The Pastoral Prayer
Day 1
Read Colossians 4
We are continuing our reading in Colossians, the book similar to our book of study on Sunday’s, Ephesians. Paul closes the heart of the letter by asking for prayers. The prayers he is asking for specifically are that the church would pray for a door to be opened for them to share the word. That sounds pretty normal and what you would expect a missionary planting churches in lands that are not accustomed to the gospel would ask for. But this is not a normal situation. That should be considered. Paul was in prison, not a normal situation. So he was asking that they help him pray for a door to open for them to share that gospel while they are in prison!
You know what feels like the prayer that I would pray in that situation? I would ask for an open door too, just the one in the prison! What an incredible testimony Paul had as he was always looking for a change to tell anyone about Jesus. I want that kind of resolve, that kind of drive, that kind of an ability to assess a situation and be able to look for the work God has for me, no matter what the circumstances. The difference is the focus on one’s own personal desires and wants, and one focused on God’s heart, trusting that God has your best in mind.
Paul prays for an open door, but he also prays for clarity when he gets to present the message. Obviously, the nature of how he would be presenting the message would not be the perfect situation, being that he is in prison and everything. That can make the circumstances difficult in many ways to present a clear message. He asks for them to pray that he is clear and precise. An open door and clarity to share the gospel of Jesus…that's a great prayer to start the week with.
Why not start the week praying for these two things in your life: an open door to share the gospel and the clarity in that situation when you get the chance?
How can you pray for these specific things for the ministry at Keystone as well?
What about for Hydrate Kids Camp and also for the Jamaica team?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
We are continuing our reading in Colossians, the book similar to our book of study on Sunday’s, Ephesians. Paul closes the heart of the letter by asking for prayers. The prayers he is asking for specifically are that the church would pray for a door to be opened for them to share the word. That sounds pretty normal and what you would expect a missionary planting churches in lands that are not accustomed to the gospel would ask for. But this is not a normal situation. That should be considered. Paul was in prison, not a normal situation. So he was asking that they help him pray for a door to open for them to share that gospel while they are in prison!
You know what feels like the prayer that I would pray in that situation? I would ask for an open door too, just the one in the prison! What an incredible testimony Paul had as he was always looking for a change to tell anyone about Jesus. I want that kind of resolve, that kind of drive, that kind of an ability to assess a situation and be able to look for the work God has for me, no matter what the circumstances. The difference is the focus on one’s own personal desires and wants, and one focused on God’s heart, trusting that God has your best in mind.
Paul prays for an open door, but he also prays for clarity when he gets to present the message. Obviously, the nature of how he would be presenting the message would not be the perfect situation, being that he is in prison and everything. That can make the circumstances difficult in many ways to present a clear message. He asks for them to pray that he is clear and precise. An open door and clarity to share the gospel of Jesus…that's a great prayer to start the week with.
Why not start the week praying for these two things in your life: an open door to share the gospel and the clarity in that situation when you get the chance?
How can you pray for these specific things for the ministry at Keystone as well?
What about for Hydrate Kids Camp and also for the Jamaica team?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
Day 2
Read Ephesians 1:1-14
The first week we spent in this book we talked about 10 things we declare from being “in Christ”, which is the overly repeated phrase that Paul uses in these verses of praise and prayer. I am certain you are like me and don’t have all of those 10 things on call in your mind, so here is what they were:
After reading through these verses, take some time to think about each of these 10 things and how you relate to them. It is always good to have a reminder ready with truth when you need it most.
What are the ones from this list that you struggle with believing the most? Why?
What is the one you are struggling with currently in your life? Why?
How does today’s devotion inform your prayers?
The first week we spent in this book we talked about 10 things we declare from being “in Christ”, which is the overly repeated phrase that Paul uses in these verses of praise and prayer. I am certain you are like me and don’t have all of those 10 things on call in your mind, so here is what they were:
- I am blessed
- I am chosen.
- I am holy.
- I am blameless.
- I am loved.
- I am adopted.
- I am redeemed.
- I am purposed.
- I am hopeful.
- I am sealed.
After reading through these verses, take some time to think about each of these 10 things and how you relate to them. It is always good to have a reminder ready with truth when you need it most.
What are the ones from this list that you struggle with believing the most? Why?
What is the one you are struggling with currently in your life? Why?
How does today’s devotion inform your prayers?
Day 3
Read Ephesians 1:15-23
When I start reading this passage, I flinch. Maybe it is deserved or maybe I am being a bit too skeptical and judgmental, but I have been doing this church thing for a really long time and in a lot of different contexts. My struggle shows up in verse 15. What if we had that here at Keystone Church? What if we were the church that was known as the church of an incredible, famous faith with a famous love toward God’s people? In a world that is about as divided as it can be, especially recently, this seems so appealing. We wouldn’t be the ones that are all about all the things we disagree with each other on and declaring how we are better than all the rest, but rather the people that genuinely, selflessly, love the people of God and desire to see the Church, not just our church, grow! What if we were not just known as the church that had a great service or helpful teaching or even good outreach, but rather we were known for the depths and quality of the faith that God has raised up among us?
When you are building advertising campaigns and trying to gain traffic online, you look for things that draw people in. In other words, you look for the things that people are already looking for that would be close to what you have and you try to capitalize off of what they are searching for. What if we were a people known for our faith? What if people that were looking to grow in their faith and in their walk with God, first thought of the famous faith that has come out of the work of Keystone Church in the heart of Greensburg? I long for that to be our aim.
