40 Days of Prayer for USA

Dear Church Family

   We are entering an enormous challenge and opportunity within 40 days, the General Election for 2020. This will require a lot of prayer for our nation, leading up to that important moment. I'm writing to you to urge you to pursue with me a solemn 40 day vigil of prayer for our nation. I will be sending, starting tomorrow 9/24, the 40th day away, a letter with some devotional ideas and I hope you join with me in praying the prayers. I will send the next group of 3 or 4 devotionals a couple of days later with more inspiration. I do hope you pray for our country, whether you use these scriptures or not.

   I know we have a variety of opinions and reasons for thinking about the way we are going to vote. In our Methodist world, John Wesley knew we would not all be of the same mind. But he urged us to all want to love one another in the best way possible. So our prayers can be for one another to grow in love, even in the middle of the challenges that are before us.

   One of my great appreciations for our country and our faith is that we have been able to look past our differences and realize we are all children of God. I hope we can keep civility and respect and compassion for one another, even during this awkward time. Some of our troubles have been because  we judge someone who doesn't see the way we do, as  "an evil, horrible, must be destroyed person" and that just isn't Christ like or even basically an attitude of America. So I invite you to pray for civility especially.

   Here are some ideas for starting this journey together. And if you don't mind, let me know your thoughts as we go along this pilgrimage of prayer together.

Day One

"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline." Proverbs 1:7

Prayer Points

Pray that the United States will repent of its corporate rejection of the Word of God as a basis of law. Pray that a holy fear of God will sweep across our nation, leading us back to a place of wisdom. Pray that courage born of wisdom will be given to Christians in places of leadership in government, the courts, and law schools across the nation so that they will stand for a godly basis for law.

Day Two

"The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble." Psalm 9:9

Prayer Points

Ask the Lord to turn the hearts of the citizens and leaders of the United States to Himself. Invite the Lord to be your refuge and your stronghold. Pray that our nation will increasingly see that God is our only refuge in the midst of the troubles of this world.

  from 40 Days of Prayer for America by David Butts

This should get you started. I'll share more in a day or two.

Blessings

Pastor Jeff

 

An Hour in Prayer #12

 Dear Church Family

 

   Where has the summer gone? A lot like Spring too. It’s after Labor Day, and we are wrapping up the twelfth and final installment on how to pray for an hour with 12 five-minute segments. Tonight we look at Praise and the power it has to help us grow closer to God and to receive the strength and wisdom and help we need to face the challenges and stresses of our lives now.

 

   Praise is to exalt and glorify God, to tell the Creator that you know what God has done and to whom you are reaching out to in prayer. This is a way of saying that we trust the Great I AM with our supplications. Let your Amen be strong at the end and confirm that you Believe God has heard you and will answer you. Amen means its true and sure, so shall it be. It’s a way of saying thank you before you even know how God has answered your request.

 

   Next week we will make AWE a little shorter so that we can share in the book reading Think Like Jesus, a book that helps us see that living as a follower of Jesus in this very complex world with all it’s issues and challenges, will require that we understand what it means to follow Jesus in a way that will help all this make sense. There is a video from Randy Frazee and a discussion book with homework, to help explore the important dimensions of understanding our faith so that we can actually live a Christ like life.

 

   The sessions include: Who is God?, Does God Care About Me?, How Do I Have a Relationship with God?, How Does the Bible Guide My Life? Who Am I in Christ?, What is the Purpose of the Church?, How Does God Value People?, What is Eternity Going to Be Like? All very interesting thoughts we each have at some point in our spiritual journey or pilgrimage.

 

   The class has a companion book for even more reading should you like to explore the topic even further. You can have both for $20. They are in the church office and if you call you can arrange to pick them up, or you can get a Kindle copy of each and read along that way. These topics will also be the theme of the worship services from now through All Saints Sunday. We will move into a Fall, Thanksgiving and Advent season.

 

  

   May God Richly Bless you as we move into this fall season together. Remember we urge you to share this with a friend. See you in Zurch.

 

Pastor Jeff