Pray. Now. Prayer topics 17.05.2012

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.

Praying!

Seems quite obvious I know but we need to pray about praying!  Specifically we need to pray about how can we get the Churches in the City focussed on praying together.  If we believe the promise of if 2 or 3 gather and God will answer their prayers – how much more powerful will the prayers of the Christians of Glasgow be if we focus those prayers and come together in that way?!

Pray that as doors open for Churches to work together, they will pray together.

Pray that prayer becomes the core of every Church.  That it is no longer an afterthought.

The Olympic Torch & Pentecost

We pray for the preparations 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.

We need to pray for the group of Christian leaders who are organising this.  It hasn’t been easy to bring many different groups together to focus coherently on working together so we pray that through the Spirit there will be a focus on ensuring that the right words are spoken, and that God will be in all the details.

We pray for the day that the torch arrives in Glasgow, that all those people who come into our City will be safe and that the event will pass safely and people will enter into the spirit of celebration.  We pray that those who are come into the City will be touched by the power of the Spirit of God.  That we see a wave of prayer over the City, as we pray the City of Glasgow into the Kingdom of God.

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

For the last two weeks I have included the Word that God had given me for the Church and the City.  This week I have only included the key verses from that Scripture.  I have also given a link to a Youtube clip of an old advert that was on TV some years ago.  The reason for this, is that I believe that God wants us to be God colours in our community.  We shouldn’t just be dull and boring, trapped in the black and white era, but rather our lives should be full of colour – High Definition and 3D God colour.  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

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
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.

God Colours

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GURvHJNmGrc

Matthew 5:13-16 (MSG)

¹³"Let me tell you why you are here. You're here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You've lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage.

^14-16"Here's another way to put it: You're here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We're going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don't think I'm going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I'm putting you on a light stand. Now that I've put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.

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.