“Pray constantly for the love of God and Christ to fill the hearts of His people, and for the power of the Holy Spirit to come down and accomplish God’s work in this sinful world.” (Daily in His Presence by Andrew Murray, October 26th)
We are called to pray for The Church – fellow believers throughout the world. It’s not enough for us to say we are Christians and then not act as Christians. We know how difficult it is to live a Godly life. We face many trials and temptations each day, as do all fellow believers. We make poor choices more often than we would like to admit. But we are not alone in this. God has raised up intercessors to pray for His Church. Those intercessors ARE His Church! Yes, we are called to pray for the lost. We are also called to pray for each other who know our Father, and His Son, Jesus, and Holy Spirit. His Church is only as strong as the weakest link. He calls us to pray for each link, weak or strong. We may be one of the weak, but that doesn’t keep us from being an intercessor for all. God’s Church is the only hope for this world. We know that He will bring an end to this world as we know it. However, it is our job to be participants in growing that hope. As we lift each other up in prayer we bring strength to the Body of Christ. Let us pray for those who need to develop a more intimate relationship with the Father. Let us pray for those who allow worldliness to interfere in that relationship. Let us pray for those whose faith is not strong and, thus wander off His path for their lives. Let us pray for those who choose to be ‘religious’ instead of surrendered to the Lord. Let us pray for those who are deceived by false teachers. Yes, all of this includes you and me. Pray for each other in the Church, knowing that there are others praying for you. By doing so we bring hope to each other, to ourselves, and to the world.
“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Rom 15:13)
BE PREPARED!
I was on hold with a Medicare agent when the Holy Spirit showed me not to take for granted the abilities we have to communicate with others. A time is coming when human contact with government, corporations, medical professionals, and others may be extremely limited, or non-existent. We rely on human contact to go through each day of our lives. What will we do when this contact is no longer available? We need to be prepared if/when this happens.
When the agent asked me for my phone number the Holy Spirit also brought to my mind the fact that I don’t know peoples’ phone numbers anymore. We rely on pre-programed numbers in our phones to automatically reach the people that we regularly contact. What would happen if we lost our phones and couldn’t contact people we needed to contact? We need to be prepared if/when this happens.
Have you gone to a store recently and noticed that the shelves aren’t fully stocked? This situation appeared in the US at the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic. It improved for a while, but now we’re seeing it happening again. On the US west coast ships are having to anchor offshore for days, waiting to unload because of delays in the ports. We are being told that we may not be able to buy that special gift that our child wants for Christmas because of problems with the global supply chain. Are you prepared if you can’t buy what you need? It’s time to stock your pantry shelves with basic staples and other food supplies, as well as water. You might want to add gasoline, ammunition, and a generator to that list. (Please don’t store these in your pantry!)What have you been taking for granted in your spiritual life? Would you be lost if you couldn’t contact church friends or communicate with your pastor? Being spiritually prepared is much more than that. It starts with being saved. Are you prepared for the day when you will no longer be physically alive on this earth? If you’re not physically on the earth, then you are spiritually in one of two places – heaven or hell. Spiritual preparation means acknowledging that Yahweh, the Creator of all that is, is the one true God. It also means accepting Yeshua, His Son, as your Savior. In addition, it means establishing an intimate relationship with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and surrendering all that you are to them. Then, you are assured of being in heaven when you are no longer physically on earth. Lack of spiritual preparation results in eternal torment in the lake of fire. Eternal means forever and ever, with no end. Is that not enough to make you want to be prepared?!?!