Month of Prayer
There is so much we could pray for,
but we have divided things into six areas:
…the One who is worthy of our worship, love and trust.
…the people we love, care for, and belong to, in Christian fellowship.
...people in need, who we care about, living all around us.
...we are conscious that everyone, everywhere, needs the gospel.
...where we serve the Lord
in our daily lives.
...how we individually, and together as a church, try to share the gospel with others.
Daily ‘starting points’
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The need
Unprecedented. How often have you heard that word used to describe this time?
But it is. In just a few weeks the death toll associated with Covid 19 topped 200k, 21,000 in the UK alone - and is still rising. The world hasn’t faced a killer on this scale since the great influenza epidemic of 1919 which claimed 50 million lives.
The developed world has struggled despite its wealth and excellent health care systems. One dreads what would happen if this spreads to the refugee camps of Lebanon, heaving cities like Manilla, or the billions of people in Asia.
But it is the need of people to be saved by the gospel which should really touch our hearts. So many in our town of Bedford, 170,000 people, who are not ready yet to go from time to eternity (Heb 9:27).
Right after explaining the ‘great chain of salvation’ in Romans 8:29, 30, and the wonder of God’s never-failing love for those in Christ Jesus, Paul then confirms that he has, ‘great sorrow and unceasing anguish’ for those he knows who are not yet forgiven. This heart cry gets translated into prayer, ‘Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved.’ (Rom 10:1)
In 1 Corinthians we read this, ‘I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible… I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.’ (1 Cor 9:19, 22).
He was only mirroring his Master who wept over a city that was to crucify him (Luke 13:34, 19:41).
We need to feel this gospel passion ourselves.
And there is something about God making things real, opening eyes, and touching hearts that we can only pray for, ‘So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who makes things grow.’ (1 Cor 3:5-7)
Like those fishermen who became the first disciples (Mark 1:16-20), we have to learn a lesson – we can’t even fish for fish without God’s kind hand on us – read Luke 5:1-11, and John 21:1-14. We all need the mercy and power of God if we are ever to see ‘real fish’ caught.
And we need this more desperately now than ever. The greatest need of the moment is for the gospel to come in grace and power.
The means
God has ordained prayer as one of the means for seeing gospel fruit. In a brilliantly succinct, tightly argued section of Colossians, when Paul comes to outsiders he wants believers to make the most of every opportunity (Col 4:5).
But he starts not with advice on how to do this, but with an exhortation to pray, ‘Devote yourselves to prayer.’ (Col 4:2) ‘Devote’ is another powerful, passionate word. ‘Continue steadfastly’, or ‘Press on determinedly’ are other ways of putting it.
He points to a man who exemplifies this passion for prayer, ‘Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus... is always wrestling in prayer for you.’ (Col 4:12) Wrestling in prayer! Makes you think soberly about yourself, doesn’t it?
Brothers and sisters, if we can’t pray at a time of desperate need, such as this time right now, when are we ever going to pray?
Now we need to be clear about such prayer. It is not a ‘hero’ thing to do. And it isn’t ‘necessary’, as if God can only be released into action if we pray. He doesn’t need our prayers at all.
But it is saying that we are helpless, and we need the help only God can bring. It is us saying we want him to be honoured, our elder brother Jesus to be glorified for being the wonderful Lord, King and Saviour he is, and all in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Faith is shown by prayer.
The Encouragement
We are suggesting a month of special prayer when we devote ourselves, as each of us is able, to pray to the Lord.
There is so much we could pray for, but we have condensed things into six areas:
1) Our God – the One who is worthy of our worship, love, and trust.
2) Our church – the people we love, care for, and belong to in Christian fellowship.
3) Our town – needy people we care about who live all around us.
4) Our world – we are conscious that everyone, everywhere, needs the gospel.
5) Our front lines – where we serve the Lord with our daily lives.
6) Our ministries – how we individually, and together as a church, try to get the gospel to others.
Each day we will send you short suggestions for prayer, selecting things from each of these areas, covering three areas per session.
These prayers could take a minute, or three, or thirty +, depending on your own time and circumstances.
If you have a Church Prayer and Address list to hand, that would be useful, as one of our aims is to pray for each other, and especially for the non-Christians each of us knows in our families and neighbourhoods.
We often sing, ‘Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord, as we wait upon the Lord’. This is a time to be faithful in doing that. May the Lord encourage you!
