Sept 7 – This prayer letter is based on Sunday morning’s sermon, ‘The Ancient Way,’ and last week’s blog, ‘Reality Checks.’

Jeremiah 6:16, NKJV, ‘Stand in the ways [crossroads] and see, and ask for the old [ancient] paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; then you will find rest for your souls.’

Father, as we face the challenges of speaking about the great debates of our day – we ask for wisdom, discernment and Your grace to do so well. We pray to be biblically consistent – truly representing the breadth and truth of Your word in what we say?

We also pray that we will be honouring to Christ – presenting our views in such ways that we are bringing people to Christ, and teaching them how to walk in Your purposes, and bringing Christ to the fore in our engagements.

We ask that every person in Telford Elim, whether in person or online, or from others churches who are following us, will be inspired by, filled by, guided by and anointed by Your Holy Spirit so we engage with the world on Your terms – not on the world’s terms. In Jesus’ name. Amen

Sept 8 – Jeremiah 6:16, NKJV, ‘Stand in the ways [crossroads] and see, and ask for the old [ancient] paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; then you will find rest for your souls.’

Father, the ancient way is centred on Christ. We give thanks and praise that the Old Testament looks forward to His Incarnation, the four Gospels reveal His life and ministry, and the rest of the New Testament expounds what it means to be Christ’s follower after His death, resurrection and ascension. The Spirit is at the heart of Your Church and the guarantee of our future inheritance.

We thank You that Your word says much about the power of Your love at work in our lives. As we engage with the big issues of the day – help us to apply the Law of Love. May our engagement overcome bitterness, narrow-mindedness, and hate for others. We pray that we will confront evil with righteous anger, biblically shaped thinking and actions, filled with Your love for others. As we engage filled Your Spirit, word and love – these have the power to overcome the power of division and hatred. Save, heal and cleanse our land. In Jesus’ name and for His glory. Amen

Sept 9 – Jeremiah 6:16, NKJV, ‘Stand in the ways [crossroads] and see, and ask for the old [ancient] paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; then you will find rest for your souls.’

Father as we continue to pray for wise and successful engagement in the great debates bringing Your perspective and hope in Christ – enable us to apply the criteria found in 1 Peter 2:17, ‘Respect everyone, and love the family of believers. Fear God, and respect the king.’

Respect everyone: Lord, although we cannot always honour everyone’s words or behaviour, we do recognise the uniqueness of every single person and the dignity of human life. May we speak words which give light to those sitting in darkness – the chance for redemption for those lost – and bring Your truth, which breaks through every false argument, error and lie bringing with it the conviction that leads to salvation in Christ.

Our brothers and sisters in Christ are our spiritual family, Your sons and daughters. We choose to love them as fellow inheritors of eternal life in Christ. We pray for Your blessing in the lives of every brother and sister in Christ in our church in person, online, and those who are part of other churches but praying these prayers. As we engage – may we always be mindful of the impact of our words on other believers.

Fear God: You are God and Lord, and we worship You: Father, Son and Spirit. We fear or reverence You, fear misrepresenting You, and fear displeasing You. Holy Spirit, enable us to live in the fear of God.

Respect the King: As we pray – we acknowledge that governments, including opposition parties and the Civil Service, will one day give an account to You for their leadership. Of course, if the individual members are not saved in Christ – then they will be lost because they refused to believe in Your appointed Saviour – our Lord Jesus Christ. We pray for wise government, discerning leaders, and skilful leadership of our nation. In Jesus’ name. Amen

Sept 10 – Jeremiah 6:16, NKJV, ‘Stand in the ways [crossroads] and see, and ask for the old [ancient] paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; then you will find rest for your souls.’

Father, You have set and established ancient pathways in Your word – eternal, timeless ones. These are the pathways to follow, the ones You designed for us to walk on in order for us to be able to navigate this life with faith obeying Your word and ways – a lifestyle which pleases You. It is a good way, a pleasant, agreeable, happy, prosperous way – a way that is best for our souls. As we engage speaking about issues which sometimes will be controversial – may we never stray from Your ancient pathway. As we seek to learn and search for godly answers to the questions of the world – keep us from stepping beyond Your word and purposes. Equip us to exalt Christ, speak with godly wisdom, and present a biblically inspired perspective.

‘Stand in the ways and see…’ You have programmed in crossroads as it where, lay-bys, points in the way when we have to stop and assess our past, our present and where You are leading us for the future. We pray for prophetic insight in order to understand our past, the times and the events that are happening, and the best way forward. Grant us not only the prophetic insight we need, but also the prophetic anointing to be able to speak with clarity, biblical authority and godly wisdom. We also pray for protection as we engage from the attacks and onslaught of the enemy. In Jesus’ name and for His glory. Amen

Sept 11 – Jeremiah 6:16, NKJV, ‘Stand in the ways [crossroads] and see, and ask for the old [ancient] paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; then you will find rest for your souls.’

