Focus On The Church
Five scriptures to pray for the people of God
A significant part of our prayer FOCUS is C - praying for the Church.
Our intercessions (praying on behalf of another) are largely for the people of God, and we include a few verses to use to pray for the church in each newsletter. This is a time to read the verse and then pray that back to the Lord, asking Him to bring that word to pass – to answer His promise on behalf of his children. Pray these for your own fellowship, your pastor, elders, etc and the body of believers.
We use these verses specifically because they were prayed by Jesus and by the Apostles and the Lord answered them, and continues answer them! These were prayed not just then, but also today — which is why these are preserved in writing for us.
So that we might also pray them!
Why? Because the scriptures are His will revealed to us, that is, they show us His intention for His people. Another answer comes to us in Ephesians 3 “…that you [we] may be filled with all the fullness of God,” v 19.
How can we pray anything for the church today better than this? Certainly we can pray other than this, as well we should — so we use these verses as the place to start, an anchor that can place us at very the heart and will of God. We can pray these verses every time we do not know what to pray.
And we know God wants to answer them. Indeed, is answering! His word is his covenant, a will and testament that cannot be broken.
Lord, this is what your promise is, and we are asking you to come fulfill your word, keep your promise, and let it be done in our day as in the days it was written.
Five Scriptures To Pray For the Church
Acts 4:29 — grant to Your servants that with all boldness [we] may speak Your word…v 31, and [we] may all be filled with the Holy Spirit, and [we] speak the word of God with boldness.
Romans 15:5-7 — grant [us] to be like-minded toward one another…that [we] may with one mind and one mouth glorify God
Romans 15:13 — fill [us] with all joy and peace in believing, that [we] may abound in hope
Ephesians 1:17-19 — give to [us] the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of our understanding being enlightened; that [we] may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints…and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe…
Colossians 4:12 — [we are] always laboring fervently for [the church] in prayers, that [we] may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.
Will you join us in praying these verses, and ask one person to join you?
Until Monday, grace and peace
Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash