Intercessory prayer is the purifying bath into which the individual
and the community must enter every day.
(Dietrich Bonhoeffer)
and the community must enter every day.
(Dietrich Bonhoeffer)
Before You Ask
And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. (Matthew 6:7-8)
Many people think their prayers won’t work if they don’t utter them clearly enough, or fail to explain to God exactly what they mean, or don’t speak loudly enough to him with sufficient earnestness. But when this happens, prayer becomes so exaggerated that our Savior even forbids it.
Obviously Jesus does not want to discourage us from praying. His point is that when we pray we must have a sense of proportion. Once we have prayed, we must be quiet. We need to be like the farmer who has sown his seed. Help will come only when you are quiet in faith. Also in your sickness or with other needs, learn to be still and look to the Kingdom of God.
We can share our needs with the Father in a few words, without making a fuss, and rest assured that God already knows what we need and what he will do to help us. We don’t have to explain our requests in great detail to God, or try and make quite sure that he knows our needs. God knows about even the smallest matters and takes them straight into his heart. We can turn to him by glancing Heavenward, with no words at all. We can do this even when we pray about something concrete and tangible, or about something that specifically troubles us. We may realize that what we thought we needed is actually not necessary and that we can find a way right in the midst of how things are now.
This doesn’t mean that we just let things happen – as if everything will come of its own accord without our longing for it. Nor should we just cast a brief and hurried request at God’s feet. When this happens, we too easily lose sight of God, assume that everything comes to us without his help, and we forget to thank him. Then we cease to have a believing heart and are consequently not true children of God.
Jesus said, “Before you ask him.” Therefore we do need to make our requests known to him, otherwise many things will not be given that could have been given. It never displeases God when we come to him with our heartfelt requests. A real child asks for everything, knowing God has an ear for him. We should bring all our burdens and needs to him, for at the very least this helps to make us ever more aware that in all things God is the giver.
God always has our interest in mind. He carries our various needs with fatherly concern, eagerly waiting for us to come to him. He has not forgotten us. And when we feel tempted to think so, then all the more we should remember that he knows it all and cares for us. In fact, he knows much more about us and our needs than we do. Simple, childlike prayer is enough to move his heart, give you something out of the fullness of his compassion, and save you from all sorts of fear and trouble.
(Johann Christoph Blumhardt)
(The God Who Heals, Words of Hope for a Time of Sickness)
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Julia
We cannot fall beneath the arms of God.
However low we fall,
they are still underneath us.
(William Penn)
Received: April 24, 2018
Julia
World News This Week in Prayer – Thursday, 19th April 2018
We call ourselves to remember, dear God, that you are one. We call you to hear our prayer as we struggle for focus. Our world, your world, changes so drastically. We pray for the immediate survivors of the deaths of the famous, like Barbara Bush in the United States and Winnie Mandela in the Republic of South Africa, and of the humble. We pray that we may take from our sharing of all these lives, at whatever distance, things that in surprising ways, can be made to work together for good. We pray that we grow in depth and concentration in our love for you, for we know we are all part of the working together.
We pray for a centering vision for our leaders and for ourselves. As the world works toward a first face-to-face meeting between the heads of North Korea and of the United States, we pray for the wisdom of the negotiators. We pray for abundance of life for all Koreans, North, South and in diaspora.
We pray that diplomatic relations between the United States, United Kingdom, Francen and Russia persevere in negotiations towards a peaceful solution to any interference in the Syrian civil war so that the innocent civilians of this war-torn country suffer no more.
We pray for a corrective vision for histories, our own history as well as the history of others. We see anti-Semitism rising in Germany, Hungary and elsewhere. We see the presence of alternative views legislatively outlawed in Poland and ridiculed in the United States. We pray that outrageous claims may be replaced by a still more outrageous calm, in our hearts, in our minds, in our speech and in our communities.
We pray for an inclusive view of ourselves and others. Even baboons have worked collaboratively to escape a biomedical research facility with a record of fines and violations in the United States. We pray for refugees and for those who receive refugees. We pray for ourselves, that we may entertain angels unaware.
Amen.
