Pray Hard! PFTC Glasgow - prayer topics 10.05.2012

2 Chronicles 7:14

¹⁴ if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

Live Below The Line

Live Below the Line was introduced last week as a prayer topic.  There have been thousands of people around the world taking part this week.  It is nearly done!

Being close to a number of people who are taking part has really challenged me in my spending habbits, and in my eating habbits. 

Pray that we will all be awakened to the fact that we must be responsible stewards of all that God has given us. 

Pray for the health of all those taking part.

Pray that the impact of this week will be long lasting in practical ways.

Pray that the impact of this week will be eternally lasting in kingdom ways.

The Olympic Torch & Pentecost

We pray for the preperations for the arrival of the Torch in our city.  We pray that as the light is brought here physically, that the light of God will also shine brightly.

Pray for the impact of the Spirit this Pentecost.  Pray that we will see a mighty moving of God’s spirit in the City.  That the Light and Fire of the Spirit will descend with all the might of the Father.

Pray that we see the Kingdom come.

The Word

Last week I brought a word that I believe God wants the Church and the City to pay attention to. I have included it again in this prayer focus, and ask that we together pray through this scripture, and allow God to reveal Himself to us through this, that it will impact on our lives, and we will respond as God directs through the leading of His Spirit.

Zechariah 7(New Living Translation)

A Call to Justice and Mercy
7 On December 7 of the fourth year of King Darius’s reign, another message came to Zechariah from the Lord. 2 The people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regemmelech, along with their attendants, to seek the Lord’s favour. 3 They were to ask this question of the prophets and the priests at the Temple of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies: “Should we continue to mourn and fast each summer on the anniversary of the Temple’s destruction, as we have done for so many years?”

4 The Lord of Heaven’s Armies sent me this message in reply: 5 “Say to all your people and your priests, ‘During these seventy years of exile, when you fasted and mourned in the summer and in early autumn, was it really for me that you were fasting? 6 And even now in your holy festivals, aren’t you eating and drinking just to please yourselves? 7 Isn’t this the same message the Lord proclaimed through the prophets in years past when Jerusalem and the towns of Judah were bustling with people, and the Negev and the foothills of Judah were well populated?’”

8 Then this message came to Zechariah from the Lord: 9 “This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: Judge fairly, and show mercy and kindness to one another. 10 Do not oppress widows, orphans, foreigners, and the poor. And do not scheme against each other.

11 “Your ancestors refused to listen to this message. They stubbornly turned away and put their fingers in their ears to keep from hearing. 12 They made their hearts as hard as stone, so they could not hear the instructions or the messages that the Lord of Heaven’s Armies had sent them by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. That is why the Lord of Heaven’s Armies was so angry with them.

13 “Since they refused to listen when I called to them, I would not listen when they called to me, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. 14 As with a whirlwind, I scattered them among the distant nations, where they lived as strangers. Their land became so desolate that no one even traveled through it. They turned their pleasant land into a desert.”

Amos 5:18-27 (NLT)

Warning of Coming Judgment
18 What sorrow awaits you who say,
“If only the day of the Lord were here!”
You have no idea what you are wishing for.
That day will bring darkness, not light.
19 In that day you will be like a man who runs from a lion—
only to meet a bear.
Escaping from the bear, he leans his hand against a wall in his house—
and he’s bitten by a snake.
20 Yes, the day of the Lord will be dark and hopeless,
without a ray of joy or hope.

21 “I hate all your show and pretense—
the hypocrisy of your religious festivals and solemn assemblies.
22 I will not accept your burnt offerings and grain offerings.
I won’t even notice all your choice peace offerings.
23 Away with your noisy hymns of praise!
I will not listen to the music of your harps.
24 Instead, I want to see a mighty flood of justice,
an endless river of righteous living.

25 “Was it to me you were bringing sacrifices and offerings during the forty years in the wilderness, Israel? 26 No, you served your pagan gods—Sakkuth your king god and Kaiwan your star god—the images you made for yourselves. 27 So I will send you into exile, to a land east of Damascus,” says the Lord, whose name is the God of Heaven’s Armies.

1 Corinthians 2:14 (NLT)

14 But people who aren’t spiritual can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means.

Local Council Elections

We believe that God answers prayer, and in the community of Anderston, we have been praying hard that the right people who work tirelessly for our community would be re-elected, despite the political nonsense that was going on in the background.  We give thanks to God, and acknowledge that all power comes from Him – and we rejoice that God has answered our prayers in this area.

We pray for all those councillors who represent every area of the City.  May God grant them wisdom, and a sense of justice and mercy in these days. 

We pray that God will direct Christians attuned to His spirit into the path and lives of every Councillor that they may influence them for the Kingdom.

Thy Kingdom Come

We pray that there is a real and tangible moving of the Spirit in our City. 

We claim that God’s Kingdom will Come.

We pray that souls will be won for the Kingdom, and that we will rejoice with the angels as men and women, boys and girls turn to God as their saviour.

Other requests from previous weeks:

Each week we continue to pray for topics that we prayed for previously.  We won’t always list all the details, but rather just give you the headings to allow you to pray into these situations as God leads, and if you need to you can refer to previous weeks guides.

Community

Church Leaders

Glasgow

Debt & Wealth

Elderly & Vulnerable

Families

Young People

Trafficking, refugees and Asylum seekers

Churches

Other prayer requests from around the city and the world:

We give thanks for answered prayer in our community that God’s peace is being found in different situations, and that practical changes that we have been praying for will be happening, which God has guided and led.  We give thanks for this answer to our prayers.

We pray for the family of Lisa, as they deal with the bereavement of her cousin James.  We pray the peace of the Spirit upon them in these days.

For the escalating violence in Afghanistan, Syria & in the Middle East & Africa.  May God bring a lasting peace and reconciliation.

Sean Rooney, 15 years old, rare form of cancer

Pauline – that she knows your healing power as she continues to receive treatment.  We give thanks that she has been released from hospital.

Robert, 32 years old, illness.

For Susan & family.

For the staff and pupils of Anderston Primary School, St Patricks Primary School, Sandyford Day Nursery & Cranstonhill Nursery School.

Lord, there are many hurting people across our city and the world.  May you fill them with you love, show compassion, give peace and bring comfort in their time of need.