Day of Prayer & Fasting

• Posted on sdgale
• in 'CHOP Talk' Blog
• on September 16, 2013
• Comments Off on Day of Prayer & Fasting

The elders of my church have called our congregation to a day of prayer and fasting.  I thought some might be interested in the instructions given.  Below you will find the cover letter to a three-page prayer guide.  Most of the requests were submitted by the various ministry teams of the church.

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Day of Prayer & Fasting

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Dear Prayer Corps,

I cannot stress strongly enough the importance of this day of prayer.  Our Lord wants us to ask in order to receive, seek in order to find, and knock that He may open doors.  As a house of prayer, every member of RPC is part of a prayer corps.

There are many concerns for prayer in the life of our congregation.  Matters of health, marriages, school, jobs are all important subjects for prayer.  You’ll find many such requests on our weekly prayer list.  This day, however, looks primarily to our life and ministry as a church, charged by our Lord Jesus with the work of His kingdom.

Here is some direction to help you in good use of the day.

• Walk in a spirit of prayer throughout the day, enjoying the communion of God with you, and praying for those things the Holy Spirit brings to mind and heart.
• Plan for small periods of time throughout the day to focus on concentrated prayer. Choose prayer over television.  Make use of travel time.
• Use hunger pangs to stimulate prayer. In your weakness, find Christ’s strength.
• Try to cover the entire prayer list that follows. Also, don’t be afraid to pray multiple times for the same thing.
• Be sure to linger with God.  You don’t need to talk all the time. Listen. You might even write down things the Lord impresses on your heart related to your own life and family, and to the church.  Talk these things out with your Father.
• Plan to come together as a church body to close out your day in corporate prayer.  We will meet at 6:00 p.m. in the Ministry House and then break up into small groups to go on a prayer walk throughout the church building and Ministry House.  Child care will be provided for the time of prayer.  At 7:15 p.m. those who would like are welcome to stay and share pizza together.

At the end of day, our labor in prayer finished, let us hear the words of God through His prophet Isaiah: “because you prayed…,” and let us wait in believing expectation.

Blessings,

Psalm 5:1–3

¹      Give ear to my words, O Lord,

consider my sighing.

²     Listen to my cry for help,

my King and my God,

for to you I pray.

³     In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice;

in the morning I lay my requests before you

and wait in expectation.