Friday June 21, 2013

Read 1 Thessalonians 3:11-13. John 13:34-35

 

Think ahead to the day when Jesus returns to judge the living and the dead. On that day a trumpet will blast and the Lord will descend with His holy angels to gather the elect and to judge the rest of mankind. It will be both a glorious day and a terrifying day, depending on where you stand with the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

As you cast your mind forward to that day, imagine you have a list of all the prayers that you ever prayed. Which ones would be relevant and enduring on that final day? Which ones will have really mattered?

 

Of course it’s important to pray about our physical and immediate needs. Jesus taught us to ask God for our daily bread in the Lord’s Prayer. But notice what Paul prays in these closing 3 verses of chapter 3.

 

Firstly he prays that God would open the way for himself and his team to come to the Thessalonians. He is asking that they might enjoy rich, deep and Christ centred fellowship yet again. He prays that the church members would grow in love for each other, effectively asking that the world would truly see them as Jesus’ disciples. He’s asking that they grow in love for non Christians, which we presume is a prayer that more and more people would come into the faith as they see the love of Jesus. He asks God to strengthen their hearts so that they avoid temptation, stop sinning and walk away from previous addictions. He prays that when Jesus does return to judge the living and the dead that they would be able to stand tall because they have lived a life worthy of their calling. Finally, he prays that there will be nothing that they are ashamed of on that great day of Christ’s return.

 

Perhaps it might be time to reform our prayers. While it’s not wrong to focus on the physical and the immediate, sometimes these do tend to form the crux and majority of our prayers. Let us not stop praying for these needs but let us also pray prayers that endure through eternity. Let us adopt and add prayers that will matter and prove fruitful on that day when Christ Jesus Himself returns.

 

Prayer:

Write down your prayer points in the space provided. Use today’s reading to help you get ideas.

 

Adoration:

 

Confession:

 

Thanks:

 

Supplication:

V Ask the Lord to use Shiloh Church Ministries in India to grow and make disciples in the 3 orphanages that they run. Pray that these children will grow into Christ loving, Christ serving people and that Shiloh will be able to meet their daily needs.

V Pray that God’s work through PIM (Presbyterian Inland Missions) across Australia would bear much fruit. Pray that the individual padres would have many opportunities to speak of Christ, to run church services and to bring many people to the Lord for salvation.

 

Discussion Questions For Families and Groups

1. What percentage of your prayers generally are focused on the immediate and physical and what percentage are in line with the type of prayers we’ve looked at today?

2. Why do you think this pattern has emerged in your life?