FOR OUR FAMILIES
What follows is the general order of how this prayer time will go-hope to see you there!
Welcome- Why we are here… you need PRAY NOW paper and a pen.
Lord prepare me, to be a sanctuary,
pure and holy, tried and true,
with Thanksgiving I'll be a living, sanctuary
for you
-Spirit
of the living God
Spirit of the living God, fall afresh
on me (2x)
melt me, mold me fill me, use me… (repeat
first line)
Why Family?
Last September we had our first Pray Now gathering when we prayed for
Prodigals. This was a good time of prayer but it only scratched the surface of
family prayer. I’d like us to open up to other family related concerns and
blessings and lift them up in prayer tonight. Nothing can hurt you, or heal you
quite like family.
First, what are the concerns we have
about our families?
I don’t know anyone who doesn’t have some kind of concerns about their
family. From potty training babies to Alzheimer’s for older people-you name it
people are concerned about it. We may have some concerns in common or some that
are just us. The Bible even talks about concerns for our families. Let’s read a
few of those verses:
Mark 3:25 If a house is divided
against itself, that house will not be able to stand.
1 John 4:20 Whoever claims to love
God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their
brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not
seen.
1 Corinthians 1:10 I appeal to
you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of
you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among
you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought.
Ephesians 6:4 Fathers, do not exasperate
your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the
Lord.
1 Timothy 5:8 Anyone who does not
provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied
the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
Perhaps those scriptures stirred you with concerns-let’s name them-out
loud or written down. We’ll put them on the board with no judgement-if it’s a
real concern for you it’s real for us. Call them out or write them down on the
½ sheet and pass them in… we’ll face our concerns together by writing them up
on the board-we may have more in common than we knew?
Now we will pray about our concerns-go to the
board and circle the concern you feel led to pray about-maybe you’ve been freed
from that concern-pray for someone to have the same freedom! Maybe you want to
face that concern in your life directly and pray about it-go for it!
Sometimes we don’t have the words to pray and that is ok. Silent prayer
works too. No concern won’t be prayed about-so let’s pray together…
Finally we want to thank God for the
blessing of family. Though we may have many concerns we must also hold hope for
the blessings that can come into our families. I’d like us to list the
blessings that either have come or we hope to come into our families.
To get us thinking about some of these let’s read the following Bible
verses together…
Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in
the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.
Malachi 4:6 And he will turn the
hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their
fathers.
Exodus 20:12 Honor your father and
your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is
giving you.
Psalm 68:6 God sets the lonely in
families.
1 Kings 8:57 May the Lord our God
be with us as he was with our ancestors; may he never leave us nor forsake us.
Proverbs 23:24 The father of a
righteous child has great joy; a man who fathers a wise son rejoices in him.
Let’s take some time to list some of the blessings we have or hope to
have in our families… now let’s either thank God for the ones we have, or ask
for those we want…
Prayer for Peace
Philippians 4:6-7 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by
prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to
God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your
hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Closing Song: Psalm
121
I lift my
eyes up, to the mountains -Where does my help come from? My help comes from You
-Maker of heaven, Creator of the earth… Oh how I need you Lord -You are my only
hope -You're my only prayer -So I will wait for you -to come and rescue me –to
come and give me life…
I
lift my eyes up, to the mountains -Where does my help come from?
Need a
little more?
I’m glad to
be available to pray with you about more personal things if you wish-now or later-praying
about family issues takes more than one night-but this is a start!
We have
prayer time every Sunday morning in my office at 8:45 that is open to
everyone-feel free to join us!
We also have open
and extended time of prayer every Sunday night at Campfire. Prayer time begins
around 7:40 (singing and sermon start around 7:pm-but people come and go as
they please)-know that you are welcome to join us whenever :)
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