1-Minute Devotional Thought —
“Oh brother, pray; in spite of Satan, pray; spend hours in prayer; rather neglect friends than not pray; rather fast, and lose breakfast, dinner, tea, and supper — and sleep too — than not pray. And we must not talk about prayer, we must pray in earnest. The Lord is near. He comes softly while the virgins slumber.” –Andrew A. Bonar
Prayers for the week…
- As neighbors and citizens: Ask your pastor or youth pastor to supply you with the names of the young men and women who left your church to go to college. Whether freshmen or seniors — pray for these people and their walk with Christ. Whether their place of learning is public, private or Christian … there are always challenges to the Christian faith and practice that fall upon people in this age group. This is often described as the period in a person’s life when they are most apt to leave the church. So, what can you do? Pray for them! And, as appropriate, write them notes of encouragement.
- Pray for the pro-life movement around the world. These issues strike at many different fronts, but anywhere that human life is cheapened and devalued — we must pray! Whether the battle is against actions which, literally, end life (euthanasia, abortion, religious persecution, unjust forms of capital punishment), or takes a person’s life away through human enslavement — pray and take local action whenever you can.
- Pray for the Reformed University Fellowship (RUF) ministry taking place at Rice University (Houston, Texas) — led by Billy Crain:
Originally from Dallas, Texas, Billy is the fourth of five boys. After attending the University of Texas at Austin, Billy served for two years as an RUF intern at Auburn University. Billy followed up his time at
Auburn by attending Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Miss., while working with college students at First Presbyterian Church and Millsaps College. Before becoming the RUF Campus Minister at Rice, Billy spent three years teaching and coaching at Providence Christian School of Texas in Dallas. In 2001 Billy married the lovely and talented Ashley Joan Knox of Austin, Texas, and they now have three wonderful children, William, Knox and Jackson.
- 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 India, which ranks No. 31 on the watchlist.
Religious militants are one of the most prominent attackers of the Christian minority, claiming that every Indian has to be Hindu. “Anti-conversion laws” have been adopted in several states and are frequently used as a pretext to disrupt church services and to harass and accuse Christians. Permission to build or r
enovate a church building is almost impossible, and church activities can be perceived as “hurting religious feelings” and “disturbing peace and order.” The caste system, which is deeply rooted in society, makes outreach extremely difficult.
Pray: For Christians attending Open Doors’ “Standing Strong through the Storm” seminars to strengthen them in the face of persecution
For converts from Hindu or Muslim backgrounds, who face exclusion by friends and family
Praise God that, despite the troubles, the Indian church is growing.
- Prayer for the nation – focusing this week on the state of Nevada.
- In 2013, we are praying 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 Presbyterians. 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 Mid-America: Giddings-Lovejoy, Heartland, John Calvin, Missouri Union, Northern Kansas and Southern Kansas.
- Prayers for Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC): Alleghenies (Bruce Allison, stated clerk).
- Prayers for the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA): the churches of the Calvary Presbytery (parts of South Carolina).
- Prayers for ECO: A Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians.
- Prayers for The Fellowship of Presbyterians.