Day 10: Your Kingdom Come in My Church
Today we continue praying for God’s kingdom to come and will to be done in your church.
“your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
The life function of [the local church] is to love the God who created it – to care for others out of obedience to Christ, to heal those who hurt, to take away fear, to restore community, to belong to one another, to proclaim the Good News while living it out. The church is the invisible made visible.—Chuck Colson
Warm Up:
Write down the names of the leaders/staff in your church.
Include their spouses if they are married.
Round 1: LEADERSHIP
Pray for each leader of your church by name—that they would know the heart of god and lead with integrity.
Ephesians 4:11-13—So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
Round 2:
Pray for the body of your church—that the church would be a source of reconciliation and be unified in Jesus.
John 17:20-23—My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
Round 3: SECURITY
Pray for the body of your church—that the church would be incredibly generous and demonstrate the power of god.
Acts 2:42-47—They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
Burn Out:
level up through fellowship:
Care for someone in the body of your church. Here are several ideas to kickstart your creativity. Do it today if possible!
Care for a family or individual—drop off a meal.
Teach a younger person—volunteer in kids ministry.
Serve someone—find a need and fill it.
Pray for a situation—lift someone up in prayer.
Restore a friendship—text a friend from your church you haven’t connected with in a long time.
Show hospitality—buy someone coffee or invite them over for a meal.
Encourage someone—send a handwritten note through the mail.
Comfort someone—share a word of comfort with someone going through a difficult time.
Quote of the Week:
“Pray god’s promises not your circumstances.” —Vicki epperson
Bonus round:
It was one of the sweetest, most precious things Jesus said to his disciples. Remember, they were all really focused on “the kingdom.” Not that they were concerned about the honor of the King or the success of his kingdom; no, what obsessed them was their place in that kingdom. For them, the kingdom was about personal power, prominence, and position. Do you remember the incident recorded in Mark 9:30-37?
Right after Jesus told them that he was going to be captured and killed, they didn’t say: “Lord, no, no, you can’t let this happen. What will we do without you?” They weren’t filled with remorse. No, they began fighting with one another about which one of them was the greatest. This is what sin does to all of us. It causes us all to be little self-sovereigns and self-appointed mini-kings. What we really want is for our kingdom to come and our will to be done right here, right now in our jobs and families. We love being in control. We love getting our own way. We love being indulged and served. We live for being right. We have a wonderful plan for the people in our lives. It is humbling to admit, but we are more like the disciples than unlike them.
So it was a moment of beautiful grace when Jesus looked at these self-oriented disciples and said, “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32). He was saying: “Don’t you understand? I didn’t come to exercise my power to make your little kingdom work, but to welcome you, by grace, to a much better kingdom than you could ever quest for on your own.” No matter how counterintuitive it is, it really is true that real life is found only when his kingdom comes and his will is done, and that is exactly what grace welcomes you to.