This week’s Prayers are on Spiritual Integrity and are written by Pastor Leslie

26 July –Father, integrity is one of the main character hallmarks of a godly person. Thank You that godly integrity is developed through a close relationship with Your Beloved Son, with Your Holy Spirit, word, and in fellowship with other believers.

Ultimately, godly integrity flows from the reception of the Bible’s life giving amd transforming Words, and by the impartation of Your Son’s righteousness by the Spirit. As a Christian, being known for godly integrity is a good thing and points to a Christ-like character; it is a way of living which is honourable, righteous and noble.

I bring my own life before You today. I pray for a stronghold of righteousness and godliness to be established in me. As a church – we declare that You call us to follow the God-pleasing example of Your Beloved Son. May we hold true to Christ in the face of all that self, sin, Satan and the world throws at us.

May we honour Him by our lives, including our lifestyle choices. May Your Spirit reign in us as Lord, thus enabling us to truly surrender to Christ’s Lordship – the highest mark of spiritual maturity and integrity. In Jesus’ name. Amen

27 July – Father, we acknowledge that most people populate the hinterland between a form of worldly integrity and carnal self-expression. They are not overly upright, nor on the other hand egregious – that is: not grossly nor notoriously wicked. However, Your word reveals that such people are living a life-style which is sinful and ungodly, and reflects a heart and mind not renewed in Christ – still adhering to and following worldly principles.

Today many such people in our nation are likely to act and behave governed from an understanding gained from ‘Situation Ethics,’ that is: being flexible in the application of moral laws according to the circumstances that one finds oneself in at that time.

This is the hinterland that allows for the ‘white lie’ when it is deemed appropriate, for the fiddle that supposedly does no-one any real physical harm, and for the thought that, ‘the ends justify the means.’ May such a basis for life be exposed as false and anti-Christ in origin, and displeasing to You.

We pray for a godly Reformation of our nation leading many into a living relationship with Christ. As such we pray for Your Spirit to convict and challenge those who lack integrity in the communities of Telford & Wrekin – may such people hear the Gospel Message and be led to place a saving trust in the Lord Jesus.

We also pray for those to be saved who are deceitful, dishonest and corrupt. We proclaim that Christ Jesus came to save all sorts of sinners from the not so bad to the really evil in the world’s eyes. We do pray for Your Spirit to convict many of their sin; we also pray that our land will be just, equitable and fair – that there will be justice and an understanding that evil actions have consequences for those who break the law.

We pray for a revelation of Your Son’s love, and His offer to be their Redeemer and Saviour leading to the New Birth and a new creation. May new believers be properly discipled so that true, godly character transformation takes place across our Borough. In Jesus’ name. Amen

28 July – Father, today many claim to be spiritual, but are not in a saving relationship with Your Son. This means they follow a base, godless spirituality that opens them up to a higher power, the power of the Deceiver and Enemy of souls. 

It creates ‘seekers’ after a state of transcendence which takes them into a spiritual realm beyond the mere physical constraints of their present reality; in essence, people who are entranced and held by anti-Christ mysticism.

Lord, You call us to live with a deep appreciation of the limits of our own understanding, the majesty and wonder of Your life-giving word – while recognising that Your Ways are higher and more noble than ours. I pray for all true believers across our Borough – may each one develop a clear understanding of the difference between the false and true.

We pray for the deliverance of those caught in the Deceiver’s clutches. Fill Telford & Wrekin with Your Spirit of Truth who will lead people out of their present darkness into Christ’s light – into a true spirituality which is at the heart of godly integrity/behaviour. In Jesus’ name. Amen

29 July – Father, the rise of interest in adopting a pluralist spirituality is transforming the character and outlook of our nation. Even those coming to Christ come with a background steeped in this antichrist spirituality.

The loss of a biblical moral basis for our society including

• Christian morals are the laws based on God’s word which determine what God says is right and wrong,
• an ethical framework – ethics are the science which teaches us how to behave and obey God’s laws in a Christ-honouring manner,
• along with the loss of the biblical knowledge which was developed over centuries in our nation and which created a Judeo-Christian biblical collective memory,

has resulted in the present generations who do not know nor fear You, nor know how to please You, nor follow Christ.

Forgive the UK church when it has yielded the spiritual battlefield for our nation to the enemies’ forces – and not used its spiritual weapons to overthrow the enemy and his influence in our nation.

Heal Your Church of such sin, and raise up the UK Church to once again be the army of the Cross. You call it to reach out to the men, women, young people and children of our nation. We pray that through the local Church’s children’s and youth ministries that Christ’s saving knowledge will again be clearly taught and modelled to the young people of our nation leading to a nation once again which knows Your fear, word and ways.

We also pray for the ministries into schools such as Open the Book, Prayer Spaces, Prayer in Schools, Kaleidoscope, the Secondary School engagement by Scripture Union and Youth for Christ, godly RE teachers, and by many local Christians and ministers getting involved across our nation, as well as acting as School Governors – that such biblical, Christ-honouring foundations will again be re-established in our nation. In Jesus’ name. Amen

30 July – Father, upholding spiritual integrity is really hard today. People are coming to faith in Your Son with little understanding of what that should, biblically speaking, mean for their actions, reactions and spiritual development. In fact, many who claim to be Christians are living in a spiritual hinterland between true spiritual integrity and downright ungodliness often in ignorance of how their actions and attitudes are wrong in Your eyes.

Once again, we pray for the establishment of a firm foundation of sound biblical knowledge and understanding. May the believers in our nation live experiencing the blessing of obeying Your truth, but also with the conviction that even if things don’t work out as hoped – they will still obey Your word.

Deliver those who are living in the shadows between true spiritual experiences and carnal excesses – lead them into a place of spiritual integrity. We ask for a major reformation and rediscovery of the knowledge and application of Your truth. In Jesus’ great name. Amen

31 July – Father, Your Word refers to generations of Israelites in the Old Testament attending Your feasts, outwardly doing what the Mosaic Law demanded, but whose hearts were not in it and who really, truly served other masters.

Syncretism – the amalgamation or mixing of different religious teachings, different religious cultural identities and schools of thought into what appears to work best for that individual – is an ‘ism’ that either reveals an immature discipleship process or even an unregenerate heart far from a true faith in Your Son.

Syncretism is personal faith derived from soulish experiences, false insights and ungodly influences. It is the ‘faith’ of humanity reaching for the god of one’s own making. Your Son said that a person cannot serve two masters.

We pray for the breaking of the bondage of Syncretism and the spiritual destruction that lies in its wake. We ask for a new era of single-hearted devotion to Your Son in this Borough and County and nation. In Jesus’ name & for His glory. Amen

1 August – Father, thank You that our Lord Jesus was the ultimate man of spiritual integrity. He is even recognised as such by those who deny His divinity. His life was of such quality that even His enemies acknowledged Him as unique. 

True spiritual integrity involves submission to the absolute Lordship of Jesus, allowing oneself to be bathed in Your love, and to possess a biblical character developed by Your Spirit residing wondrously at the centre of the believer’s life.

We pray for the development of a great band of men, women, young people & children in our church, in person and online, and the churches in Telford & Wrekin, who are clearly living in Your fear, and in submission to Your Beloved Son. In His name. Amen