This week’s prayers are written by Natalie Headley and are focussed on ‘Our Church Our Community.’ The source for this is from: bloggersforthekingdom.com/what-does-the-bible-say-about-community/
November 15 – Our church our community
If the pandemic has taught me only one thing it would be the importance of community. I believe we all have a sense of belonging, perhaps to something or someone, or to be part of something larger…a community.
I believe we need each other. We need to trust, rely, and depend on one another. God gave us each other to walk alongside, encourage, spur one another on in brotherly and sisterly love. We are to carry each other’s burdens, care for each other’s practical needs, warn each other of sin, and rejoice with each other. All for God’s glory.
PRAYER
Lord God Almighty, thank You for the gift of community, of belonging. Thank You that You have made a way for all to be a part of Your community.
Your Bible says, ‘consequently, we are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household,built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him we are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit’ (Ephesians 2:19-22).
Thank You Lord for in You we are one in the Spirit. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
November 16 – God’s desire for us is Community
When you become a Christian there is the automatic expectation that you will join a church so that you can be supported as you learn in your faith – joining a community of Christians sharing in fellowship and learning how to do so.
God never intended for us to experience life alone, but with one another, to break bread and share all, including our burdens.
A Christian community is important because it helps us stay focused on God. An example of this community in the Bible is seen in the early church in the book of Acts, where the people, ‘…devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved’ (Acts 2:42-47).
PRAYER
Lord God Almighty, thank You for our Christian community, Your church, where we abide in Your presence, Your dwelling place here on earth; with Believers of one mind, one heart, having everything in common.
Help us Father as we look to emulate the early Church, bless us with Your fruit of the Holy Spirit. Bless us with passion and zeal for Your people and for the work You predestined us to do for Your glory. Thank You Father. In Jesus’ name Amen.
November 17 – Living in complete fellowship
‘All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. With great power, the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need’ (Acts 4:32-35).
Here we see the early church community living in complete fellowship, a truly wonderful concept of community. I do not believe we have to sell all our possessions in order to be a part of a godly community; however, this is a good example of how the first Church was selfless. Communities are best when all are focused on loving one another and less upon oneself.
PRAYER
Lord God Almighty, bless us with Your grace and peace in Christ to live in complete fellowship. Help us to reflect Your love in Jesus to all, and in everything we do. Bless us, Father, with an earnest desire of putting others first. Thank You for providing for all our needs, ‘My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus’ (Philippians 4:19).
God You are our all-powerful, all-compassionate, all-wise and all-loving heavenly Father. Bless us with boldness to spread the Gospel – to tell people about Jesus’ resurrection through which we are forgiven and have been blessed by His grace to inherit Your kingdom. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
November 18 – We need each other to create communities
After God created Adam and placed him in a beautiful garden, He watched him and said that it is not good for man to be alone. He created Eve for him. Yes, this is a verse usually used for marriage, but I think it applies to all relationships. Family and friends are important relationships. God created us to live in groups or communities.
Solomon says it well:
‘Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labour: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken’ (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12).
Life is so much better when we do it with others! We accomplish more, we share the burdens, we share the celebrations. We need others. We need them for encouragement, help, and support in all ways: physical, emotional, and spiritual.
PRAYER
God Almighty, the King of glory thank You for relationships. The greatest of which is our relationship with You through Christ. We give You thanks for our families, and friends, and for our enemies we forgive them and pray for them to be at peace.
Thank You for Your Word which guides, rebukes and corrects us daily. And for our relationships here on earth that shapes who we are today. Your love, Father, is limitless and wonderful. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
November 19 – The importance of community
The Apostle Paul talks a lot about believers being the body of Christ. I believe the body of Christ is the same as a community of believers.
‘For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others’ (Romans 12:4-5).
These verses are meant to not only encourage us but teach us how to treat one another. We all have a job, a purpose, a place of belonging.
PRAYER
God Almighty, we give You all the praise and honour. We thank You for the body of Christ, to be able to share with a community of believers. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to be heirs of Your kingdom and co-heirs with Christ so that we may share in Your glory.
Thank You for making each of us so uniquely special so that we all can play our part in the body of Christ, knowing that we fit together as one, all for Your glory. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
November 20 – Connecting with others in the biblical community
‘My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends’ (John 15:12-13).
These verses share Jesus’ words about love and what He did for us. Without our connection to Jesus through His love, our connections with others will be self-centred. A good, biblical community begins with God’s love for mankind.
PRAYER:
God Almighty, bless us with Your favour, with the power to show unconditional love to all people. Bless us with Your grace and peace to live lives emitting Your light wherever we go. Bless Revd Nigel Tween as she shares in church this morning about ‘Reimagining Relationships.’
We pray that Your anointing will be upon Him, and all who gather to listen and be a part of his teaching and ministry. May we all in Telford Elim, in person and online, be rooted and established in Your love, and have the power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge – that we are filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. In Jesus’ name. Amen
November 21 – Our Church Community
Community can be used in several ways. Our church family can be our community, our local neighbourhood, or our entire town. We are here to be the salt of the earth. God’s love should pour through us and into our families, churches, and communities.
‘A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity’ (Proverbs 17:17).
God provides us with friends and family to help us through hard times. He knew we would need that. God knew that His perfect creation was now corrupt with sin and we would suffer in ways He had never intended.
God loves us so much that He sacrificed His son Jesus Christ for our salvation, giving us hope through the forgiveness of our sins and setting us free. Let us give thanks and praise to God for who He is and all that He has done.
PRAYER
God Almighty, ‘I will give thanks to You, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all Your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and rejoice in You; I will sing the praises of Your name, O Most High’ (Psalm 9:1-2).
Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before Him with thanksgiving and extol Him with music and song. For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods. In His hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to Him. The sea is His, for He made it, and His hands formed the dry land. Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for He is our God and we are the people of His pasture, the flock under His care’ (Psalm 95:1-7).
Father, once again – bless and anoint Revd Nigel Tween as he preaches in church this morning. May his ministry be both salt and light, full of grace, and able to inspire us all to live and love as You call us to do. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
