This is the fourth article of a multi-part series on growing in discipleship.    Print This Post
In the last installment of this series we explored the importance of incorporating the Word of God into our lives. As Christians, we must be aware that the primary means through which we are conformed to the image of Christ is through being transformed in our thinking and believing. Transformation in those areas results in a re-arranging of our affections, emotions, and our actions. Therefore, it is crucial that we grow in our faith by growing in the knowledge, understanding and application of the Word of God. Continue reading »

In our prayer meeting this evening we will meditate on Psalm 51 and then read together the following prayer of confession.

Heavenly Father, Be gracious to our church, O God, according to Your loving-kindness; according to the greatness of Your compassion, blot out our transgressions. Wash us thoroughly from our iniquity, and cleanse us from our sin.
We know our transgressions and our sin is ever before us. We have sinned against You and done evil in Your sight.
Create in us clean hearts, and renew steadfast spirits within us. Sustain us with willing spirits that we may teach transgressors Your ways that sinners will be converted to You.
Grant that brokenness and contrition be ours that you may delight in Sardis Baptist Church.

We pray in the strong name of Jesus,
Amen.

In our prayer service this evening we will read Philippians 3:1-16 together, discuss and meditate on it, then read this prayer aloud together.

Heavenly Father, We rejoice in You! We worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus. Father, so fill our hearts with your love that whatever things were gain, we count loss for the sake of Christ, and may we see all earthly things as meaningless in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus, our Lord.
Lord, we know we cannot attain our own righteousness. Our great need, Your great gift is the righteousness through faith in Your Son. In Him we trust.
Father, we want to know Christ, the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings. May we be conformed to His death that we may attain life.
Father, we press on, together, for the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
We pray in the strong name of Jesus,
Amen.

In this evening’s prayer meeting we will read through this passage, then pray the following prayer in unison.

Heavenly Father,

We want to learn Christ, He is truth. Teach us to put off our old selves, those things that belonged to our former way of life. Teach us to be renewed in the spirit of our minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God, in true righteousness and holiness.

Teach us to speak truth, not falsehood. Teach us to defeat the devil by putting away anger and submitting to You.

Teach us to share with those who have need, to build one another up and to give grace to others. May we be a people who are kind, tender-hearted and forgiving of one another as You have forgiven us in Christ Jesus.

We pray in the strong name of Jesus,

Amen.

As we prepare to pray tonight, our congregation will read and meditate on Romans 15:5-13. Then we will read this prayer together.

Heavenly Father, we pray that you would grant us endurance and encouragement and unity as we follow Christ Jesus. May we, as with one heart and one mouth, bring glory to You.

Teach us to bring praise to You by accepting one another as we have been received by the Lord Jesus, Himself.
May our hearts rejoice in You. We praise You Lord, we sing praises to Your name.

Father of hope, fill us with joy and peace. Lead us to trust You more that our hearts would overflow with hope by the power of Your Holy Spirit.

We pray in the strong name of Jesus,
Amen.

Heavenly Father,
We pray that You would cause our hearts to be compelled by the love Christ has for us, as seen in His death on the cross for our sin.
Work in us that we would no longer live for ourselves, but for the One, who died and was raised again, on our behalf.
Father, we pray that the old sin nature would be continually passing away and that the new spiritual nature would be more and more evident in our lives.
Cause us to take seriously the ministry of bringing others to You, of leading them to peace with God through Jesus Christ. May we continually plead with others to be reconciled to God through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ!
We pray in the strong name of Jesus,
Amen.

Heavenly Father,
We pray that You would cause our hearts to honor You and proclaim Your great Name. We pray for Your kingdom to come and that You would lead us to fully submit our lives to Your will.

Father, teach us to hunger for Your spiritual provision in our lives and increase our dependence upon You.

Teach us to confess and repent of our sins. Cause us to forgive others and to be a channel through which Your forgiveness can flow.

Help us to hate our sin and allow the Holy Spirit to sensitize our hearts to, and protect us from, the attacks of Satan.

Do not let anything compete with You as King of our Church. Spread Your glory to the nations!

We pray in the strong name of Jesus,
Amen.

Heavenly Father,
You have been so gracious to us in the past and brought us times of awakening. You have forgiven the iniquity of Your people, covered our sins in the blood of Jesus who turned away Your wrath from us.
God of our salvation, we pray that You would restore us again. How long, O Lord, will Your judgment be upon our land, our community, our church. Will You not revive us again, that Your people may rejoice in You? Show us Your love and grant salvation to many who don’t know You. Grant awakening to many whose faith has grown dim.
Speak peace to Your people. Cause us to fear Your Name again. Let us not turn back to vanity and idols of our own making. Cause Your glory to dwell in our midst. Give us what is good, O God that the harvest of souls may abound.
We pray in the strong name of Jesus,
Amen.

In last night’s prayer meeting we read from John 17 and prayed the following prayer together…

Heavenly Father, We exist to glorify Your Name. We acknowledge You as the Giver of eternal life and that You have given our lives into the hand of Jesus Christ. As we are His, we have eternal life. Continue reading »

I love to pray passages of Scripture. I love personalizing God’s own Word and praying it back to Him. Here is a prayer we will pray tonight in our prayer meeting. I pray you will pray for us as we pray for God’s will to be done in our church. Continue reading »