Nov 16 – This week we will be praying for God’s healing power and protection – Adeola Allinson set the theme for this week’s prayers. We are called the Elim Foursquare Gospel Pentecostal Church. The central person is of course the Lord Jesus Christ. He is at the heart of the Gospel, and is the focus of our witness to the world. We do not only witness about God, but about the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus said, ‘you shall be witnesses to Me’ (Acts 1:8).
He is the Saviour – He is the Healer – He is Baptiser in the Holy Spirit – He is the coming King.
‘Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well’ (3 John 2). The apostle John prays that Gaius’ health and life will be blessed, just as he is blessed in His relationship with the Lord.
Father, although we do pray for people to be whole and well – we also recognise that, sadly, sickness and disability are a part of our world and affects all races of people. These also affect Christians, cause much distress to many people, and lead to the death of multitudes every single day. Help us to work through this reality this week as we pray recognising the presence of sickness, suffering, disability and death all around us, but also Your provision of grace, fullness of life and the power of the Spirit to minister healing, wholeness and Your word’s saving truth. In Jesus’ name.
Nov 17 – Father, as we reflect on the words recorded in Exodus 23:25-26, given to Israel in an Old Testament context wherein obedience to the Covenant would lead to temporal blessings – we see an example of the breadth of Your blessings and Your willingness to give Your attention to bless every part of their lives. This was so the people could lead full, meaningful and worshipful lives: You would bless so they would have ‘that needed for life – bread and water – basic health – the healthy birth of healthy children – and a long life’ (J Durham, Exodus, p. 336).
‘Worship only Me, the Lord your God! I will bless you with plenty of food and water and keep you strong. 26Your women will give birth to healthy children, and everyone will live a long life.’ Lord, we also see in this a conditional promise– in order to be blessed, Israel had to truly worship only You. When they stopped worshipping You from the heart – then You allowed the ravages of sin, disease and invasion by foreign powers to humble them with the aim of drawing them back, in repentance, to Your pathway for life and the whole-hearted worship of You.
In our New Testament setting – we recognise that our blessings are primarily spiritual, but there is an overflow into our relationships, our natural lives, our communities, our businesses and our bodies. As such – we declare spiritual blessings are still available to those who will walk by faith, trust and obey Christ. We pray for the health and strength of soul and body we need to fulfil all You call us to, and to be a blessing to others. We pray for these blessings over every member of Telford Elm both in person and online.
We know that, as believers, You will never curse us, but You do discipline us, and sometimes that discipline can include sickness and suffering. Your discipline is designed to draw us back in repentance and humility to a place where we will depend entirely upon Christ for everything.
We confess that we have not always taken care of our bodies resting them properly, eating a healthy diet, and exercising to ensure they are robust and resilient. Guide us to a place, by Your Spirit, where every part of our bodies function as You designed, and that we will live in the fullness of life Christ promised.
Where there are health challenges, grant us the wisdom to know whether to pray for healing, or for Your grace to be revealed in the person’s life so Your power is made perfect in their suffering. When Your Spirit says yes, may we rise in faith and command all sickness to leave and pray for full health and strength to return to our bodies – when Your Spirit says to pray differently, we pray for the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ to be sufficient so that Your power is made perfect in the continuing weakness/infirmity, disability or sickness. In Jesus’ name. Amen
Nov 18 – Father, the DNA/Disposition of our fallen humanity means that we are subject to sickness, weakness and infirmity. When there is no apparent reason for pain or suffering, as in the case of Timothy who just appeared to have had a delicate stomach, we acknowledge our weakness but pray for Your grace and strength to enable us to live well.
You are our Creator God – Your Creation was good and perfect. It is the Fall that allowed sin into human nature, and the outworking of sin is death. The process of death includes sickness, weakness, disabiility, and decay. The words in Exodus 4:11-12, speak the truth that You are Sovereign over every aspect of life. ‘Then the LORD asked Moses, “Who makes a person’s mouth? Who decides whether people speak or do not speak, hear or do not hear, see or do not see? Is it not I, the LORD? 12Now go! I will be with you as you speak, and I will instruct you in what to say.”’ You were promising Your presence and Your anointing – You are still able to call and anoint people for Your work who feel that they are not fitted or able to rise to the task You have allotted to them.
We also recognise that because of the impact of the Fall, sadly, some babies are born with disability; other people throughout the course of their lives are then impacted by the ravages of disability – it impacts many more people then we think it does; yet, love, joy in relationship, and an ability to enjoy a good life are available as an universal blessing whether people are living in good health or with ill health, or with a disability.
We pray for all impacted by disability – for it impacts so many changing their lives beyond all recognition and making life so much more difficult and challenging. We lift them up to You, remember their situation praying for Your grace, strength and Your love to fill their lives dispelling loneliness, fear and the sense of loss of that which was once theirs.
Lord, infirmity does not prevent a person from being a loving, caring and whole human being – we pray for Your saving grace and keeping power to fill all. We pray for the guidance of Your Spirit to know who we should pray for healing, and when we should pray for the grace to live and minister and be Your disciple in the midst of pain, loss, weakness, infirmity, disability or suffering. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Nov 19 – Father, Paul’s thorn in the flesh in 2 Corinthians 12, is a wonderful reminder that not every infirmity is a barrier to fulfilling our life’s call. Paul, an apostle filled with the Spirit, and a man of great power and resourcefulness, for 14 years had to contend with a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan. You allowed it to keep him from becoming proud about his achievements and experiences in Christ. He sought You 3 times for the thorn’s removal, but You didn’t remove it. Instead You spoke words of life and joy to him, verse 9: ‘Each time He said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best or is made perfect in weakness.”
