The focus of this week’s Daily Prayers is on Living Hope. Ten years ago this month, we were part of a large Telford wide mission initiative called One Bright Day held in Telford Town Park on 8 June 2014. Then on 5 July, we were part of Shropshire Hope Explosion held in the International Centre.
Both events drew many churches and Christians together in a concerted effort to reach many non-Christians with the Good News of the Gospel. They were large, exciting and blessed events.
We give thanks for all involved, pray for all those who were saved in and through them, and continue to pray for mission and evangelism to flourish and be fruitful across our county/borough in 2024. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
June 10 – Father, as I consider how best to pray for the salvation of many across Telford & Wrekin / Shropshire, I bring my ‘hope reservoir’ to You. I ask that You may fill me afresh with the hope of the Gospel.
I acknowledge that there are many things that I need to do in order to enable hope, and faith and love to flourish in my life. I repent of bad attitudes which bring nothing but negativity and defeat into my life.
I also acknowledge the times when I have allowed circumstances or challenges to rob me of my hope in Jesus the Saviour. Forgive me Lord, I pray.
Help me to fix some of the leaky points in my life so that instead of hope steadily draining away – faith, hope and love overflow and are a source of life for both me, and the others that I influence by my presence in their lives. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
June 11 – Father, Your Son set the perfect example of living in a complete and open relationship with You. He overflowed with the living hope that arises from a full and open relationship with You.
He was able to get the balance right between preparing His Disciples for the future, and living in the present with their humanness each day. As I look up to You, I have to acknowledge how my relationship with You is often very unlike Your Son’s.
I confess that there are times that I hold back, allow time to slip away without truly communing with You, often seeing more clearly the seen world around me than the unseen realities Your word says are the eternal (2 Corinthians 4:18).
I pray for the spiritual sight that the truly great spiritual heroes do have. I pray for all in our church, and true believers in our town and county, for the blessing of clear spiritual sight. May each of us have a good balance between preparing for the future and living day by day in victory and faith.
I pray for many more people across our borough and county to have an ever more complete and open relationship with You through the Lord Jesus. Amen
June 12 – Father, I know that without biblically inspired plans, tomorrow can end up exactly like today with little true sanctification – little godly change in me. In other words, I acknowledge that godly change is hard, requires my whole attention and for Your Spirit and word’s leading.
When our plans are rigidly tied to worldly principles, we end up stifling the spiritual creativity of Your Holy Spirit within thus preventing further evidential personal spiritual development, and little true mission and evangelism.
We pray for breakthrough so that we get the balance right between preparing, planning and setting goals under Your direction and inspiration, and then stepping out and putting in the hard graft to put these plans into action under the Spirit’s leading.
We pray for the anointing to do so, the infusion of grace and favour needed. Asking that we will be effective and see many turn to Christ in repentance and faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen
June 13 – Father, Your word is clear that underpinning our plans must be Spirit-inspired vision and insight. Without vision, or revelation, there are no up to date spiritual boundaries or guardrails: ‘Where there is no revelation, people cast off restraint; but blessed is the one who heeds wisdom’s instruction’ (Proverbs 29:18, NIV).
In order to have an abundance of Living Hope in the Gospel, Your people need to be closely following Your pathway seeking the Spirit’s fullness. Thank You that it is also Your Spirit who imparts Christ’s righteousness which enables us to become more Christ-like with a proper day by day standing with You.
Redemption also has the power to sanctify and impact every aspect of the person who is saved in Christ. Even our personality type can be transformed as You move in our lives from withdrawn and introvert, to Spirit-emboldened and outgoing in reaching others with the Good News of Jesus.
Even our perception of past experiences can be redeemed and transformed leading to a new freedom from the past and its sins, pains and traumas. If these have up to now provided poor guardrails – as it were creating opportunities for a leaky reservoir of hope in the power of the Gospel to transform each of our lives, forgive us.
Thank You that a change is coming as Your Holy Spirit works across our church creating a new season when faith, hope and agape love will flourish, and Your word abound. In Jesus’ name. Amen
June 14 – Father, the ability to see with the eyes of faith changes our outlook on life. Some see vision as the special preserve of gifted leaders; others that it is something that we all can have. Thank You that You tailor the amount of vision according to Your purposes, and the gift of faith.
Some see huge possibilities for companies, churches or communities where there are no actual observable things yet; others see things on a much smaller scale, but all can be touched by its power to transform.
No matter which end of the spectrum of vision I am on, I know that as I walk in step with Your Holy Spirit then my capacity for a growing, enlarging vision also develops. Thus, my living hope is also growing and developing both as I learn more of who You really are, who I am in You, and how You enjoy heaping blessings on me, and us.
Thank You in Jesus’ name and for His glory. Amen
June 15 – Father, many of us live with the expectation that we will be better people in two year’s time. However, without changing what we think, do and say today – we will not create a better us for tomorrow. Tomorrow’s change requires today’s action.
This is where many fall down and end up living with a flickering hope but without any tangible evidence of change. I pray for all in our church, in person and online, true believers in our borough and county, may there be an awakening to the truth contained in this spiritual principle.
We pray for a radical shift forward in the actual godliness and holiness that must underpin a true, biblical living hope. Continue the process of sanctification in our lives until Christ be formed in us, and we able to fully commit to the Great Commission. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
June 16 – Father, on this Father’s Day, we pray a blessing on all fathers in our church. We ask for those whose experience of earthly fatherhood is painful, may You comfort and renew them in Christ so they see fatherhood through the prism of Your Fatherhood of us.
I pray for a wonderful anointing on Pastor Malcolm as he preaches today, and on Pastor Samuel as he leads the church service. May Your living hope be evident in every person and ministry in our church.
In order to have Living Hope, we need to be inextricably and completely united in relationship with Your Son. Peter says that we have this hope through Jesus’ resurrection. ‘Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead’ (1 Peter 1:3).
The New Birth ushers in Your living hope found in and through the victory of Jesus’ resurrection. This Living Hope ensures that we have an inheritance that cannot rust, fade away or be stolen from us. It is reserved in Heaven for us.
We can live in the firstfruits of this amazing future today by living, abiding and serving Your Son in His call to be His witnesses and disciple makers – what an amazing Living Hope Jesus is and gives to us.
I pray for unsaved loved ones, family, friends, neighbours, work and school/college colleagues – may Your Holy Spirit move mightily in their lives by convicting them of their present perilous state and sin, giving them the revelation of Jesus as their only hope for salvation, and revelation of the joyous possibilities of an amazing new life in Christ full of hope as they follow Jesus as Saviour and Lord. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
