Silas
Beloved of All
Your burden for leaders, for the preaching of the Word, and for the salvation of souls is heard and it is right before the Lord. It reflects the heart of Scripture that leaders would watch over their own lives and doctrine closely, so that both they and those who hear them would be saved, and that those who preach would do so faithfully as ones who will give an account before Christ.
We join you in thanking God that He has given us eternal life, and that this life is in His Son. Whoever has the Son has life. That promise of life in Christ Jesus stands even when the sentence of death hangs over this world. There is no other provision for salvation. God has offered it freely to all, to whosoever will believe in Jesus Christ, confess Him as Lord and trust in His resurrection. His name itself declares that He is the Lord our salvation, who came to save His people from their sins. Apart from Him there is no life, but in Him there is righteousness and peace and joy, the very quality of the kingdom of God.
This is why your prayer for leaders to be men and women of prayer is so vital. The ones God uses are those who live in close fellowship with Him, who breathe prayer as a way of life. Even Jesus, the Son of God, drew strength from prayer for guidance and for life itself, rising early to seek the Father. How much more do we need it. Like Paul, who constantly spoke of his labor in prayer, and like Epaphras who labored fervently for the believers with great zeal, leaders are called to continue in prayer, to study the Word, and to intercede for the congregation. Prayer does not force God, for He respects the will He has given each person, but prayer opens the door for Him to do what He already desires to do in and through us. And the earnest, fervent prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. We pray with you that God would war against prayerlessness in leaders first, and give them faith to seek Him with all their heart, to hear and understand what the Spirit is saying.
We also pray with you that preaching would remain what God intends it to be, the proclamation of good news to those who are still without Christ, that they need not remain in sin but can receive eternal life through Him. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. No one comes unless the Father draws him, and flesh and blood does not reveal who Jesus is, but the Father in heaven does. So we ask that the Holy Spirit would convict and convert, teach and guide into all truth, and open minds to understand the Scriptures. We pray for a true hunger for the Word as newborns long for milk, and for the Spirit of revelation, that the Word would be received with humility and faith and actually save the soul, not merely heard.
We agree with you for families and households. We pray that God would draw family members, friends, and visitors, and that none would be kept away by the love of the world, by distractions, weariness, or the pull of other desires. Gathering together is not a mere habit that can save on its own, for church attendance or membership cannot give eternal life. What is needed is the new life where old things pass away and all things become new, a life no longer controlled by the flesh but by the Spirit and centered on God. Yet gathering is still God’s gracious means to hear the Word, to worship in spirit and truth, and to be built up together, often and faithfully, as often as we eat the bread and drink the cup in remembrance of Him. We ask for freedom to worship with the anointing that comes from Christ, and for sound teaching that visits homes and strengthens house to house fellowship.
For safety and protection we look to the Lord who is our ever present help. He is the one who gives His angels charge to guard His people, and who kept His prophet Elisha aware of the plans of the enemy so that Israel could be warned. We ask Him to keep His people from the evil one, as Jesus prayed, and to guard them from lack of knowledge, from distraction and deception, from false teaching and deceivers, from temptation and lies and fear, and from evil people. Pray that God would open eyes to see the blinding that the enemy brings and set captives free to see their true need and the precious value God places on each life, a life redeemed not with silver and gold but with the precious blood of Christ, without blemish.
We stand with you in asking that God, who desires that none should perish but that all should come to repentance and to the knowledge of the truth, would seek and save the lost in every household and among all in authority. We ask Him to give vision by His Spirit where there has been no vision, to grant faith to pray and to receive, to give repentance and the knowledge of forgiveness and newness of life, and to manifest His holy presence among His people.
May the Lord hear as we seek Him, and may He answer according to His promises in Jesus. We trust Him to do this work, for His Word will not return empty, and He is able to keep and to save all who call upon the name of His Son. In the name of Jesus, amen.
We join you in thanking God that He has given us eternal life, and that this life is in His Son. Whoever has the Son has life. That promise of life in Christ Jesus stands even when the sentence of death hangs over this world. There is no other provision for salvation. God has offered it freely to all, to whosoever will believe in Jesus Christ, confess Him as Lord and trust in His resurrection. His name itself declares that He is the Lord our salvation, who came to save His people from their sins. Apart from Him there is no life, but in Him there is righteousness and peace and joy, the very quality of the kingdom of God.
This is why your prayer for leaders to be men and women of prayer is so vital. The ones God uses are those who live in close fellowship with Him, who breathe prayer as a way of life. Even Jesus, the Son of God, drew strength from prayer for guidance and for life itself, rising early to seek the Father. How much more do we need it. Like Paul, who constantly spoke of his labor in prayer, and like Epaphras who labored fervently for the believers with great zeal, leaders are called to continue in prayer, to study the Word, and to intercede for the congregation. Prayer does not force God, for He respects the will He has given each person, but prayer opens the door for Him to do what He already desires to do in and through us. And the earnest, fervent prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. We pray with you that God would war against prayerlessness in leaders first, and give them faith to seek Him with all their heart, to hear and understand what the Spirit is saying.
We also pray with you that preaching would remain what God intends it to be, the proclamation of good news to those who are still without Christ, that they need not remain in sin but can receive eternal life through Him. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. No one comes unless the Father draws him, and flesh and blood does not reveal who Jesus is, but the Father in heaven does. So we ask that the Holy Spirit would convict and convert, teach and guide into all truth, and open minds to understand the Scriptures. We pray for a true hunger for the Word as newborns long for milk, and for the Spirit of revelation, that the Word would be received with humility and faith and actually save the soul, not merely heard.
We agree with you for families and households. We pray that God would draw family members, friends, and visitors, and that none would be kept away by the love of the world, by distractions, weariness, or the pull of other desires. Gathering together is not a mere habit that can save on its own, for church attendance or membership cannot give eternal life. What is needed is the new life where old things pass away and all things become new, a life no longer controlled by the flesh but by the Spirit and centered on God. Yet gathering is still God’s gracious means to hear the Word, to worship in spirit and truth, and to be built up together, often and faithfully, as often as we eat the bread and drink the cup in remembrance of Him. We ask for freedom to worship with the anointing that comes from Christ, and for sound teaching that visits homes and strengthens house to house fellowship.
For safety and protection we look to the Lord who is our ever present help. He is the one who gives His angels charge to guard His people, and who kept His prophet Elisha aware of the plans of the enemy so that Israel could be warned. We ask Him to keep His people from the evil one, as Jesus prayed, and to guard them from lack of knowledge, from distraction and deception, from false teaching and deceivers, from temptation and lies and fear, and from evil people. Pray that God would open eyes to see the blinding that the enemy brings and set captives free to see their true need and the precious value God places on each life, a life redeemed not with silver and gold but with the precious blood of Christ, without blemish.
We stand with you in asking that God, who desires that none should perish but that all should come to repentance and to the knowledge of the truth, would seek and save the lost in every household and among all in authority. We ask Him to give vision by His Spirit where there has been no vision, to grant faith to pray and to receive, to give repentance and the knowledge of forgiveness and newness of life, and to manifest His holy presence among His people.
May the Lord hear as we seek Him, and may He answer according to His promises in Jesus. We trust Him to do this work, for His Word will not return empty, and He is able to keep and to save all who call upon the name of His Son. In the name of Jesus, amen.
