Abiding in Christ: 50 Days of Prayer and Fasting, Easter to Pentecost

Abiding in Christ:

50 Days of Prayer and Fasting

from Easter to Pentecost

Romans 12 opens with Paul’s appeal to the local church there in Rome. By the mercies of God, they are to present their bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God, which, he reminds them, is their spiritual worship (v. 1). He then proceeds to give an outline of what this looks like in real-time: Renewal of their minds through transformation and the exercise of their spiritual gifts bestowed on them by grace (v. 2).

From there, Paul makes a quick list (vs. 9-21) to further describe their spiritual service. "Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor" (vs. 9-10). In the middle of the list he urges: "Be constant in prayer" (v. 12). CONSTANT. Now, that takes some sacrifice. May we sense Paul’s urging as we pray and fast, knowing it is our sacred service, presenting our bodies to God as living sacrifices. Here’s the prayer guide for this week.

May 6—Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. Pray for those who have not yet confessed Jesus as the Son of God. 1 John 4:15
May 7—We ask you, Heavenly Father, for the means to purchase and develop all of the Saxon property so we can move in by September 2018. Make our church a visible witness to our community each day of the year for the glory of your name.
May 8—Pray for Rebekah Springfield as she prepares to leave on May 16 to return to the South Pacific with YWAM to serve at a medical clinic.
May 9—We praise you, Father, that you are kind to us even when we are not to you and others.
May 10—Praise God for the freedom Amos and Meredith Anderson have experienced from the government as missionaries in Albania.
May 11—Pray for those in our midst who continue to grieve the loss of loved ones. May they be comforted with the hope of heaven and the mysteries of the Sovereignty of God.
May 12—Pray that we would all learn to put pride to death and grow in humility. 1 Corinthians 10:12

Comments

The Secret of all Failure is our Failure in Secret Prayer

“We may be assured of this—the secret of all failure is our failure in secret prayer” (12). So writes the anonymous author of the classic little book on prayer entitled, The Kneeling Christian (Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids: 1971). He means that the reason we so often fall into sin or live in discouragement or fail to bear fruit is because we do not cling to God in Christ above all things. We do not diligently seek him or lean on him or plead with him or draw on his strength. We give ourselves to busyness over communion with God and in this way we seek to accomplish in our flesh what can only be accomplished in the power of the Spirit. Giving first place to what our dear author calls “secret prayer” is indeed a key to the Spirit-filled life but let’s be clear: prayer is not magic, rather, it’s a relationship. It’s not as if we simply have to file requests with God, being careful to use just the right words so that we can get him to respond as we wish. God is not a vending m

Deacons - How They Serve and Strengthen the Church (Part 1)

One of the next important priorities for GCF is to establish deacons in the life of the church. On March 14, 2021 we were able to establish an elder team. Currently, we have a team of four elders overseeing the congregation of GCF. However, there is more work to be done. I have come to see that establishing an elder team was the bare minimum that needed to happen for GCF to survive. I believe GCF now needs to turn our attention to raising up a team of qualified and willing deacons to serve the congregation so that it will not only survive but thrive. I would like to begin a series of blogs on deacons to help us understand who they are and what they do in the life of the church. In this blog let me provide three reasons why I think deacons should be near our top priority. Number 1: It is Biblical. Paul instructs Timothy to install elders who will help him pastor the church. For whatever reason, it seems the churches in our circles treat the installment of elders as non-negotiable

Does the Doctrine Divide? by Patience Griswold

“Oh, I try not to talk about doctrine. It’s so divisive.” This is a sentiment that I’ve heard expressed, as well as implied, on many occasions, and one that raises the question, does doctrine divide? In answering this question, we must keep in mind a very important truth and that is that everyone holds to some sort of doctrine . “Doctrine” is defined as “a belief or set of beliefs held and taught by a church, political party, or other group.” Regardless of whether or not someone publicly holds to a statement of beliefs from a particular church, every Christian, by definition, holds to a particular set of beliefs. As Carl Trueman observes in his book The Creedal Imperative , [W]hile Christianity cannot be reduced to doctrine, to mere teaching, it cannot be meaningfully separated from it, either. Even the most basic claims, such as “Jesus is Lord,” carry clear doctrinal content that needs to be explicated in a world where, as we have noted before, every heretic has his text and n

Glory of Christ Fellowship

Search This Blog