Oct 12 – This week we are praying for Wholeness

Father, Christ came so that we could have His zoe life in all its fullness (Jn 10:10), that is, Christ’s eternal God-kind of life, we received when we were born again. Your Spirit brings this life to us filling more and more of our souls and bodies as take up our cross and follow Jesus daily. Your Son did not come so that we would have an improved or better human life; no, He came to share His zoe life and agape love with us day by day so we can walk ever more closely in fellowship with You and each other.

We pray for those who have never thought about living in the increasing wholeness the zoe life of Christ brings – may they lift their eyes so they begin to yearn for such wholeness.  Your Spirit sanctifies or sets us apart from the world little by little making us more and more godly, holy and whole in body and soul.

We also pray for those who are careless and think that making a commitment of faith to Christ is all You require of them – Lord, You call us into this zoe life. Draw them to that realisation of their need to draw close to Christ in order to receive His zoe life. May they seek to live in Your Spirit’s fullness living in the fullness and wholeness You have purposed for each of Your children.

We also pray for those Christians who feel guilty because they do not believe that they have changed for the better and are stuck in a rut of hopelessness, and possibly brokenness. Grant them the revelation that the answer to such an impoverished Christian life is turning from their guilt, shame and despair and coming to the foot of the Cross and exchanging all that destructive baggage for the zoe life of Christ offered freely to them. We pray that many will enter His life because of the ministry of Telford Elim and all who are a part of it online or in-person. In Jesus’ name. Amen

Oct 13 – Father, thank You for those believers who know they now are more whole in Christ than before, are living in and being sanctified through the blessings of the zoe life of Christ flourishing within. May any who are afraid that by testifying to this that they are acting in a vainglorious manner blowing their own trumpet – realise that it is Christ’s life that is changing them as they draw near to Him. We pray that many will testify to the quality of their life in Him thus giving honour and glory to Christ, and encouraging others to seek to follow the same pattern of life.

The proverb is so true, ‘let another praise you, not your own mouth; a stranger and not your own lips’ (Proverbs 27:2), but may they know that they can bring You thanks, praise and glory without trespassing this proverb because of the evidence of their Christ-honouring lifestyle. Finally, it is a good thing to assess our own character development, and to embrace such an assessment as a positive step towards creating the chance to learn how to become more whole or a better person in Christ. May Your Spirit guide us in this process so that many are led to hunger and thirst for such a life through the ministry in person and online of Telford Elim. In Jesus’ name. Amen

Oct 14 – Father, how do I measure how ‘whole’ I am, or if I am a better, more sanctified person? Do I measure myself by the standard of other good people I know? By those I believe to be honest, good and caring? Do I take into account any mitigating factors such as a difficult relationship, lots of pressure at work, health problems or financial worries? Or do I measure my wholeness by what the Bible teaches me: securely saved in Christ, filled to overflowing by the Holy Spirit, worshipping You in Spirit and truth – receiving the zoe life of Christ as I draw near to Him in faith?

In response to these questions – I pray for biblical wholeness including i. in my emotions, so I live in a stable, emotionally balanced way not being disturbed by fear, whether by the fear of man, any unsanctified fears or because of the control of another;

ii. for my mind, to be rational, calm and clear headed, my thinking being renewed by Your Word;

iii. in my desire to live a life free from the control or influence of Materialism with its mindset that things or possessions make me whole, or from Idolatry which tries to get me to place something on the throne of my heart other than Christ – no matter how good, noble or laudable that thing or person may be;

iv. in my relationships so they are honouring to Christ, free from co-dependency and ungodly desires or foundations; rather that my relationships will be open, honest, Christ-honouring, and full of grace and peace. In Jesus’ name. Amen

Oct 15 – Mark Greene, from the London Institute of Contemporary Christianity [LICC] teaches about being a ‘whole-life disciple-making church,’ in ‘eg’ Edition 32, March 2012, p.5. I want to use his thoughts to consider this further:

Father, help me to understand how to become a more whole person in Christ. Without the ‘vision’ that arises from this biblical desire shaping my prayers and devotions – it is so easy to settle for something less than You have purposed.

I ask that Your Spirit will guide me as I pray, study, and read in order to gain Your perspective on how to live this life. I pray that our Church, and each church represented by those who pray with us, will develop mature, balanced Christians who are filled with Christ’s zoe life, and can encourage others to desire it also. In Jesus’ name. Amen

Oct 16 – Father, I know that wholeness of soul and body is not an end in itself; rather, it is wholeness in Christ. As I become more whole as a Christian, then I become more useful to You. My prayer is that I will get to the place where You can trust me not to dishonour Christ. May I become more able to do all You call me to do because of the infusion of zoe life I receive; thus, more adept at spotting opportunities to be fruitful and to serve Your purposes in and through Christ.

Help me to intentionally link with mature believers – so I am able to follow their example and apply biblical truth. I offer myself to You to be trained so that I can also begin to mentor others towards the biblical wholeness I am now living with. In Jesus’ name. Amen

Oct 17 – Father, wholeness in Christ is such an exciting concept. As we are praying this week into this theme as a church – we pray for the development of a number of core teams and groups who can create an intentional focus on helping create disciple-making disciples whose lives demonstrate wholeness in Christ.

As we also commit to pray for wholeness in Christ in our society, and to work together to redeem the culture that is broken all around us – may Your Spirit grant us the grace, power and favour needed. Only Christ can pardon, and set people free to be whole in Himself, but He has purposed to do so through His word and His people, including our church. May much good fruit come from this focus. In Jesus’ name and for His glory. Amen

Oct 18 – Father, as we, as a church, pray, partner together, and practise living out the zoe life of Christ – we affirm that others can also live filled with His life too. As such, we pray for His life to spill over into our homes, families, communities, in education, business, health, finance, industry, the armed forces, police, law and order, government and the civil service, media, arts and entertainment, among the religious not yet in Christ, and online saving many from the darkness therein turning them to Christ.

As we pray for Christ’s light and life to penetrate the darkness of these spheres of our society – we also realise that this often happens one degree at a time. It may take 180 individual shifts before many in society repent and are moving in the opposite direction towards wholeness in Christ – where each person focuses on becoming whole in Jesus in order to help move all of society towards Him – we pray for a godly, Christ-glorifying reformation of our society.

Lord, as we read about or hear the stories of biblical wholeness, as people tell their stories of steps towards the fullness of zoe life Christ offers – it encourages us to take similar steps. The stories of radical transformation are inspiring, as are the stories of the little victories and little steps towards wholeness in Christ.

I pray for the areas of contact I have with the world and its agencies – keep me free vanity and pride, protect my spirit, soul and body from the evil one, may I walk in purity and righteousness, a good student of Your word, one who is in fellowship with Your Spirit, who is discerning and able to be a good ambassador for Christ – who has the privilege of leading many out of darkness into His marvellous light and life. In Jesus’ name and for His glory. Amen