"Compassionate Lord, Who Ate with Tax Collectors and Sinners" - 24 October 2021

 

Lord Jesus, you invite us to come and present our requests in your name, “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son” (John 14:13). And so, we come to you and through you.

Compassionate Lord who ate with tax collectors and sinners, who came not to call the righteous but sinners; we pray for those who are unbelievers and those who have strayed away – hear us as we silently call out their names to you (…). Save them, change them, cleanse them, make them utterly yours. And help us to be part of that amazing-grace work!

We pray, O Lord, that of your great goodness, you would comfort, strengthen, aid, and fortify those who, in this transitory life, are in trouble, trial, sorrow, sickness, or any other adversity. We mention those on our minds before you (…).

We beg you to rule the hearts and ambitions of all who bear the authority of government in this and every land. May they be led to wise decisions and right actions for the peace and welfare of our world. We pray this especially right now for Ethiopia and Nigeria as they descend deeper into civil war and dystopia! And with regard to those groups and gangs of people banded together to do evil – such as the Haitian gang 400 Mawozo, or those who are pushing perversion and immorality on others by use of force and intimidation, we pray with the Psalmist: Arise, O LORD! Let not man prevail; let the nations be judged before you! Put them in fear, O LORD! Let the nations know that they are but men (Psalm 9:19-20)!

We pray for your Church all over the world, and congregations here in the OKC area, such as Overcomers Church of God in Christ, Pennsylvania Church of the Nazarene, People’s Church, and Putnam City Christian. Lord, you promised that you were building your church on the rock-solid reality that you are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God, and therefore the gates of hell would never prevail against your church (Matthew 16:18). Therefore, please preserve your church from the cunning works of Satan so that our thoughts would not be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to you (2 Corinthians 11:3), so that we would not be ignorant of his designs and outwitted (2 Corinthians 2:11). For those congregations who desire to stand against the schemes of the devil (Ephesians 6:11) clothe them with the whole armor of God and support them to stand. For those churches that have been beguiled by the evil one’s subtle promises of relevance and magnitude, who have a reputation for being alive but are really dead (Revelation 3:1), awaken them and grant them to be strengthened and that their godly works would become complete in your sight. And be with your people under pressure and under threat of danger – we think especially of the those in certain Middle Eastern countries, those under martial law, those under threats from ISIS, or intimidation by the police, and the 17 missionaries kidnapped in Haiti. Grant them continued strength and to live lives above reproach; grant them relief and rescue; and grant that the Gospel of the Kingdom will be preached clearly and boldly to the ends of the earth.

These requests we ask in your name, Lord Jesus, and we pray as you taught us, saying, Our Father…