Day 24

When you go to church, do you go to the same service each week? Do you attend the same campus each week? Do you sit in the same section or the same seat each week? For some, we don't have so many options but if you answered yes to those questions you are part of a large majority. We tend to be creatures of habit when it comes to church. Since the majority are attending the same campus, at the same time slot, and sit in the same section if not the same seat then we are worshiping together each week and yet we know very little about one another or those outside of the circle we shake hands with each week. A few weeks ago the pastor was talking about a guy who told him he wasn't happy in his marriage, that he had not been happy for a long time and wanted out. Two rows in front of me a woman looked to her right, I presume to her husband, she smiled gently and as the sermon continued, tears rolled down her cheeks. She removed her glasses a few times and wiped the tears from her eyes and cheeks. I am not sure what God was doing in her heart, or in her marriage, but I realized that people all around me in church are hurting.

Lorene Coffey, Director of Women's Ministries at FBCG, gave a book to each of the gals on staff. There are five of us and we meet monthly to check-in with one another, pray for one another and see how our various ministries are functioning. This past month Lorene introduced the book, What Women Tell Me by Anita Lustrea. Anita hosts a radio program on 90.1 WMBI and has hosted the show for the past 20 years. Her book is based on her own life and what women are telling her about their own lives. Because our women's ministries touches the lives of nearly 1400 women, maybe more, in a given year, we have commited to reading and discussing the chapters at our next several monthly meetings. For the five of us on staff, we have experienced much, but in order to minister to the women we want to serve, it is best to have an understanding of what she is dealing with. Chapter 1 starts off with being lonely in the church. I just finished a chapter on what it is to be married to a sexual addict, and I am currently reading the chapter on being a single mom raising a son. What I have determined with each page I have turned is that women are hurting and we are hiding things from others for various reasons, but the secrets are becoming so difficult to bear alone. We want to be free but we wonder if church is a safe place to share real life. We are cautious to share because of how some may react. We don't want to be judged and unfortunately, some women have found church to be a place of critical judgment. Our women's ministries team wants to minister to women and we want to do it well and understand what that means. We may not do it well all the time, but we want to do it well more often and I want to learn from my mistakes. I have asked God to teach me but not at anyone else's expense. In other words, I don't want to hurt any woman, or man for that matter, as I seek to have His eyes, His heart and His compassion for others. Oh, I know I will botch something up but I sure hope I learn it from those who know my heart and help me learn the lessons rather than get upset.

Day 24
The Ministry of Intercessory Prayer by Andrew Murray

What to Pray: For the Spirit on Your Own Congregation

"He told them, 'This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. I am going to send you what my
Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high" (Luke 24:46-49, emphasis added).

Each one of us is connected with some congregation or circle of believers. They are to us the part of Christ's body with which we come into most direct contact. They have a special claim on our intercession. Let it be a settled matter between God and you that you are to labor in prayer on its behalf. Pray for the minister and all lay leaders or workers within it. Pray for the believers according to their needs. Pray for the conversion of unbelievers. Pray for the power of the Spirit to manifest itself in your services and outreaches. Join yourself with others to pray for specific petitions that are brought to your attention. Let intercession be a definite work in your midst, carried on as systematically as the preaching, the worship, and the Sunday school classes. And when you pray, expect answers.

How to Pray: Continually

"I have posted watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they will never be silent day or night. You who call on the Lord, give yourselves no rest" (Isaiah 62:6).

"And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly" (Luke 18:7-8).

"Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you again and supply what is lacking in your faith" ( 1 Thessalonians 3:10).

"The widow who is really in need and left all alone puts her hope in God and continues night and day to pray and to ask God for help" (1 Timothy 5:5).

When the glory of God, and the love of Christ, and the need of souls are revealed to us, the fire of this unceasing intercession will begin to burn in us. It will not be hard to pray every time these people and these needs come to mind. If we remain in an attitude of prayer, the Holy Spirit will bring to mind needs as they arise. When we awake at night, we will know for whom we should pray. Prayer is ongoing in the life of the intercessor. It really has no beginning and no end. In the power of the Spirit it is not a tiresome thing, but a source of energy and satisfaction.

Your Own Prayer Requests:

Since we are in the final week of our study on intercessory prayer, let's put some action to our prayer time.

~Commit to God time ech day in these final days to pray. Pray that the Spirit will reveal to you what to pray and for whom, as well as how you can pray.
~The next time you go to church, sit in a different area than you normally would and ask God to draw you to someone that you can be praying for.
~Ask for Him to bring someone into your path this week who shares a struggle with you. Tell her you will pray for her this week. Or, be bold and pray with her right there before you leave.

I don't know if I am called to intercessory prayer, but as Tracy typed earlier in the week, it is each of our responsibility and a privilege to pray for others. When I ask Him for whom can I pray, He gives me a name. When I ask how can I pray, I get some inkling, and if I don't I ask that the Spirit will intercede and take to the Father all that she needs. We do not know all that goes on in our congregation but we can trust there are celebrations occuring for answered prayers, there are others longing to see the answers to years of prayers, and then there are those still trying to figure out how to do life in their own strength. When you stand in line at the grocery store this week, pray for the people in front of you and behind you. Ask God to bless them and reveal Himself to her/him in a way that brings her to her knees in repentance.