10/5/13- iNTERCESSION

Here is a video invitation for you

I is for Intercession. These are prayers for others and probably the type of prayer with which
we are most comfortable and familiar.  In Intercession we pray for those who need to feel God’s love, comfort, and power: the sick, the poor, the imprisoned, the broken, the persecuted the grieving, the struggling, the hurting, the lost, the hopeless. But we also pray over the joys of others. Intercession connects us to the concerns of the world.
We pray for the church around the globe, world leaders, for those affected by tragedy, for those in our community and around the world, for our own church and its leaders. Intercession reminds us we are the body of Christ. We belong to each other and care for each other. We seek to spread God’s love and healing to all people!

 

PRAYERS AND COMMENTARY

For this reason I kneel before the Father,  from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name.
 I pray that out of his glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being,
so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,
 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,  and to know this love that surpasses knowledge— that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do  immeasurably more  than all we ask or imagine,  according to His power that is at work within us,  to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus  throughout all generations, for ever and ever!
Amen.    Ephesians 3:14-21

 

Ephesians 3:14-21 This passage is from a letter to the church at Ephesus. The letter describes in lofty terms the salvation God has accomplished for us in Jesus Christ It then details how our lives are to reflect our gratitude for this wonderful gift of grace. This particular passage is reflects our care for each other in prayer and it is very meaningful to place the name of someone for whom you are praying in place of the word “you."

  
 Since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you.  We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of His will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please Him in every way:   bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,   being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might  so that you may have great endurance and patience 
and give joyful thanks to the Father,  who qualified you to share in the inheritance of His holy people in the kingdom of light.  For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness  and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves,
 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in Jesus Christ all things were created: things in heaven and on earth,  visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities;  all things have been created through Him and for Him.
 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. And He is the head of the body, the church;
He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything He might have the supremacy.
For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things,
 whether things on earth or things in heaven,  by making peace through His blood, shed on the cross.
    Colossians 1:9-20

Colossians 1:9-20 This Scripture text comes from the letter to the church at Colossae. This passage is a beautiful request for help in living the Christian life. It ends with the insertion of an earlier hymn to Christ that describes Jesus as the second person of the Trinity, co-eternal and co-equal with the father and the Spirit.

 Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,  We long for the day when all your saints  will see a new heaven and a new earth. 
We pray that soon all will hear a loud voice from your throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among people.”
 And how impatiently we await the time when Lord, you, will wipe every tear from our eyes.  There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain,  for the old order of things will pass away. Jesus, your words are trustworthy and true.  You are indeed  making everything new.  You are the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.
To the thirsty you will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life.  Those who are victorious will inherit all this,  and you will be our God and we will be you children. Come soon for all our sakes and bind-up all our broken-hearts.  Make us faithful and true until that day.  The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints.
Come Lord Jesus! Amen.  
    Based on Revelation 21:1-7; 22:20-21

Based on Revelation 21:1-7; 22:20-21 And so we end this exploration of praying the Scriptures where we began – in Revelation. Here at the end of the book we encounter another vision of heaven where death is no more. Jesus has returned to make all things new. When we pray sometimes God will answer our prayers differently than we might choose.  This does not mean He does not love or care for us. It means that He has prepared something better for us than we can imagine.  We may not see or understand what it is this side of heaven, but that does not negate His gracious acts to us. May we take comfort knowing that one day it will all be clear and everything will be made new. Come quickly Lord Jesus!