Prayer and Bible Reading Guide

 

Prayer  and  Bible  Reading  Guide   March  10-­‐16,  2013   Day  1  

Day  2  

Day  3  

Day  4  

Day  5  

Day  6  

1  Peter  1:22-­‐2:3  

Leviticus  19:17-­‐18  

1  John  3:15-­‐18  

Luke  10:25-­‐37  

Romans  1 2:19-­‐21  

Matthew  5:43-­‐48  

            This     coming  Sunday  we  return  to  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  considering  Christ’s  call  to  kingdom  citizens  to  love  their  enemies.  At   the  end  of  this  passage,  Jesus  says,  “You  therefore  must  be  perfect,  as  your  heavenly  Father  is  perfect.”  What  an  incredible   statement!  J.C.  Ryle  commented  on  this,  “The  perfection  of  practical  Christianity  consists  in  attending  to  the  little  duties  of   holiness  as  well  as  to  the  great.”  The  readings  for  this  week  in  the  passages  above  focus  the  theme  of  sincere  and  impartial  love.    

Mar  1 7-­‐Matt  5:43-­‐48,  Love  Your  Enemies                          Mar  24-­‐John  12:20-­‐33,  Palm  Sunday                                  Mar  3 1-­‐Easter  Sunday  

PRAYING  FOR  GOD’S  GLORY   Pray   that  we   would   sincerely  love  others,   and  that   as  we  love  with   an  otherworldly  consistency,   God’s   glory   would   be   revealed  through  us.  God  is  impartial   in  dispensing  his  kindness:   “on  the  just  and   on  the  unjust”  (Matt  5:45).  Pray   that   we  would  likewise  be  perfect  in  this,  revealing  the  goodness  of  our  eager-­‐to-­‐forgive  and  ever-­‐compassionate  God.   PRAYING  FOR  GOD’S  PEOPLE   This  week  we  will  be  praying  for  Grace  Church  -­‐  AME   (downtown  Raleigh)  and  their  pastor  Stacatto  Powell.  Please   pray  for  these  brothers  and  sisters  throughout  the  week.  Also   pray  for  the  following:   Day  1:  Pray  for  pastors/members  of  Grace  Church,  that  their   gospel  love  would  stand  in  stark  contrast  to  the  darkness  of   sin.  Pray  that  they  would  be  a  b lessing  to  their  community  as   they  reflect  Christ’s  love.  Pray  that  the  Word  of  God  would  be   taught  faithfully  in  the  church  each  week.   Day  2:  Pray  for  the  ministry  to  the  inmates  at  the  C.A.  Dillon   Detention  Center.  Pray  that  these  men  would  understand  and   love  the  gospel,  and  that  they  would  experience  reconciliation   to  God  and  others.  Pray  for  Jeff  and  June  Eason  who  lead  this   ministry  and  Bible  study  on  the  second  Sunday  of  each  month.   Day  3:  Pray  that  we  would  be  “world  Christians”  –  full  of  interest   and  concern  in  the  world  at  large  and  all  the  peoples  in  it.  Just  as   God  is  not  a  tribal  God,  so  our  concern  should  be  for  “all  the   nations.”  Pray  that  God  would  expand  the  concern  of  our  prayers,   the  direction  o f  our  giving,  and  the  decisions  o f  our  futures;  that   we  would  be  guided  in  these  things  not  by  the  hope  of  comfort   but  by  the  advance  of  the  gospel.   Day  4:  Pray  for  Tom  Mercer  as  he  p repares  to  teach  this   coming  Sunday  from  Matthew  5:43-­‐48.  Pray  that  the  Spirit   would  give  insight  and  direction  in  his  study  (1  Cor.  2:12-­‐13).   Day  5:  Pray  for  the  women  of  Christ  Covenant,  that  they  would   be  self-­‐controlled,  rich  in  good  works,  and  full  of  gospel   boldness  in  their  relationships  with  non-­‐Christians  (Titus  2).   Day  6:  Pray  for  the  various  Bible  studies:  Table  Talk,  women’s   Bible  study,  Adult  Education,  various  small  group  Bible  studies.   Pray  that  God  would  be  using  these  to  increase  our  love  for   Him  and  bring  conviction  and  repentance  over  sin.  

PRAYING  FOR  GOD’S  WORLD   This  week  we  are  praying  for  the  advancement  of  the   gospel  among  the  people  in  Kazakhstan,  the  world’s  ninth   largest  country.  Please  use  this  information  to  inform  your   prayers,  taken  from  Operation  World  (available  in  the   bookstore):    

Religion   Christians   Evangelicals   Muslim  

                                1,914,045   104,511   8,456,457  

Pop  %   Ann  Gr   12.15   -­‐1.5   0.7   3.5   53.68    

 

“To  be  a  Kazakh  is  to  be  a  Muslim”  –  but  theirs  is  a  folk   Islam  strongly  influenced  by  shamanistic  practices.  Other   Muslim  countries  (Saudi  Arabia,  Iran,  Turkey,  Pakistan)   invest  huge  amounts  of  money  to  send  Muslim   missionaries  –  some  are  effective  even  in  converting   Russians  to  Islam.  The  number  of  registered  mosques   grew  from  46  in  1989  to  1,282  in  2002  (quite  apart  from   many  unregistered  ones).  Traditional  Islam  is  on  the  rise,   even  trendy  in  some  sectors,  despite  the  government   actively  opposing  radical  Islam.  Orthodox  Christianity  is   perceived  as  the  religion  of  Russians,  and  evangelicals  are   often  regarded  as  dangerous  sects.  Pray  for  this   misconception  to  be  broken;  pray  for  freedom  from   historic  spiritual  bondages  and  prejudices.    

Russians  and  Ukrainians  –  from  the  early  1990s  onward  –   have  emigrated  back  to  their  ancestral  homeland  in  large   numbers.  M ost  who  remain  are  non-­‐religious  or  Orthodox   with  German  Catholics  and  Lutherans  as  well.  The   Orthodox  Church  increasingly  aligns  itself  with  Muslims,   seeking  to  cement  its  own  religious  status  at  the  expense   of  newer  religious  groups.  Pray  for  renewal  among  the   Orthodox.  Many  Russians  are  impacted  by  the  fast-­‐ growing  evangelical/charismatic/Pentecostal  churches,   much  more  so  than  Kazakhs.