Jan 23 – Father, I pray for spiritual insight and understanding to able to resist and overcome the constant pressure to conform to the pattern of this world’s thinking; instead, I deliberately embrace the renewal of my mind by Your Spirit, word, fellowship with other believers, and partnering with You in Your Kingdom purposes.

I pray for the removal of any of my baggage which would introduce a note of scepticism, doubt or query concerning the Bible, its veracity and trustworthiness. I declare Your word to be true, and to be the foundation of our faith.

Expose the emptiness of the underlying strongholds of Humanism, Reason, Atheism, Pluralism, Materialism, Consumerism and Secularism which may have sown destructive seeds in my mind and life. May these seeds die, and instead, may the seeds of life in Christ lead to a new harvest of righteousness, peace, fruitfulness and joy in the Holy Spirit.

I pray that the glory and inestimable value of a biblically-centred faith and outlook on life will be brought to the fore in my life, our church, in person and online, and our nation. In Jesus’ name. Amen

Jan 24 – Father, I bring the whole area of pain to You. Actual physical pain has a profound effect on the mind, and can accumulate quickly so much unhealthy baggage. Pain is something we all seek to avoid, and yet, many of us live with.

There is also the pain that is associated with relationship problems or issues – with stress – mental ill-health – financial problems – disappointment – with failure – and with grief. These all are deep-seated pains which can then also cause ill-health or mental health issues.

Prolonged exposure to pain, whether low-level or much stronger and debilitating, is hard to cope with, wears a person down, is exhausting, reduces the ability to function effectively and often leads to severe mental health issues.

I pray for anyone I know today who is in this situation. Comfort those in mental or emotional pain, and lead them into a new season of grace and mercy – for those needing relief from intense physical pain, I pray for healing and wellness.

Lord, I also for those suffering because You are at work in and through their pain sanctifying, teaching and disciplining, help them to submit to You, draw near to You, and learn how to draw upon the sufficient grace they need for each day.

May their suffering turn into a place of communion with You, and spiritual growth and renewal. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Jan 25 – Lord, thank You that there are times that You use the season of pain to do some of Your greatest work in the mind and life of a person committed to Your Way for life.

Romans 5:3-5, NIV, ‘’Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.’

Your love has been poured out upon us by the Holy Spirit – thank You. Lord, it seems so callous to talk about ‘glorying in our sufferings,’ and yet, it was Paul’s statement of how the early Church viewed the good work You do in their sufferings.

We pray that we may be able to speak about pain and suffering in ways that point people to You, but also to how You can use our pain and sufferings to create perseverance which leads to mature faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Jan 26 – Romans 8:17, NLT, ‘And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering.’

8:35-37, ‘Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”) No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.’

Lord, we pray that we may be able to believe and walk in these Scriptures – especially when You call us to a time of pain, affliction or suffering of any kind.

Holy Spirit, enable us to jettison carelessness, thoughtlessness and less than whole-hearted devotion to Christ replacing it with a pure trust and reliance on our Saviour and Lord. Thank You for such work.

May we mature in faith to such an extent that we can declare, experience and live in overwhelming victory in Christ Jesus – no matter what we face in life. Today, we step out into that victory and choose to live in the full reality of Your love for us in Christ, no matter what we face. Amen.

Jan 27 – Father, as a Movement we are called the Elim Foursquare Gospel Pentecostal Church. The central person is of course the Lord Jesus Christ, but we are also Pentecostals and believe, and experience the rich life and power of the Spirit among us. Jesus is the Gospel, and the Holy Spirit empowers our witness to the world making it effective and fruitful. 

We do not only witness about Jesus the Saviour, but about the Lord Jesus Christ who leads us through life bringing more of the parts of our lives under His lordship. Help us to be witnesses to Jesus the Saviour – Healer – Baptiser in the Holy Spirit – and coming King.

Lord, enable us to give full witness to the power of the Gospel, and to the way You can heal physically and spiritually. You are still Healer today. You still work supernaturally in the realm of the miraculous, and You still empower us to join You in such ministry. Amen.

Jan 28 – Father, as we continue to think of pain and suffering – sadly, sickness is as much a part of our world as good health is because it touches all races of people, also affects Christians, causes much distress to many, many people, and leads to the death of multitudes every single day.

There are many times that pain is not Your will for us, but has been caused by other factors. Yet, You can turn any pain or suffering we face into a redemptive, discipling time drawing us to depend more on You, and look to You for the grace needed.

Therefore, I pray for those experiencing it:

i. If it is induced by their lifestyle – grant them revelation of what they could start to do in changing their habits or lifestyle choices which will make a positive difference;

ii. if it is because of illness or disease – I pray for much grace, Your healing touch and victory over it;

iii. if it is symptomatic of a deeper, underlying issue – may that be exposed and a redemptive transformation take place. In Jesus’ name. Amen

Jan 29 – Father, I bring the area of pressure and stress to You. Thank You that You have designed the human mind to cope with amazing amounts of pressure. In fact, it is often a catalyst for positive advances, and for us producing our best results.

However, when it becomes so intense and prolonged that we feel it is endless and beyond our ability to cope and succeed – it becomes a load too heavy for us to carry. In those times, teach us how to be yoked with Jesus, and to learn through the pain how to walk more closely with You.

Equally, if the opposite is true: our job or work is too easy, undemanding, boring and pointless, then stress can take over our minds and we experience the heavy load of boredom.

Boredom is dangerous because the carnal and worldly can appear to be the answer, but they are only traps which lead to sin and spiritual darkness. The life of the Spirit is the answer to our boredom – teach us how to live a Spirit-filled life every day.

I pray for anyone I know today who is struggling to cope with stress. I pray for three things: 1. That the difference between pressure and stress will become clearly understood;

2. That those facing stress will be able to open up and share how they feel with a view to getting good and appropriate help and support;

3. That the importance of living with a renewed mind in Your Word will become the aim of each person in our church. In Jesus’ name.  Amen