(World In Prayer)
Received: April 23, 2018
Julia
Prayer That God Will Turn The Stubborn Hearts Of Unbelievers
Lord Almighty, as I pray today for those that do not know Jesus I ask that you can break whatever it is that has control over their heart that takes them away from knowing you. Psalm 119:67 says, “Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey your word.” It is true that many have to fall to their lowest points in life before they turn their life over to you. It often takes painful circumstances to drive us to Christ. Addiction, lust, materialism, and other deadly sins are false gods that are stealing the hearts of those who need you the most. I pray for those who are unsaved that you will be able to rip the bondage of what is holding them back. May they seek you! Amen. (Belief.net)
Received: April 23, 2018
Julia
Today, We Pray for Our Enemies
Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy on me, a sinner. Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, on all of us, sinners.
Father, we don't know who was behind recent tragedies, but we do know that they were human. And we know we are to pray for our enemies.
In Jesus we see humanities true identity as ones who are to be agents of life, not death. Jesus, as first of New Creation, invites all humanity to reflect and participate in New Creation.
Despite humanity’s sacred identity, evil often reveals itself through humanity. We must return to what we were created to be. May those behind this event return to who they were created to be.
We pray specifically that those involved in this violence return to their shared humanity as they confront the violence brought on fellow humans as a result of their actions. We pray that we don't lose ours in the midst of it all.
May we embrace our vocation as peacemakers who are to be agents of restoration and reconciliation rather than divisiveness, enmity, and violence.
We pray for a collective grieving that fuels our ability to live with compassion, generosity, and wholeness.
We plead for your justice to reign as we announce and promote your Kingdom reign through our words and deeds.
In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen. (Sojourners)
Received: April 23, 2018
Julia
Abba Father, we stand on your promise that you will deliver the needy when he cries, the poor also, and him who has no helper. We acknowledge that without you, we are nothing and can do nothing without your mercy and your grace. Hear us O God; hear the cries of the poor; make haste and answer the prayers of your children. We pray this in the Most Holy name of the Risen Lord Jesus. Amen. (Vincentian Ministries Kenya)
Received: April 23, 2018
Julia
We pray for Mahmoud Khalif Bayan, who lives in a tent near the summit of Sinjar Mountain in northwestern Iraq. He is a member of the Yazidi religious minority who fled a massacre by so-called Islamic State. He is trapped on the mountain with no food or water because his home was completely destroyed and cannot return to his city. May God have mercy on him. (IRIN)
Received: April 23, 2018
Julia
It is my sincere hope that everything necessary may be done in order to continue compassionately accompanying little Alfie Evans, and that the deep suffering of his parents may be heard. I am praying for Alfie, for his family and for all who are involved. Amen. (Pope Francis)
Received: April 23, 2018
Julia
The Miracle Of Easter from The Gelasian Sacramentary
The moment we have longed for has come; the night of our desires is here. What greater occupation could there be than for us to proclaim the power of your resurrection! This was the night when you shattered the gates of hell, and you took up the victory banner of Heaven. This was the night when you set us among the stars.
When your mother Mary gave birth to you, she was overwhelmed with joy at your beauty. Now we are overwhelmed with joy at your power. The blood which flowed from your side has washed away our sins. Your body rising from the tomb has promised us eternal life. Eternal are the blessings which in your love you have poured upon us.
Amen.
Received: April 23, 2018
Edmund Krzeminski
[We read] In the King James Bible, Ezekiel 22:30: "And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none."
O God, please help us and teach us to build a wall [of prayer] around the USA, Canada and Poland. Are you ready to stand in the gap, where God is the Helper and Teacher?
Please pray that Poland, the USA/Canada would overcome for: (The Acts 26.18).
* Poland, pray for freedom from dead religion to saving faith of Jesus Christ as the Saviour and the Lord by faith only,
* the Church in the USA, Canada – Pray for repentance and cleansing of the church--Matt. 3.12 "Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."
* my family:
1. Stir up the hearts of my family for ministry for me, my wife Dorothy, our daughter Ann, and our sons Peter and Daniel - "..but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" Joshua 24.15
2. Pray for God's will, wisdom, discernment, revelation and recognition for me and my family; I ask God for great wisdom in school for Daniel, and for Edmund’s work situation, for Dorothy and Peter (also God's direction for his life) and Ann (God's protection over the company where she works),
3. God's order in my work. I ask God for great wisdom at my work. Blessings and the knowledge of Jesus Christ for my bosses. Thank God for the continuation of my work.
Edmund & Dorothy Krzeminski
Received: April 22, 2018
Julia
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.
(The Jesus Prayer)