May 10 – This week’s daily prayers are written by Pastor Leslie, continuing to reflect on the #DoYouKnowHimTelford themes – this week, ‘Jesus is Alive.’ Especially considering within this, ‘Life in all its Fullness.’
Father, thank You for the words about Your Son in 1 Corinthians 15:20-22, ‘But as it is, Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also comes through a man. 22For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.’
We give praise and thanks that one of Jesus’ great purposes in coming to this earth was so that He would be the firstfruits of those who die and are resurrected. He is both the first to do so, and also the guarantee that all found in Him will be raised through the same resurrection power. In the natural – all die, in Christ will all be made alive. Hallelujah!
Lord Jesus, through You not only do we have the hope of life beyond the grave, but also fullness of life in this world. John 10:10, ‘I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.’
You came to bring true life to Your people both in this life, and in the Age to come. May Your Spirit teach us in Telford Elim, in person and online, what this type of life really is, how we can have it in abundance, develop the life of faith we need to walk in it, and how we can live it out through our worship, witness, service, work, relationships and lives. In Jesus’ name. Amen
May 11 – Father, again, considering the nature of the life Your Son came to give to His people, we acknowledge that it is life as He lived it. We cannot separate this life from Him. The source of such life is not earthly – because Jesus is Alive, it is derived from a heavenly spring, our Lord Jesus Christ.
Thank You for the picture in Ezekiel 47 of His life as a great river itself giving life to all who will receive it – it flows from You through Christ and by the Spirit. May our Church, in person and online, be a life-giving tree nourishing all who come to it with the bread of heaven and water of the Spirit.
Lord Jesus, we declare that You give that which will not fail, that which brings healing, wholeness and completeness to all who reach out in faith to You for it (cf. Ez. 47:12). May our church, online and in person, be full of Your living bread and life-giving water of the Spirit. We pray that many will be spiritually satisfied as they join us and partake of Your heavenly food through the ministries and people of Telford Elim. Amen
May 12 – Father, thank You for the promise of such a rich life through Jesus who is Alive. It is a life that satisfies the soul, fulfils the Creation desires of our human nature, leads to more spiritual life, and exposes the narcissism of the carnal life that self, Satan and sin peddle. We pray for many to receive Jesus’ true life given by the Spirit and word.
We pray for any caught in the delusion of living a life derived solely from a source in this world. May they come to see the difference between the worldly life with its alluring but deadly bait, and Christ’s sacrificially based and Spirit-derived life.
The worldly life offers a bait that shines, is attractive and promises everything needed for a full life without and apart from Christ – and yet only delivers empty promises, bondage to the carnal nature and sin, and ultimately leads to a death outside of Christ.
The nature of the life Jesus offers is completely different – it enriches the soul, energises the spirit, and enables the body to do that which it was designed to do – worship, serve and live in awe of its Creator. May many find such Jesu-centric life in and through our Church. Amen
May 13 – Father, the enemy of souls always wages war – even on those who yield completely to the life of this world. Satan seeks to rob everyone of the chance of possessing true life in Christ – seeks to kill the hope of producing spiritual fruit that will last – and wants to completely destroy them because they still reflect the imprint of Your nature and life from Creation itself.
May Satan’s destructive nature and character be revealed to more and more people as we clearly preach, teach and live out the Gospel. We pray that our Church will effectively share the life-giving Gospel to the communities among whom we live, and the people we are reaching online.
We pray this also for the UK Church; may we, Your people across the UK, be incredibly effective at exposing the true nature of life outside of Christ, and giving testimony to the divine quality of the life He gives. May the fullness and wonder of Jesus fill this Church, and the UK Church, pointing many to His life and salvation. Amen
May 14 – Father, as we continue to contemplate receiving the life of Jesus in abundance – we pray for Your Spirit to breathe such life across our church. May it flow from person to person, from ministry to ministry, in person and online, and permeate richly each act of witness pointing to Jesus.
May anything that hinders such abundant life be brought to the surface, exposed and redemptively dealt with, and may all we love, pray for and seek to win for Christ be rooted in the Lord, living upon the foundation of Your word and Spirit. May this be a redemptive exposure leading to repentance and turning to Christ.
We declare that Your Fatherhood is always expressed through a personal relationship with Christ, is good, creates righteousness, truth and love, and produces godly order. We pray that many will be submissive to Your order, and live out a lifestyle completely dependent on Your agape love, Your Son’s grace, and Your Spirit’s presence and power. In Jesus’ name. Amen
May 15 – Father, we want to take a few moments today to meditate on the truth that Jesus is Alive. He reigns in absolute glory with You until His enemies are made His footstool, and You send Him back to this world to end the Age, translate Your children to His side, and begin the process of Judgement.
The life of Jesus in us, which we have been praying about this week, was derived through His death and resurrection. ‘The good Shepherd gives His life for the sheep’ (John 10:11). This abundant life, through Your Son, has come at a great cost to You personally – having to endure the suffering and death of Your only begotten Son. It reveals how precious the abundant life Christ offers is – since the cost is greater than any person can ever compute.
May the preciousness and costliness of the life Christ offers become a deep, abiding revelation to me and our Church. In Jesus’ name. Amen
May 16 – Father, as we are praying this week with the focus of Jesus is Alive – we also pray that our church will be a Renewal Centre – a place of spiritual, emotional, psychological, physical, relationship and mental renewal.
We thank You that the Old Testament pictures of renewal, rebirth and restoration, during the Age of the Messiah, have come true, and are still coming true. Again and again we are confronted with prophecies which speak of a glorious, never-ending age of enlightenment, joy and fulfilment during the Messiah’s reign.
We acknowledge the redemptive aspect to this that many of Jesus’ contemporaries missed when they looked for a political and religious Messiah who would restore a golden age to Israel even better and richer than that enjoyed under the reigns of King David and Solomon.
The Renewal we preach is Gospel based, Cross-focussed, and Redemptively powerful in setting people free from the power of sin, self, Satan and the world. May this Renewal in Christ be a hallmark of Telford Elim in person and online. May Renewal in Christ flow gloriously here and through us into Telford & Wrekin/Shropshire, and further afield through our online ministries. In Jesus’ name and for His glory alone. Amen
