Prayer Letter October 2012: Praying Through All of Scripture

“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.  You shall have no other gods before me.” - Exodus 20:2-3  

[Adoration] Father, today I am reminded of the supreme position you hold over all of creation, and therefore of the supreme position you should hold in my heart.  You are a jealous God, who is jealous for our devotion to You, because You know with ultimate certainty, that it is only when we are devoted to You, that we become whole.  It is only when our affections are most stirred for You, that we will find true joy, true peace, and true fulfillment.  For we were created to be worshippers of You.  O Lord, You alone are worthy to be worshipped.  Thank You that You have shared this great truth with us.

[Confession] Father, forgive me.  You know my heart, and you know that it has served other gods before You.  Forgive me God for serving the false gods of money, and of lust, and of selfish ambition.  Forgive me Father for the countless hours I have devoted to perishable carvings that will one day be utterly destroyed.  But You are the everlasting God.

[Thanksgiving] Father, today I thank you for this reminder of who You are.  Thank you God for this call for us to humble ourselves beneath You.  Thank you for this call to cease from serving other gods, from serving idols that can never satisfy, idols that could never deliver us from the house of slavery, but will only enslave us further.  Thank you for not giving up on me, when I have spent so many years bowed before false gods, You continued to pursue me.  And thank you, that You did not abandon Your people when we were trapped in slavery, but that You came for us.  You came for us, and You died for our freedom.  Thank you merciful Father.

[Supplication] And now Father I petition You, and ask that You would be pleased to purify for Yourself a people for Your own possession.  And I ask that You would empower Redeemer church, by the person of Your Holy Spirit, to be a people who shall have no other god before You.  Teach us, your bride, to mortify sin each and every day, that we may seek You as our great and glorious treasure.  Teach us to be a people devoted to prayer, knowing that You are not just worthy of 5 minutes of prayer a day, but You are worthy of ceaseless prayer.  Teach us to be a people who are hungry for Your Word, devouring it daily, and holding it up as the ultimate source of truth, and wisdom, and hope.  Teach us to be a people who worship You, with our time, our money, our gifts, our everything.  And Father, make us a people who are deeply, deeply, in love with You.

Amen.

We have a great gift to guide us in prayer, and that is the Holy Bible.  Every word of scripture is God-breathed, and every word of scripture can be prayed through and prayed over.  I would encourage you today to spend time daily praying through scripture.  Don’t just read through your daily bible reading plan, but as you read, stop, and ask the Holy Spirit to enlighten your mind to understand the depth of what God has spoken, and ask Him to quicken your heart and your mind and your affections for the One who has spoken to You.  You can start today with the ten commandments.  I encourage you to take the next 10 days to pray over each of these commandments, in adoration, confession, thanksgiving and supplication.  And may God our Father “give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your heart enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ” (Ephesians 1:17-20).

Please be in prayer for the following:

1. That Redeemer would be a praying church.
2. That as the school season begins, we would see many college students hear the gospel and give their lives to Jesus.
3. That God would prepare us for our upcoming Perspectives course, starting in January.  Pray that God would lay it on the hearts of many to commit to this course, and that He would be pleased to reveal much of Himself and His plan to those who attend.
4. That God would raise up more team members to go with our church planting teams to Boston and to the Middle East.
5. That God would provide for us, in our facility, in our budget, and that He would continue to grow us daily in our understanding of His plan, His purpose and His glory.