What do you think were the things that made Paul know these people by their faith and their love for the saints?
How do we do this, aim at this, or even build this into our vision?
How do you apply this to your life personally?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
When I start reading this passage, I flinch. Maybe it is deserved or maybe I am being a bit too skeptical and judgmental, but I have been doing this church thing for a really long time and in a lot of different contexts. My struggle shows up in verse 15. What if we had that here at Keystone Church? What if we were the church that was known as the church of an incredible, famous faith with a famous love toward God’s people? In a world that is about as divided as it can be, especially recently, this seems so appealing. We wouldn’t be the ones that are all about all the things we disagree with each other on and declaring how we are better than all the rest, but rather the people that genuinely, selflessly, love the people of God and desire to see the Church, not just our church, grow! What if we were not just known as the church that had a great service or helpful teaching or even good outreach, but rather we were known for the depths and quality of the faith that God has raised up among us?
When you are building advertising campaigns and trying to gain traffic online, you look for things that draw people in. In other words, you look for the things that people are already looking for that would be close to what you have and you try to capitalize off of what they are searching for. What if we were a people known for our faith? What if people that were looking to grow in their faith and in their walk with God, first thought of the famous faith that has come out of the work of Keystone Church in the heart of Greensburg? I long for that to be our aim.
What do you think were the things that made Paul know these people by their faith and their love for the saints?
How do we do this, aim at this, or even build this into our vision?
How do you apply this to your life personally?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
Day 4
Read Romans 1:1-15
It is the same story here. Pau, the pastoral church planter, was writing to the church to encourage and strengthen them in their faith. But he starts out talking about their faith that they are known for. This was a time long before social media and the internet, so news traveled much, much slower. It was all by word of mouth and there were plenty of things going on in the world to take precedence over news about this little church. For some reason the story about their faith here kept getting through. Paul talks about how he shares this news with everyone he can, talking about their faith all over the known world.
He was writing to them, because he longed to see them. When he was able to see them, he was going to present to them a few things: some teaching that would help impart the growth in spiritual gifts among them, encouragement for them and for him. That is how it goes with the friendships and relationships we build in the church. They should be edifying or building each other up, but also mutually encouraging. That is a refreshing difference than how a lot of our relationships are tending to go outside of church. We should notice a difference in those relationships that are rooted in Jesus. If we don’t, something is surely off and needs to be paid attention to.
What is special about the relationships you have with the people at church?
How are these relationships encouraging to you and how are they encouraging to other people?
What do you think Paul means about imparting spiritual gifts to strengthen each other?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
It is the same story here. Pau, the pastoral church planter, was writing to the church to encourage and strengthen them in their faith. But he starts out talking about their faith that they are known for. This was a time long before social media and the internet, so news traveled much, much slower. It was all by word of mouth and there were plenty of things going on in the world to take precedence over news about this little church. For some reason the story about their faith here kept getting through. Paul talks about how he shares this news with everyone he can, talking about their faith all over the known world.
He was writing to them, because he longed to see them. When he was able to see them, he was going to present to them a few things: some teaching that would help impart the growth in spiritual gifts among them, encouragement for them and for him. That is how it goes with the friendships and relationships we build in the church. They should be edifying or building each other up, but also mutually encouraging. That is a refreshing difference than how a lot of our relationships are tending to go outside of church. We should notice a difference in those relationships that are rooted in Jesus. If we don’t, something is surely off and needs to be paid attention to.
What is special about the relationships you have with the people at church?
How are these relationships encouraging to you and how are they encouraging to other people?
What do you think Paul means about imparting spiritual gifts to strengthen each other?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
Day 5
Read Psalm 32
Can you relate to the feelings in this Psalm? Start this day out by searching your heart. Maybe you don’t really need to, or maybe this is a good practice because we have the tendency to avoid what we need to pay attention to and just call it being busy. But we have to be honest. Honest with God and honest with ourselves. Surely you are like me and get stubborn enough to just gloss over what you don’t want to deal with. Then, like David writes here, we feel the physical effects of harbored sin in our lives. While you are thinking about that, think about the relief of confessing sin as well. Remember what that is like, to finally quit running with it and just get it out in the open? The relief comes from the fact that you no longer are working so hard to cover over the sin and hide it. Now you can finally put back the things in your life that are suffering and broken because of the sin. Now you can deal with the relationships that have been hurt by your decisions. That is the relief that only comes after confessing sin. So why not start today off with that?
What is God dealing with you about today?
Why have you been refusing to deal with this sin lately?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
Can you relate to the feelings in this Psalm? Start this day out by searching your heart. Maybe you don’t really need to, or maybe this is a good practice because we have the tendency to avoid what we need to pay attention to and just call it being busy. But we have to be honest. Honest with God and honest with ourselves. Surely you are like me and get stubborn enough to just gloss over what you don’t want to deal with. Then, like David writes here, we feel the physical effects of harbored sin in our lives. While you are thinking about that, think about the relief of confessing sin as well. Remember what that is like, to finally quit running with it and just get it out in the open? The relief comes from the fact that you no longer are working so hard to cover over the sin and hide it. Now you can finally put back the things in your life that are suffering and broken because of the sin. Now you can deal with the relationships that have been hurt by your decisions. That is the relief that only comes after confessing sin. So why not start today off with that?
What is God dealing with you about today?
Why have you been refusing to deal with this sin lately?
How does this become part of your prayer today?
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