Invitation to Prayer (remember the Lord delights to be with you)
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.”
Isaiah 43:1
Praying with Paul:
“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
While we are praying during Lent, prayers for renewal and God’s Spirit to work anew in our midst, let us do so with thanksgiving in our hearts. While there is no formula we must follow in prayer, Philippians 4 tells us to pray with thanksgiving. Sometimes our prayers can feel like a long list of problems we need God to fix. And those petitions are necessary – but may we also thank God, for past answers to prayer, for ways we see him working in the lives of those we are concerned about, and for what God is doing at LBPC. As we thank God for the good that we see, it encourages us to rejoice in the power of God as we pray.
Philippians 4:4-7
Prayer prompts:
- For the church to work for the common good and benefit of all people.
- For care, love, and community to be experienced by all who enter our building.
- For the witness of the Gospel to be preached clearly through all of the local congregations in the Southern End.
- Pray for one another that we as a congregation might grow closer to God and each other through our prayer and fasting. Pray that we would not give up, but keep pressing on in prayer
Prayer encouragement:
“How do we learn to pray? Mother Teresa answers, ‘By praying… If you want to pray better, you must pray more.’” (Philip Yancey; Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference? Page161)
Praying with you,
Pastor Tom