Father, Jeremiah was prophesying to a spiritually dead nation. In Jeremiah 6, we are given insight into what the nation of Judah was doing wrong:

‘⁶This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says:..this is the city to be punished, for she is wicked through and through. ⁷She spouts evil like a fountain. Her streets echo with the sounds of violence and destruction. I always see her sickness and sores.

¹⁰ To whom can I give warning? Who will listen when I speak? Their ears are closed, and they cannot hear. They scorn the word of the Lord. They don’t want to listen at all.’

¹³“From the least to the greatest, their lives are ruled by greed. From prophets to priests, they are all frauds. ¹⁴They offer superficial treatments for my people’s mortal wound. They give assurances of peace when there is no peace. ¹⁵Are they ashamed of their disgusting actions? Not at all—they don’t even know how to blush!

²⁸They are the worst kind of rebel, full of slander. They are as hard as bronze and iron, and they lead others into corruption.’

Today, and tomorrow, we will confess these sins and pray for repentance and healing in our land because these words not only applied to ancient Judah – they also apply to our nation:

1. Many worshipped idols and falsely in Judah – many worship idols and others worship falsely today
2. They were completely committed to ordering their society in God-dishonouring ways – Our society is largely antichrist in nature and acts in  God-dishonouring ways
3. They were violent people – Anger and violence abound in our nation; we live in a society largely divided and at war with itself
4. They destroyed what previous generations had built up – We are destroying the biblically based foundations previous generations, many wonderful Christians included, established in our nation
5. There was no spiritual healing in the land, the sickness of soul and the pain it caused were not healed – There is no spiritual healing in our land – sickness of soul and the pain it causes are not being healed; instead people are offering carnal, soulish remedies to spiritual problems
6. Their ears were closed to You and Your prophets – Many ears are closed today to Christ and Your Gospel preachers
7. They belittled and scorned Your word – Your word is belittled and people speak disrespectfully of it.

Lord, save, forgive, cleanse, heal and make whole the UK, and our nations. In Jesus’ name. Amen

Sept 12 – Jeremiah 6:16, NKJV, ‘Stand in the ways [crossroads] and see, and ask for the old [ancient] paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; then you will find rest for your souls.’

Again Lord, we confess and acknowledge the sins of our nation and pray for a great spiritual awakening exalting Christ and causing His salvation through the length and breadth of the UK and Ireland.

1. They were greedy living only to feed their insatiable hunger for more possessions and wealth – Greed and avarice are rife in our nation
2. Their spiritual leaders were false and thus unable to engage in the spiritual battle for the nation – In our Pluralist society – many spiritual leaders are false and thus are unable to engage in the spiritual battle for the nation
3. As a result, they could not lead the people to You. Thus, there was no forgiveness and no redemption, people were trapped in their sin unable to get rid of their shame – There is little true forgiveness and redemption is misunderstood, people are largely trapped in their sin unable to get rid of their shame because they will not come to Christ as Saviour
4. They thought peace was the absence of conflict and theirs by right as the Jewish people – In our nation, leaders cannot lead the people to You through Christ because they do not know Jesus as their Saviour and Lord. Many speak of peace while planning for war
5. Whereas they were not Your servants and mistook soulish, human means for Your ways, Your true power and glory -Many today mistake soulish, human means for the true way, and only speak of human power and glory
6. In their hearts – they had rebelled against You. Thus they were hard hearted, stubborn and without shame – the same is true today, we live among a hard-hearted, largely selfish people
7. They slandered others without worrying about the impact or the judgement on such actions – People slander others on Social Media and in the Media without worrying about the impact or Your judgement on such actions
8. They were good at leading others into the same godless lifestyle trapping others in the same sins – many celebrate those who follow godless ways which are empty and ultimately destructive to their souls

Lord, save, forgive, cleanse, heal and make whole the UK, and our nations. In Jesus’ name. Amen

Sept 13 – Jeremiah 6:16, NKJV, ‘Stand in the ways [crossroads] and see, and ask for the old [ancient] paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; then you will find rest for your souls.’

Father, I pray that many will walk the ancient pathway – the one Your word talks about because of the people and ministry of Telford Elim online and in person, and each church represented by those who pray these prayers. We give You thanks and praise that Jesus has come to renew our nature in Your image thus enabling us to walk a pathway that pleases You.

If we follow the world’s ways and values – Satan will sow destructive things into our lives designed to turn us off the ancient pathway. I pray that we will walk with wisdom, filled with Your word and Spirit, and fellowshipping with wise people.

As we pray and engage with the great debates – we will soon be able to discern the false nature of the ‘reality’ we are seeing becoming learned students of Your ‘word which is a lamp to guide our feet and a light for our path’ (Psalm 119:105).

Lord, I pray that we will be focussed on Christ. Then Lord, even in this antichrist world – we will be able to stand on Your word and promises, look beyond the material reality into the spiritual reality, count our blessings, chose to remember the godly transformations that have happened, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and be better equipped to travel the ancient pathway. Hallelujah! In Jesus’ name and for His glory. Amen