The focus of this week’s prayers is on deepening our spirituality using the life of Paul as an example – the prayers are written by Pastor Leslie.
4 Oct – Father, thank You for the example of Paul; as FB Meyer put it, Paul was driven by the ‘master-thought that he had been redeemed to serve; saved that he might save others’ (FB Meyer, Paul, p. 131).
Paul’s passion was to serve His Lord, and win people for Christ. Thus he invested his time, energy, abilities, spiritual gifts, and example in order to establish those people who had responded in faith to the Gospel. His unreserved commitment to the cause of Christ and Christ’s honour and glory – daily living a Spirit-filled life – his passion for God’s mission – his integrity in ministry and life – his faithful commitment to his life’s work and the body of Christ – his prayers were directed towards helping others become established in Christ and growing in the faith – and then be established as disciple-makers themselves.
Father, we pray for many to become established in the faith through the ministries of Telford Elim, in person and online. Enable us to direct people towards this wonderful goal for every Christian, and for every Church to seek to facilitate and encourage.
It can be a rocky, challenging road to come to the place where we are firmly established in Christ; a place where our identity is truly tied to His – so we pray for the Spirit’s power, presence and protection, and for us to receive godly wisdom and understanding for the task.
I pray today for the grace to press through until all that I am is laid on the altar for Christ, Your beloved Son; the state of being in which my identity is truly united with Jesus, and my goal is to serve and see others saved, discipled and established in the faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen
5 Oct – Father, Paul invested of himself into the people he was reaching out to with the Gospel, and then into the new churches he established. He preached, taught, ministered, worshipped, worked, served, led, challenged the churches – even rebuking them when needed, and prayed wholeheartedly for them.
He invested all that he was in Christ’s cause, all that he had learned from Christ, and all that he understood from Scriptures into his churches, and his key apostolic delegates such as Timothy and Titus.
He partnered with You in seeking to establish the Kingdom ensuring that the Church could understand what it took to live and be citizens of Your Kingdom. May such wholehearted commitment and understanding be the hallmark of our church. We pray for the further development of people and structures in our church that enable the passing on of a strong Pentecostal theological basis, a sound spirituality, and a vibrant Spirit-filled lifestyle to others. In Jesus’ name. Amen
6 Oct – Father, as we are praying about issues surrounding developing a deeper spirituality, we bring to You the barriers to such a life in me. First, I bring to You any cultural factors which may be hindering my commitment to Christ. I recognise that I am a product of the society I live in. I also bring any stronghold issues in my life which are barriers to a deepening spirituality.
I thank You for those words in 2 Corinthians 5:17 about me being a new creation in Christ. This new life within, in Christ, means that the old inherent, engrained life no longer is the controlling nature within. Both antichrist cultural mind sets and ungodly strongholds to Jesus’ life in me must bow.
Thank You for the new start at the New Birth. I proclaim that the New Birth has established a new life within me. I no longer have to be tied to the life of sin, nor to the values of the godless society I grew up in. Christ has set me free from the rudimentary elements of this world, the unseen forces of darkness, and the spiritual bondages that hinder my soul’s development – I therefore step out in the victory of the cross holding it always before me, and trusting not in my own understanding, strength nor knowledge.
Enable me to apply and develop this new life in my soul – 1. that is, in my relationships both with myself and others, 2. my mind being renewed in Your word, 3. my emotional life becoming free from the governing principles of this world including the healing of any destructive or damaging memories, 4. and my choices and will coming more and more fully under the lordship of Christ. There is authority and victory in Christ – I now claim that which You have offered to me – all that is needed for salvation and a life of faith, worship and service. In Jesus’ name. Amen
7 Oct – Father, thank You for these words in 2 Corinthians 5:14-15, ‘Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life [or as the NKJV renders it, ‘that if One died for all, then all died’]. He died for everyone so that those who receive His new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.’
May the love of Christ be the major controlling and motivating factor in my life and in our church. Anything that hinders the love of Christ being supreme – may that be repented of and redemptively dealt with so that Christ’s freedom, and His cleansing blood, enable me to receive fully of His love living in full submission to His lordship in every area of my life.
May anything that controls, motivates or drives my thoughts, words and actions in antichrist directions be repented off, renounced and removed from my life. Instead, may I also live knowing that my redemption means I can serve the Lord Jesus without shame or reproach, and be fruitful to His glory. In Jesus’ name. Amen
8 Oct – Father, the idea of no longer living for self but living for Christ is a wonderful one. 2 Corinthians 5:15, NLT, ‘He died for everyone so that those who receive His new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.’
Forgive me, and cleanse me, when I have made it all about me – and not You. I recognise that many times I have consciously decided not to do the right thing, or the godly thing either because of time constraints or because of character or personality weaknesses in me.
I pray for the establishment of a godly mind set which prioritises living for Christ. May this also be at the heart of our Church, in person and online, and its growing and deepening spirituality. Instead of selfishness – may selflessness be the hallmark of each one of us. In Jesus’ name & for His glory. Amen
9 Oct – Father, at the heart of Pentecostal spirituality is the belief in the Baptism or Filling of the Spirit. This is the experience that radically changed the early church, and which Paul himself could testify to and write about. If we desire for the development of a deeper spirituality, both in the life of each individual and corporately in the life of the church, then cultivating the life of the Spirit within is so important.
We acknowledge that the Spirit is Your life within us – we also confess that, at times, we hinder His desire to release more of His power, love, life and presence into our lives because of worldly mindedness, lack of faith, lack of devotion and worship, and a failure to commit fully to Christ’s cause.
Teach us to number our days or to know the brevity of life. We only have a certain allotted time on this earth. What is really important? What should we prioritise? Lord, I believe that deepening our spirituality should be one the major priorities for our lives. I commit myself to that today. In Jesus’ name. Amen
10 Oct – Father, living the life of faith really gains strength when we deliberately and consciously choose to submit to the Lordship of Christ. This changes us. As we seek to live out the impact of those encounters with Christ through the Spirit in our Monday to Saturday lives – it changes us and other people see that godly change.
As we think about deepening our spirituality – it includes praying relationally based prayers to You, asking, then quietly listening and obeying Your words to us. It is about keeping up our communion with You in the workplace, office, recreational space, home and out in the community.
Living a Spirit-filled life which feeds on the living bread of Your word, and produces life-giving food which can satisfy the inner, soul longing of the thirsty, the lost and the faithless is what we also are praying for ourselves and all in our church, in person and online.
I choose to drink the water of life which Christ offers, but also desire that the life of the Spirit will flow out of Telford Elim to bless men, women, young adults, young people and children. In Jesus’ name. Amen
