The aim of this week’s daily prayers, written by Bernard Langford, is firstly to praise God, then ask for forgiveness, and finally help us to prepare for a New Day that is coming, life in church after Lockdown.
April 12 – Let us give thanks and praise to our wonderful Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Psalm 19 and Psalm 139:13-14, ‘For it was You who created my inward parts; You knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14I will praise You because I have been remarkably and wondrously made. Your works are wondrous, and I know this very well.’
Heavenly Father, as we come before You this week, we want to acknowledge that You are above all other ‘gods;’ indeed, other gods are demonic in origin (Deuteronomy 32:15-21), or the work of human imagination. You are the One who created this wonderful universe, the beautiful landscapes and everything that lives within them.
Lord, how marvellous is the unbelievable composition and complexities that underpin every single living thing. When we consider how we, as humans are made up with all the organs and nervous system etc., and how they interact with each other – we are blown away with Your ‘out of this world’ thinking in Creation.
How could any human being begin to even think about designing, building such a structure, not forgetting the inclusion of the other human elements (emotions, psychological and spiritual aspects) that go in to one individual? You indeed are a great GOD and we give You, Father, Son and Spirit, our praise and worship. Amen
April 13 – Ask for forgiveness – Luke 11: 3-4, ‘Give us each day our daily bread. 4And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive everyone
in debt to us. And do not bring us into temptation.’
Lord, we acknowledge that we do not always see, and do things that please You. Forgive us for not putting Christ first, trusting You with our families, our jobs and the money that You provide for us.
Lord, when it comes to giving You the praise and acknowledgement that You deserve, we fall short of the mark. We are sorry for this lack of faithfulness and love for You – please forgive us, and help every single one of us to make that ‘step-change’ in our lives so that we can live in a way that pleases only You.
How wonderful it would be if we could hear the same words that Daniel (who lived a life centred on God) heard in Daniel 9:23 “As soon as you began to pray, an answer was given, which I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed”.
Help all in Telford Elim, online and in person, so that Christ is formed in more parts of our lives! Amen
April 14 – Life after lockdown – Romans 8:28, ‘We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to His purpose.’
Lord, we thank You for helping and protecting us through this awful Covid pandemic period. Thank You for those who have suffered and recovered from this illness; and help those too who have suffered bereavement – be very close to those people, Lord!
As we read the words of Paul in this particular Scripture, we acknowledge that You, Lord, are in all situations throughout our lives; and at this time, we thank You that the isolation from our church body has revealed many things which can aid our sanctification and further spiritual development. Help those of us who are struggling with loneliness, and provide sufficient grace to be able to reach out to You and discover another aspect of Your character which You want us to reflect in our worship, lives, work, witness and service.
Also, enable us to deal with the issues that this lengthy confinement has exposed in our lives. Let us not run away from the things that need to be dealt with so that we become those people whom You want us to be. James 1: 2-4, ‘Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials, 3because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4And let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.’ In Jesus’ name. Amen
April 15 – Talents – Matthew 25:14-30.
Thank You that You are a Heavenly Father whom we can depend upon, and supplies all our needs in and through Christ. We give You thanks for the work that Pastor Ben did in preparing us for this prolonged period through Covid in that his skills enabled us to start online services.
We are so grateful too that You have endowed others within our church body to take over and develop further our online service provision. Richly bless all those individuals who have gone that extra mile to get us where we are now developing these programmes even further.
Father, speak to us clearly and lead us to the place You want us to be in both our online presence, but also our ‘normal’ in person church services. Lord, we ask that You will continue to develop the talents that are present already in Telford Elim, but also those that are latent at this moment of time within the Body. Shower us with your blessings. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
April 16 – Character and the spiritual foundations of our Church.
We give You thanks, Lord, that our own individual characters (2 Peter 1: 3–8)have been shaped by your Holy Spirit and word so that bit by bit, whether through lockdown or other circumstances, You are taking us from one degree of glory to another.
Psalm 37:5makes it clear that if we commit our way to You, and trust You, You will bring us into a good place where everything we do will be fruitful for You.
We thank You too for Pastor Leslie who is Christ centred, and understands the power of prayer; we give You thanks for his guidance. We also give thanks for our new Next Gen Pastors, Sam and Alisha, bless and anoint them as they settle into ministry in Telford Elim. Again we give thanks for the Church Leadership Team who are always wanting to serve both You and the congregation.
Help us Lord, grant us wisdom, understanding and spiritual insight, and empower us by Your Spirit so that we can equip ourselves for the future ahead so that the right decisions are made and the structures, people and systems are put in to place to help support what You have planned for us. As you ‘enlarge the place of our tent’ within Telford Elim, we ask that we will make decisions that are built on the firm foundation of Christ the Cornerstone, Your word and Spirit’s guidance; not on the sand of religious, worldly, carnal or soulish principles and ideas for how to do things. Matthew 7:24-29. In Jesus’ name. Amen
April 17 – Future Church.
Lord, we live in a country where more and more people are turning their backs on You, Your word, and Your salvation in Christ. Parents fail to acknowledge that You are God and either believe in the evolution story or just stubbornly refuse to even think about Your call to repent, believe in Jesus, deny oneself and follow Him.
However, we thank You for the children and young adults in our church, and trust that You will enable us to be good tutors and examples when it comes to their walk with the Lord Jesus.
We are so grateful that You have brought us Sam and Alisha, and ask, as they prepare to move to Telford, You will pave the way for them. Prepare them for what lies ahead both in dealing with youngsters in church, but also within the Hadley Learning Community and beyond. We pray that every aspect of Your great plan for our young adults, young people and children, the leaders and our church will come into being during this coming months and years. In Jesus’ name. Amen
April 18 – Giving thanks for what is to come.
Lord, as today is the start of the #DoYouKnowHim Telford wide mission, we pray for many to come to repent and believe in Jesus the Saviour. Enable our church, and all churches in Telford, to make Jesus known, and point people to Him who is the only Way, the Truth and the Life. Help us all to share, in many different and innovative ways, the Good News about Him. May this be a great season of sowing the word, and reaping a harvest of souls soundly saved in and through Christ.
We read in John 15:1-8 about Jesus the vine and we the branches, and through this we recognise that pruning is a necessary part of growth and fruitfulness. Help us in the months to come to be prepared firstly to hear what You are asking of us as individuals (and also for the whole church community and its leadership), and then to act upon it.
Help us lay down the things that are no longer productive and pick up the next challenge that You have for us so that our lives, both individually and collectively, can bear more fruit. Deal with any stubbornness and give us the grace to go through that pain of having a branch, or two, pruned.
Thank You for the abundant love and protection that You give us from the minute we lay our lives down and follow Christ. We give thanks for Your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ who made that choice to obey You and go to that Cross of terrific pain and suffering to provide a way so that we could be saved. Heavenly Father, we give You our thanks and praise for what is to come. In Jesus’ name and for His glory. Amen.
