Scripture Reading: Luke 18:1-8

Following a parable on the importance of diligent prayer, Jesus asked the question, “…when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith upon the earth?” This question should cause us to stop and ask ourselves as individuals and as a church of our Lord’s people, “If our Lord was to come today, would He find us faithful to prayer?!”

Today we are going to spend most of our time praying for the things for which God has called for us to pray. We will have several of the men come forward and read a prayer from God’s word. Then they will offer a prayer for us in keeping with the prayer of the Bible.

Luke 18:9-14 (I Peter 5:5-7): We must begin in prayer acknowledging our own unworthiness to come before the throne of God. Our sin must break our hearts even as it breaks the heart of God. We need to ask God for forgiveness as individuals, as a church and as a nation. For we have not been the people God has called for us to be. We have sinned in our words, and by our actions (we have done what is wrong and left undone what is right). If we fail to come to God with broken hearts, then we haven’t truly come before Him at all!!!

I Timothy 2:1-2: Pray for the leaders of the government (not only of this country but also for the countries around the world). There are many places where people are in danger (N. Korea, Liberia, the fledgling governments in Afghanistan and Iraq, Europe, Asia, etc.). We need to pray that God will grant them wisdom to rule well. We also need to pray that they will act in ways that will be in the best interest of their nations.

Luke 10:1-2, 16: There are currently over 6 BILLION souls living on this planet. Most of them have never even heard the name of Jesus! 95% of all gospels preachers live in the U.S.A. The population of the U.S. makes up less than 5% of the total world’s population! We need to ask God’s forgiveness for not taking His Great Commission seriously. Then we need to open our hearts to those around us (at home, work, school, etc.) whom WE CAN TEACH (for if our prayer is to change anything – it first has to change us)!! Pray that God will bring to Golden people with open hearts. Pray that God will open our hearts to reach out to the lost!!!

James 5:17-18 The power of prayer is not in the size of a man’s faith. The power of prayer is in the size of the One in whom we have placed our faith! We need to thank God for the rain He has sent which has eased our drought. We need to ask God to ease the difficult climatic situations in our country and around the world. There are currently droughts, floods, record heat waves, earthquakes and tornadoes ravaging the world. While this world is not our home, it is where we are living until we get home. Ask God to help those who struggle.

Luke 18:15-17 At the beginning of the summer we prayed that God would keep our children safe through the summer. We need to thank Him for doing that. Yet sending them back to school is not necessarily the safest place for them to be either. So we need to pray for the safety of our children at school. We need to pray for their teachers & principals that they will set good policies. We need to ask God to watch over them as they live a Christ-like life in an unchristian environment. Lets thank God for the blessing our children are to us.

Philippians 2:1-18 Pray for the church at Golden. Pray for her elders, her deacons and her ministry leaders. Pray that God will give them a faith that will believe in a bigger God than they have before. Pray for each member that they will grow in their love for the Lord, His church and His mission. Pray that from this moment forward, we will truly be a lighthouse in the midst of a dark and dying world.