A Call to Pray

Summer 2008

Our Response to Tragedy

“In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. The

man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. He

had seven sons and three daughters, and he owned seven thousand

sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen,

five hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants.

He was the greatest man among all the people of the East…

Job 1:1 – 3

Job’s children were what we might call ‘party animals’ they certainly enjoyed and used their father’s wealth to their own selfish pleasure.  This concerned Job and the scripture tells us that it was Job’s regular practice to pray for his children and offer burnt sacrifices on there behalf.  But we can see the real depth of his faith in his response to the loss of all of his, cattle, sheep, oxen, and donkeys, most of his servants and all of his children.

“At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. 

Then he fell to the ground in worship and said:

 Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. 

The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away;

may the name of the Lord be praised.

 In all of this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrong doing.”

Job.1:20-22

This spring and leading into summer as been a time of severe tragedy; the cyclone in Myanmar, the massive earthquake in China, to the tornadoes here in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, Nebraska, Minn. and many other states. And more recently the flooding in Iowa, Illinois and Missouri .have left many businesses and homeowners wondering what to do next.  And the news of this week is the severe draught in the panhandle of our own state. In the face of tragedy we should not blame God but turn to Him in worship. We should offer prayers for those who have been affected by these tragedies and we should pray that doors of opportunities for witnessing will be open, especially in Myanmar and China where opportunities to witness have been very limited. Even though these events are no longer front page news the people of Myanmar and China will be rebuilding their lives for many years  Praise the Lord that we have disaster teams already on sight in many of these areas. As China has shifted its focus to the upcoming Olympics; pray that the Christians that will be in that country for the Olympics will have opportunities to share what God has done.

Praying for our Church

Praise the Lord

• For the new additions to our fellowship.
• Foe our successful clown college.
• For those who prayed to receive Christ..

Praying for the Ministries and Needs of our Church

• Continue to pray for our youth search committee as they seek God’s Will concerning someone to serve as our youth minister.
• Pray for our Pastor. Ask God to bless him and guide him in all that he does.
• Pray for our Men’s Ministry to the troops and support this ministry by bringing items for the packages.
• .

Pray for our Missionaries:

 Sometimes it is difficult to know what or how to pray for our missionaries and for our Pastor.  In those times it might be good to look to Eph. 6: 19 where Paul says “Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly as I should.”

Pray for boldness. Pray for their protection. Pray that all their needs would be met from God’s abundance.

Pray for their families.

Pray for our Nation and our Troops

Pray for the leaders of our Nation as they make decisions concerning our economy and foreign affairs.

Pray that the people of the United States would prayfully seek God’s Will concerning the upcoming election.

Pray for our service men and women, especially those who are serving in the Middle East. Pray for their protection.  Pray that the plans of the enemy would be confused and that they would fail.  Pray for those who are Christians that they would be strong in their faith. Pray for the families of those that are serving, especially for those that have lost a loved one and those that are rebuilding their lives after being wounded.

Meditation:

Paul’s prayer for the church at Philippi:

“…that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.” Philippians 1:9-11