Today is May 6, 2010, the special day of the year that has been designated as the National Day of Prayer. Now, of course, this doesn’t mean that it should be the only day that believers seek the Lord in prayer. But it is a day that we will particularly entreat the Lord for the sake of our churches, the work of missions, and other important matters.
Our church loves to pray. We look forward each week to our Mid-Week Prayer Meeting on Wednesday nights, where we offer praise to the Lord and bring our petitions to Him, both for our particular needs as well as the needs of others around the world. Last evening, for example, we had more words of praise for answered prayer than we had supplications to inquire of the Lord. I think that’s a good balance.
At Maranatha, we’re holding a special prayer service for National Day of Prayer this morning at 10:00 a.m. We have an agenda that we’ll be using, compliments of the Christian & Missionary Alliance, our denominational headquarters. In fact, they turned the occasion into an entire week of prayer that they’re calling the “Alliance World Week of Prayer.” This week of prayer began this past Sunday, May 2nd and continues through next Sunday, May 9th, for 8 days of continuous prayer matters.
Here is a small sample of the Alliance’s prayer agenda which we’ve condensed for our own purposes for our special prayer meeting: (for a complete prayer listing, go to the Alliance’s WWOP web-page here.)
1. Pray for Your Local Church and Pastor
God intends every local church to be a world-impacting congregation. This depends not on the congregation size, but on the size of our God.
2. Pray for U.S. Alliance Pastors and Workers
Consistent intercessory prayer releases the Lords empowerment in the life of the pastor, strengthening and enabling him to persevere in the ministry to which God has called him.
3. Pray for U.S. Alliance Churches
A church with a vision for a lost world is close to the heart of God. And followers of Jesus, living in community, can’t help but tell others about Him. This is part of making “disciples of all nations.” It is through the Church that the gospel will be proclaimed in our communities and around the world.
4. Pray for Alliance Leaders Worldwide
C&MA officers, Board of Directors, National Office administration, District staff, Regional & field directors, and other supporting leaders.
5. Pray for Alliance International Workers
More than 900 U.S. C&MA international workers are serving in 81 countries, invading enemy territory and challenging Satans realm.
6. Pray for Overseas C&MA National Churches
Over 20,000 churches and 4 million adherents worldwide face growing persecution, spiritual conflict, natural disasters, & economic hardships.
7. Pray for Pushing Back the Darkness
The vision was cast for The Alliance to move aggressively to push back the darkness in four specific creative access areas. (unreached)
8. Pray for Alliance Supporting Organizations
Partners: Alliance Development Fund; Orchard Foundation; CAMA
Schools: Crown; Nyack/ATS; Toccoa Falls; Simpson/Tozer Sem.
Retirement: ACRL; Chapel Pointe; Shell Point; Town & Country
Of course there are other things that you can think of that didn’t make the list. We certainly need to pray for our country. We ought to be praying for our schools and for school leaders. We should be praying for our military and for the many men and women who are on the field at this moment. And pray for world peace and goodwill.
Don’t forget to take the time to pray today. Pray for the advancement of Christ’s kingdom. Pray for the evangelization of the lost. Pray for missionaries to be successful in building bridges to the unreached people groups of the world for the sake of the gospel. Pray for our nation and our national leaders. Pray for our economy and for the multitudes of people who have been affected by it. Pray for the suffering people of the world who have been victims of recent earthquakes, famines, or other natural phenomenon. But most of all, pray that God would be glorified through us, that the name of Jesus Christ would be magnified, and that the Holy Spirit would empower us to live with a renewed sense of purpose in the midst of a perverse generation.