Thursday Prayers as a Praying Community
In my Palm Sunday sermon on Matthew 21:12-17 we saw how Jesus anger against the temple traders was because they were denying the Gentile believers the opportunity to pray in the outer courts. We learned that in our lives, prayer is about God’s Welcome (Gentiles are included in worship), God’s Cleansing (place of prayer must be cleared from all that distracts) and God’s Healing (the blind and lame can now be healed). So as we join together as a praying community of First Ballymoney we come to a God who welcomes us, who has given us his Spirit to reveal those aspects of our lives that are not healthy or are a distraction from him, and a God who heals those areas of our lives that weigh us down. We pray this specifically as a church community as we are led by the Spirit to glorify Jesus in these days. A Prayer for these days of lockdown Loving God, In this moment when we feel, locked into a terrible set of circumstances, locked up in our homes, locked down by fear and uncertainty; help us to find freedom in faith, healing in hope, liberty in your love. In this time when tempers can get frayed in relationships, give us the fruit of your Spirit in our lives, our homes, our dealings with one another in society. We pray for - Love. Joy. Peace. Patience. Kindness. Goodness. Faithfulness. Gentleness. Self-control. Be especially with those who feel most isolated and alone. Grant them a deep sense of your presence through long days and lonely hours, bring comfort and calm, strength and support. Help us to appreciate simple pleasures in a fresh way through our unusual circumstances, the blessing of home, the joy of loved ones, the view from our windows, the voice of a friend on the phone. Lord, hear our prayers. For we ask them in Jesus Name. Amen
Pray for...
• Pray for those who you know as you meditate on different lines of this prayer.
• Pray for the transforming presence of God’s Spirit amongst us. He promised never to leave us. Therefore our prayer is “what is he saying to us and doing within our hearts in this time? What are we learning about him?”
• Pray for the Sunday worship that reaches people in their homes, that they would be encouraged and not weight down emotionally and spiritually as the self-isolation continues.
• Pray for the pastoral care of the church community that the Lord would lead us to those who need encouragement and reminding of his love.
• Pray that we don’t miss sharing our hope in this time when the foundation of people’s lives has been called into question. Everyone turns to something or someone in times of crisis! Only the Lord is the true rock on which we can stand. Continue to pray for a revival in our community to the Lord.
Thank you for joining us in prayer today.
Stephen McCracken.
Prayer@First
The weekly updates will also be available on our new Prayer@First page. From there you can also send prayer requests.
