40 Days of Prayer: Week 3
I want us to take the 6 weeks (7/24-8/28) leading up to the Fall semester to pray as a church. This is Week Three. As well, every Tuesday morning, I will lead a time of prayer at the church office (910 Collier St, Suite 200, Fort Worth, TX 76102), from 7-8am. I would love for you to join me.
Help us to Love Others Through Hospitality
This week in our 40 Days of Prayer together we will Help us to Love Others Through Hospitality. What is hospitality? It’s making strangers family:“Our post-Christian neighbors need to hear and see and taste and feel authentic Christianity, hospitality spreading from every Christian home that includes neighbors in prayer, food, friendship, childcare, dog walking, and all the daily matters upon which friendships are built.”On my sabbatical this summer I read non-Jesus-y dessert books (think Jack Reacher); but my wife read The Gospel Comes With a House Key, and it was amazing. Read this and let it shape your prayers this week:Christians have a theology and worldview for calling strangers to the table, and then sitting there long enough to be both earthly and spiritual good. Christians have a theology of difference and diversity.What trips up Christians is this: too much time waging war with people and ideas on social media, and too heavy a reliance on church programs to filter strangers, weeding out the creepy ones and bringing to your table the nice and safe ones. This post-Christian world won’t stand for this. And we shouldn’t either.Get close enough to the stranger to put her hand into the hand of the Savior.
Example Prayers:
Example Prayers based on PRDX365 reading (Psalms 69-75):Tuesday you can ask God to give you his same heart as expressed in v.33: “For the LORD hears the needy (Ps. 69:3). On Thursday ask God to use you as he “rescues” and is a “refuge” to others (Ps. 71:1,4). And so on. Use the Psalms—God’s prayer book for us—to pray for others, even those you don’t really know yet.
Prayer Tips:
As you read your bible or just consider God’s promises and your need, depending on where you are in your heart you can:• Praise - Thank God for what he has provided. Praise him for his faithfulness.• Ask - Ask God to provide. Cling to his promises and faithfulness and ask your Father boldly.• Lament - Cry out to God. Wonder why he is delaying. Confess your doubt. He hears you and loves you.• Intercede - Ask God if there is someone in the church he wants you to encourage specifically. Wait. Listen.
More Info on 40 Days of Prayer:
Seasons of intentional prayer, where we posture ourselves before Jesus in expectant dependency, are important for any church—I believe this is a necessity for our church family at this time. Prayer is the practice of being in His presence and receiving His blessings—doing nothing, in complete dependence on Jesus.Each week we will pray about one of three overarching themes: Affections for Jesus, Love for Others, and Wisdom for our Church. As we work toward planting churches, maturing as a church, and growing in our dependence on the Holy Spirit, we need to start the Fall off with intentional time of prayer. Here’s what we will pray for specifically each week:Affections for Jesus• Week 1 - We Confess our Dependence on Jesus• Week 2 - We Need to Know the Love of Christ for UsLove for Others• Week 3 - Call us to Love Others Through Hospitality• Week 4 - Call us to Proclaim you Through Bold EvangelismWisdom for our Church• Week 5 - Our Hope is in the Spirit to Give us Wisdom• Week 6 - Our Trust is in you for FavorOur 40 Days of Prayer will coincide with PRDX365, our daily bible reading plan—so if you haven’t jumped in or have fallen out of rhythm with your reading, jump back on! Each week we’ll post a blog with the theme we will be praying about, along with some examples of what those prayers could look like. As you do your daily PRDX365 reading, and throughout the day, together as a church we can “present our requests to God.”As well, every Tuesday morning, I will lead a time of prayer at the church office (910 Collier St, Suite 200, Fort Worth, TX 76102), from 7-8am. I would love for you to join me.