“Beware in your prayers, above everything else, of limiting God, not only by unbelief, but by fancying that you know what He can do. Expect unexpected things ‘above all that we ask or think.'”
–Andrew Murray
- 1-Minute Devotional thought:
(Romans 6:11) So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
After the Apostle Paul wrote so persuasively about God’s “super-grace” in Romans 5 — the grace of God to forgive a mountain of transgression — he knew that opponents of grace would come in for the attack on two fronts.
Libertines (grace abusers) say: “Since grace is good … let’s sin a lot more so that the quantity of grace goes higher.”
Legalists (grace deniers): “You don’t have a good answer to those libertines, because if you rip out the idea of earning God’s favor through good works … nobody will actually do good works!”
So, the Apostle Paul wrote Romans 6 and 7 (though he didn’t number them as such, of course) as the answer to such attacks on free grace. 
Yes, grace is free, but it is not cheap. It cost Jesus Christ everything. Jesus had to die and be resurrected from the dead — and Christians are those who have died and have come alive in Christ. We are no longer dead in trespasses and sins (sons and daughters of the First Adam), but are now made alive in Christ (sons and daughters of God through Christ, the Second Adam).
That is why Paul can say: “Consider yourself dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Romans 6:11). We have been moved from the realm of slaves-to-sin and into the realm of joint-heirs-with-Christ.
As a result, when we pray to God, we do so in the name of Christ and with boldness — approaching the throne of grace and talking to our Father in heaven.
That is resurrection power in our prayers!
- As citizens of the City of Man: Continue to pray for the justices of the Supreme Court of the United States this week as they continue to consider the arguments they heard last week regarding same-sex marriage. And, pray for churches to be prepared to respond with the Gospel and with Christ no matter how human courts may resolve such issues.
- Pray for your local pro-life ministries. Pray this week that each ministry throughout the land will experience the joy of seeing even one “abortion diverted” situation — where a mother who intended on getting an abortion decides differently upon the intervention of pro-life counselors. And, pray for such opportunities to also open the door for non-Christians to experience the grace of salvation through Jesus Christ.
- Pray for the Reformed University Fellowship (RUF) ministry taking place among internationals on the campus of Georgia Tech – led by Alex Graham:
Alex is a University of Tennessee graduate and earned a Masters degree from Westminster Seminary. Alex has worked overseas in China and Africa. In addition to his campus work, Alex helps Atlanta churches welcome students from around the world. Alex and his wife Christina have one young daughter. They join RUF International in June, 2010.
- Using the new 2013 “watchlist” produced by
Open Doors, we pray for the persecuted Christians of a different country each week.
Teachers/parents, consider this a great way to introduce geography into the weekly lessons. Show students where the nation is, then pray for Christians in that place.
This week we pray for the Christians of Syria, which ranks No. 11 on the watchlist:
Before the civil war, although meetings were monitored, Christians were respected in society, but this is rapidly changing. Muslim Background Believers (Christians from a Muslim Background) face opposition from family and friends, and also now from foreign extremist fighters and mercenaries. Previously, Christians were persecuted for supporting the government, or not taking sides. Now a clear religious motive has been added by the influx of these foreign radicals. Many Christians have been abducted, physically harmed and killed, churches damaged or destroyed, and tens of thousands of Christians have fled.
Pray for Christians who’ve had to flee their homes, for the emergency relief and trauma counseling that Open Doors is able to offer, and give thanks that, despite the challenges, the Syrian church is reaching out to others
- P
rayer for the nation – focusing this week on the Florida. This state has both a “Bible belt” sections as well as extremely non-churched areas. Pray for pastors throughout the state to lead and shepherd their congregations to be full of faith in Christ and rich in good works to their neighbors.
- In 2013, we will pray together by name for Christians in 50 nations, Christians in all 50 states and all the presbyteries of the Presbyterian Church (USA), Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC), Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) and the emerging new Reformed body, ECO: A Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbytreians. You are encouraged to add specific pastors, lay leaders, congregations, missionaries, new church developments and other ministries to the list by posting a comment to the blog. (Please do not publicly post the names of missionaries serving in contexts where exposing their identity would cause them harm or bring harm to those they serve in Christ’s name.) Let us kneel before the Father and ask His will be done.
- Prayers for the PCUSA: Pray for the presbyteries of the Synod of the Southwest: de Cristo, Grand Canyon, Santa Fe, and Sierra Blanca.
Prayers for Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC): the Pacific (Ron Bengelink, stated clerk).
- Prayers for the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA): the churches of the Tennessee Valley Presbytery.
- Prayers for ECO: A Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians.
- Prayers for The Fellowship of Presbyterians.