Day Twelve of 40 Days of Prayer for FRC

Father,

All the children in our community have returned to school this week. Thank you for the opportunity for each child to receive an education. Some children are home schooled while others attend school outside the home. Give each child an eager mind to learn; give them safe passage to and from school; make their stay in the schools a peaceful experience. Please keep all toxic and fatal activity from the schools, the children, the teachers and school personnel. Your name is a strong tower; may the righteous run to it and be safe. Keep each child protected under the canopy of your son’s name, Jesus. 

Bless the teachers who have committed their life to teaching children. They do more than educate, they form young lives into adulthood. Protect our teachers; give godly teachers divine opportunities to introduce you to their students. Give the teachers your courage and wisdom to minister to the many children in their care. I lift up homeschool moms, too. The task of homeschooling and caring for the home is difficult. Give them strength and vision. Help them persevere and grant them joy in the journey. Give each parent a burning desire to disciple their children in the midst of all the academics.

Be with the many children who come from difficult homes. Some are hungry-provide them with food; be their comfort at home and at school when their life seems to lack all joy. Be their hiding place. Surround them with your songs of deliverance. Draw them with your everlasting love; in their neglect - be their guardian. Help them know how miraculously you love them.

In Jesus name,

Amen

Psalm 12:7; Psalm 32:7; Jeremiah 31:3; Proverbs 18:10

Day Eleven of 40 Days of Prayer for FRC

Father,

Thank you for the many people you bring to our church. Thank you for the divine appointments you provide for us to give hope to hurting people. We consider it a great privilege that you would entrust us with the ministry of the gospel. We do not feel worthy of your mission, yet, you love us so much that you allow us to join you in your work.

The lost in this world are numerous. The news makes us so uncertain about our future. And many are putting their faith and hope in things that are passing away. Sadly, too many are perishing in their sin. Forgive us for being so distracted by things that are insignificant. 

Sometimes we fail at your mission. Being evangelical we often begin the work of saving the lost by sharing with them your Son. This is good. But we fail to finish the work you have given us. Give us a burden to go beyond saving souls to making fully devoted and committed disciples. Often churches experience 20% of the people doing 80% of the work because we have lacked in training others to be your disciples; instead we have just snatched them from the fires of hell. You desire so much more!  And these people need so much more!

Give those that are just church attenders a burden for your truth on a daily basis - not just weekly. Help them seek what is lasting. Cause them to see everything on this earth as dim compared to your everlasting truth. Help each to seriously consider their answer to this question: if everything were stripped away, would Jesus be enough? 

Unsettle us with our apathy. I pray we suffer continually with your burden to fulfill your ministry and finish your work. Help us, Lord, to always be attentive to what others need eternally, not just temporarily. Give us your eyes to see,  your heart that feels and your passion that persists. Make us a church that does more than just attract people; help us to disciple people to be followers that become your servants who impact Fredericksburg with your love. Enlarge the core of disciples in our church so we can enlarge the followers in your Kingdom. 

In Jesus name,

Amen

1 Corinthians 9:16; Matthew 28:19; Matthew 24:35; 1 John 2:17

Day Ten of 40 Days of Prayer for FRC

Father,

Thank you for your strength. Thank you for your power. You are above all. You are the creator of Natural Law; therefore, you can dismantle it at your bidding if you please. There is no one like you. You are our joy!

I lift up our Carnival/Movie night to you again. I know that you hear us when we pray. I know that your purposes are good and worthy of our notice and certainly of our doing. Purpose us only in your plan tonight. Give us YOUR JOY! May we dismiss our own human joy that is so frail and passing. Satisfy us with the Joy of Jesus. Regardless of the difficult circumstances we may face I pray that your Joy would overcome it and make us a light unto the community.

We pray that your joy will be shared among the believers and felt by those that attend. Give each person cause to pause at the joy they see and the love they experience. For it is by our love for each other that others will know we are your disciples.

Ready the hearts of each person that attends tonight. Prepare them with an open heart for your love and your joy. I pray for divine appointments for each serving. I pray we do not waste our moments; I pray we give our all to share the love of Christ with others.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Nehemiah 8:10; 1 Thessalonians 1:6, 2:19-20

Day Nine of 40 Days of Prayer for FRC

Father,

You show us that a giving church is one whose hearts are united as one; one in which each person in the body allows your grace to powerfully work through them. I praise you for a giving church at FRC. Each person hops on the chance to serve the poor, feed hungry children, and reach beyond our community to the ends of the earth. It’s beautiful to see so many serving and loving others through your grace.

Even still, I lift up our church finances. We are dangerously behind our budget, which limits the impact we can have on the discipleship of those that come to our church. While we are a giving church to the community, we need to be more giving inside our church family. The ministries are suffering. I pray for hearts to be burdened for the ministries we have that disciple adults, teens, and children in the Lord. We have new opportunities coming forth in the fall – divorce recovery, children’s musical, children's renovation, next-steps classes, etc. 

You have called us to minister to those inside as much as those outside. Not much different than our own families. We feed our children in the home as well as feeding those poor out of the home. Give us a balance in giving, so that just like the first church in Acts, “there are no needy persons among us.” With one mind and one heart the disciples brought the money earned from their sales to the Apostles feet so that it could be distributed to anyone in need. While we may not be tangibly giving food and clothing to those in need that attend our church, we have a great responsibility to disciple them within the ministries you have called us to provide. It takes resources to keep these ministries alive. Please provide as you have promised you would.

Give us pause for our church family. You are the great Provider for each person in our church and for our church family as a whole. Burden us with your heart to give. Holy Spirit, teach us the value of tithing and giving to our church family. Teach us why, teach us how, and give us wisdom in what we are to give. You are the owner of all we have; you are the potter of our souls; mold us and make us into your servants of grace inside the church as well as outside.

