their own understanding

⁵Trust in the LORD with all your heart; and lean not on your own understanding. ⁶In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.

Proverbs 3:5-6

⁵ If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. ⁶But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. ⁷For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord. ⁸he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

James 1:5-8

...to be filled with the Holy Spirit

¹⁸And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit.

                                                                                                                           Ephesians 5:18

³¹And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.

                                                                                                                                     Acts 4:31

Come out from among them and be separate...2 Cor. 6:16

    I had a “friend” come out of the closet yesterday. I say friend in quotes because somehow we are friends on Facebook (where he announced his coming out), although I didn’t remember friending him.

    I remember “coming out” of a different closet so many years ago. Like my Facebook friend, many people said they were so proud of me for my announcement. For me, however, I did not come out to embrace my lifestyle but to admit that it was something I struggled with and want to stop behaving in that way.

    As humans, we all have closets in which we no longer need to hide. Closets are for clothes and shoes and for me, it is for things I do in private, including prayer. I am not ashamed of getting dressed in my closet but I would be ashamed if I did so in public. Both in dressing and addressing God in prayer, my closet provides me a place to privately deal with things that I would not like to do in public.

    There is a second part of coming out that my friend unfortunately did not do. And to be honest, I still struggle with it too. It is repentance. Now my Facebook friend is only 18 and yet he has already given up the struggle and rather than fight against his natural desires, he decided what he was coming out of is not wrong nor sin. After years of struggle, I have realized we all will return to our closets of sin again and again, hiding or trying to hide from the public view.

     If I could tell my friend something I’ve learned, it would be this. Be neither embarrassed nor embracing of your closet of sin. If the Bible states that your desires are wrong, they are sin and you should repent of them. The Bible calls it flesh and we all have to deal with our fleshly or sinful nature. If you have flesh, its nature “lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Gal.5:17-21).

     We all sin by our very sin nature. But just because one sin or another seems “natural” to us, that does not mean it is okay. The Bible lists other things that will not inherit the kingdom of God. “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor “the ‘soft’ men nor those men who have sex with those ‘soft’ men”, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Cor. 6:9-11, NKJV, bold faced, my translation).

     The first sermon of Jesus was the same as that of his predecessor, John the Baptist, which was “repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand.” Jesus would say to all of us sinners, “Go and sin no more” (John 5:14, John 8:11).

     Did you know that John 3:16 doesn’t just stop there at “everlasting life”? Jesus went on to say in verses 19 through 21, “And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”

     That sounds a lot like coming out of our closets of sin, not to continue in them secretly, but to admit openly that we have done wrong things, we repent of them. We believe God will forgive us through Christ and like His death, burial and resurrection, we pledge ourselves by His strength to die to ourselves and live to walk in newness of life.