Paul’s response is amazing, verses 9-10, ‘So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. 10That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses/infirmities, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.’ Paul understood the spiritual principle that human weakness or infirmity can become the platform for Christ’s grace and power to be revealed in and through that person’s life.
Forgive us Lord, when we have made the worldly, Humanistic rationale that the human body is the greatest element in ensuring that a person lives a rich, fulfilling and impactful life. This is a lie. We do not need perfect health and the absence of sickness or disability to live and minister as a Christian – ill health, sickness, weakness or disability certainly are terrible and make life so much more difficult and harder to bear – ultimately, all of us need a full, open and transparent two way relationship with Christ. It is His grace, and the Spirit’s power, that enables us to be all You call us to be. Even Paul had to leave Trophimus sick in Miletus (2 Timothy 4:20b), the Apostle who prayed over handkerchiefs that brought healing as part of his ministry was also the same apostle who had to leave a colleague sick in Miletus.
Fill our church with Christ’s grace, the Spirit’s power, Your word’s wisdom and the discernment to know when to pray for the signs and wonders to happen in healing and deliverance, and when to pray for Your grace and power to be made perfect in the person’s weakness, infirmity, disability or suffering. In Jesus’ name and for His glory. Amen
Nov 20 – Father, You are God Almighty. You reveal Yourself to be the Healer, Yahweh Rapha (Exodus 15:26). However, in the context of Exodus 15:26, You did not not say that Your people would not be sick, but that You would not put on them the plagues which You put on Egypt. This is very different.
We pray for any living with the consequences of disobedience to Your word and will – King Uzziah is an Old Testament example (2 Chronicles 26:16-21) – for Your Spirit to guide the disobedient to a place of repentance and restoration. When we disobey You – it has consequences because it causes us to take an ungodly pathway walking away from Your purposes in Christ.
We know that disobedience also opens the door to Satan, and the world. It brings us into subjection to elemental forces, and opens us to demonic attacks which we are unable to guard ourselves against. When we walk in obedience to Your word, in step with Your Spirit, dressed in Your armour, and worshipping, including Spirit-led prayer – then we walk in victory in Christ protected from the arrows of the enemy.
Grant Telford Elim, and all who are part of it, as well as the churches represented by those praying with us, the anointing to minister deliverance, restoration and redemption to men, women, young adults and young people who are trapped in the jail cells that disobedience brings them into. May many find freedom and come under Your protection as they turn to obedience and faith to Christ and His ways. Amen
Nov 21 – Father, just like Job, we pray for those suffering from Demonic affliction (Job 2:3-8). Some sickness comes from Satan. Luke 13:11-13 is the account of how Jesus healed a woman who ‘for eighteen years had had a sickness caused by a spirit; and she was bent double, and could not straighten up at all.’ When Jesus saw her He said, ‘Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity.’
We pray for those whose lives, as well as their bodies, as it where, are bent double under the weight of oppression, addiction or sickness. In Christ, and through Your Church and its people – You still set free those who are afflicted and bound in sin, and sickness. We pray for the anointing and authority to minister release, freedom in Christ, and wholeness in body, soul and life.
Holy Spirit, guide and equip us in the spiritual warfare needed in order to develop this ministry, and to enable the church to confront that which destroys lives. Wholeness is so often a process, a process of prayer, Scriptural understanding, ministry, grace and time. May many testify to Your deliverance and restoration because of the ministry of Telford Elim online and in person. In Jesus’ name and for His glory. Amen
Nov 22 – Father, the Demands or Duty of ministry or work, can produce weakness, infirmity and sickness. It can be a lifestyle issue that leads to sickness – as in the case of Epaphroditus, probably as a result of the pressures of the ministry, evident from Philippians 2:25-30. Grant us the wisdom and sensitivity to the rhythms of our own bodies to know when we need to rest and when we can continue to work hard.
Paul spoke of a ‘physical infirmity’ that he had when first coming to Galatia (Galatians 4:13-15). The NIV states ‘an illness.’ Peterson puts it this way in the Message, ‘You were well aware that the reason I ended up preaching to you was that I was physically broken, and so, prevented from continuing my journey, I was forced to stop with you. That is how I came to preach to you. And don’t you remember that even though taking in a sick guest was troublesome for you, you choose to treat me as well as you would have treated an angel of God – as well as you would have treated Jesus Himself if He had visited you?’
Lord, You call us to wholehearted devotion to Christ, His worship and service, and to be faithful and committed to that which we do in order to work and serve well. Grant us the wisdom to know when to rest. Your spiritual Rest is key to our mental, physical and relationship health and vitality. Enable us to live in Your Rest, while treating our bodies and minds with dignity and respect and giving them the physical and mental rest they need. You give Your beloved sleep, and good sleep patterns are critical to good, general health. We pray for such good sleep to be one of the hallmarks of our church and all in online and in person.
For any who have gone too far and broken something in themselves – we pray for spiritual, physical and psychological healing to flow. Physical and mental ill health impact our spiritual well being, and spiritual ill health impacts every other area of our lives. Enable us to minister and teach into these areas so many people are led to a new place of biblical understanding, and spiritual and physical wholeness and strength. In Jesus’ name. Amen