In Jesus Name,

Amen.

Acts 4:32-37

How to Be Transformed by a Sermon

Great communicators are not always effective at evangelism. Don’t get me wrong, I love good sermons. I have many favorite Bible teachers who do a fine job of teaching and explaining the gospel of Christ. They are well informed and prepared by the word of God and they can deliver a message in a way that makes me sit on the edge of my seat so I don’t miss a thing! They assert with great power and passion the triumph of faith in Christ. However, even in all of this, good communication is not the reason people come to and grow in Christ. 

Let’s face it; I could know all I need to know about persuasive argument. I could learn the techniques to deliberate my case with great influence, but it still would not necessarily bring a person to Christ. Conversely, it is important to note what I am not saying. I am not saying stop preaching or stop teaching. I am not saying dismiss learning how to communicate well. Instead, I am transferring our focus to what really brings a soul into union with the Lord. It’s not good teaching methods, while beneficial to the learner. It’s not great communications skills, while advantageous to the hearer. Instead, let’s shift our attention from the preacher and teacher and look to the hearer. 

A person of change is one who hungers for a clean heart, a steadfast spirit, a constant presence with the Lord and joy in His salvation. This person is one that has a broken spirit. God will not reject a heart that is broken and sorry for sin. (Psalm 51:17). When our focus is entirely on the deliberation of truth and the effective communication of the gospel, without intention, we make the mistake that it is in our control whether a person comes to Christ or not. It is only the Father that draws all men unto Himself through His son, Jesus. So what do we do?

Prayer. Pray for broken hearts. Pray for the nonbeliever to be broken in spirit. Pray they see the fruitlessness of what the world offers. Pray for people to be repentant. Prayer is the most powerful tool a teacher, preacher, or any evangelist has in bringing people to Christ. Prayer is the first step to good teaching and preaching. We must pay close attention to the hearer - not just the teacher.

Think about it, if our hearts are hardened by sin, if we are filled with our own pride, if we are unrepentant and unconcerned about sanctification, are we really going to hear the word preached to us and change? Sadly, in this hardened state we justify our sin, not leave it. We blame others for their wrongs, instead of correcting our own failings. We fail to see our need to be like Christ. We take on a god complex and continue to live for self. Yet, the sermon heard was not about this at all. The state of our heart determines what we hear. 

Yes, faith comes by hearing the word of God. But I ask you, what part of us needs to be listening to increase our faith? A transformed person for Christ listens with their heart. It’s the heart that needs transforming. It’s the heart that needs a surgical miracle. It’s the heart that God sees yet no man can see. It’s the inside that God is concerned about - not the outside. The outside is only a reflection of what is in the heart. We pray for behavior change when we should be praying for heart change. 

The best way to change the heart of another is to pray for that person’s brokenness. And then pray for their heart to listen to the truth being taught so they can be transformed with tools that last forever - not for just a season.

Day Eight of 40 Days of Prayer for FRC

Father,

When Peter and John were among the people in the community, they came to a begging lame man and Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” Not only did this man walk, but thousands of people witnessed and came to the Lord in belief. Jesus was spreading through the community and people were being saved. Not happy, the rulers and elders commanded Peter and John to not speak or teach the name of Jesus. They were afraid of the immense growth among the people.

Father, no one can thwart the plan of your Son being made known and being known among your people.  Jesus himself said to the Pharisees, “if the disciples keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” The purpose of your Son’s arrival was to be proclaimed to the people and received with open arms to his salvation. I do not want stones to have this privilege,  we as your followers want to be apart of your amazing plan. 

FRC is in a very obscure place hidden behind many businesses. It’s hard to find it. It’s hard to know that it is a church. However, Lord, our building is not your church – the people are. Make us bold as you did the disciples. 

After the command to not share Jesus with others, the disciples prayed and we echo their prayer: enable us to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs of your choosing that will bring people into relationship with you. Empower us with your Spirit as we are in the community. Make us attentive to those around us that are lame in spirit; who need to walk a new life with your son. Give us the words, the power, to be a city on a hill that cannot be hidden by the world’s distractions. Shake the very essence of who we are and replace our identity with your Spirit, so that each of us speaks your word with great audacious faith and courage.

In Jesus name,

Amen

Acts 3:1-10; Acts 4:13-22; 29-31; Luke 19:40

Day Seven of 40 Days of Prayer for FRC

Father,

What an amazing time we had yesterday at church and at the baptism! I praise you for children! 

What I noticed yesterday was the truth of Luke 24:30-32 lived out. As we shared the word of God with the children during the first and second services, we could literally see their eyes open and understand your truth. As I taught the children’s baptism class, I experienced one child encouraging another with your word (interestingly, the scripture she shared was not even part of the baptism lesson, yet, it fit so well – only You, Lord could orchestrate that!).

Again at the baptism, I witnessed a mom sharing her child’s spiritual growth with me and another mom and suddenly, the one mom who was hearing and hurting was lifted up by your word. What was shared was so fitting for what she was struggling with at that very moment. She was strengthened and touched intimately by your love.

Wow! What a beautiful day to witness the working of your Spirit among the body of Christ!

Yesterday reminds me of the first church when they gathered together and were filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed. Yesterday proves that your desire for your church then is also your desire for your church today.

I am praying for one thing today for our church: devotion. May we have a burning desire to know you and seek you, therefore as you reveal yourself to us, suddenly our eyes will be opened and we will know who you are and the blessings you are sharing with us. Make us intentionally aware of your truth and the power of your presence. We love you!

In Jesus name,

Amen

Luke 24:30-32; Acts 2:43