Prayer Quotes — from Puritan theologian John Owen (1616-1683)
If we would talk less and pray more about them, things would be better than they are in the world: at least, we should be better enabled to bear them.
And…
If we do not abide in prayer, we will abide in temptation. Let this be one aspect of our daily intercession: ‘God, preserve my soul, and keep my heart and all its ways so that I will not be entangled.’ When this is true in our lives, a passing temptation will not overcome us. We will remain free while others lie in bondage.
Prayers for the week…
- As neighbors and citizens: Pray for our nation during this federal government shutdown. Democrats, Republics, Independents — every political stripe stands in need of prayer. As pastor John Piper once said: “No king, no president, no premier, no Ayatollah can stay the hand of the Lord when he has purposed to do a thing. “The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will” (Proverbs 21:1). “Many are the plans of the mind of a man (of a king!), but it is the purpose of the Lord that will be established” (Proverbs 19:21).” Let’s pray for our leaders and our nation!
- Pray for the pro-life movement around the world. In the United States, pray that religious freedoms would not be squelched in the name of universal health care.
- Pray for the Reformed University Fellowship (RUF) ministry taking place at Texas A&M — led by Ben Hailey:
After serving four years with RUF at Hinds Community College near Jackson, Miss., Ben and Beth Hailey are now in College Station, Texas, serving at Texas A&M University. Ben is a 2004 graduate
of Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Miss. Ben and Beth both attended Delta State University in Cleveland, Miss., and both grew up in Mississippi. They have two children. Hannah (8/12/04) and Nathan (9/26/06). Ben enjoys outdoor activities such as hunting and golf. Beth loves exercise and sewing.
- 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 Palestinian Territories, which ranks No. 36 on the watchlist.
There is noticeably more pressure on believers in Gaza than in the West Bank because the authorities are increasingly under the influence of Isl
amic extremists. Christians experience oppression from radical Muslim groups and the authorities fail to uphold and protect the rights of individual Christians. On the West Bank the situation is different: the ruling Fatah party is based on secular principles. However, fear is growing because of mounting tension between Israel and Iran, and the church is suffering from the restrictions that result from the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
PRAY:
- For persecuted Christians who live in hiding; and for those who, through despair at the political and economic situation, feel forced to leave Gaza
- That political tensions will not negatively affect the church
- For the work of Musahala, bringing reconciliation between Messianic believers and Palestinian Christians
- Prayer for the nation – focusing this week on the state of North Carolina — the home of the Layman headquarters (Lenoir, N.C.)!
- 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 Rocky Mountains: Denver, Glacier, Plains and Peaks, Pueblo, Utah, Western Colorado, Wyoming and Yellowstone.
- Prayers for Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC): Mid-America Presbytery (Dexter Kuhlman, stated clerk).
- Prayers for the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA): the churches of the Central Indiana Presbytery.
- Prayers for ECO: A Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians.
- Prayers for The Fellowship of Presbyterians.