Scripture: John
4:5-26 (27-30, 39-42)
Having had this reading earlier in the week, please resist
the temptation to skim it over (although if you have time for nothing more,
please skim!) and take your devotion time to re-read the Gospel lesson slowly.
Pray for the Holy Spirit to teach you as you read the
Scripture lesson, and ask him to teach you to pray, opening your heart and mind
to pray according to God’s will.
Prayer
On Fridays you will be encouraged to pray for a variety of
prayer requests. The hope is that through these prayer requests we will,
obviously, intercede for those needing prayer, and that we will learn to think
more broadly in our prayers. If time is short, you could simply pray the Lord’s
Prayer.
Pray for the Holy Spirit to show you times that you doubt
God’s provision and protection for you, confess your sins and receive Jesus’
forgiveness.
Pray for peace with God:
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For yourself that you would confidently and
humbly stand in his grace;
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For your family that they would know the great
love and mercy of God in Christ;
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For those who do not know God’s peace in Christ
that the Holy Spirit would create faith in them.
Pray for those who are offensive to you (because of their
ethnic background, politics, sexual preferences, work ethic (or lack thereof),
or anything else). Pray for your heart to be soft, filled with Christ’s love
and compassion. Pray for God to bless them – bodily and spiritually.
Pray for people to believe the Gospel; for Muslims, Sikhs,
Hindus, Jews, Atheists, etc. Ask God to send the Holy Spirit to:
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Work in the lives of all who do not believe to
create faith in them.
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Make Christians loving and winsome, eager to
share the Gospel.
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Open our hearts and minds to opportunities God
gives us to share the Gospel, and boldness to share it.
Pray for faith to trust that God hears our prayers and
answers them.
Pray for God to open our eyes to all the blessings he has
poured out on us, and that he give us thoughts, words, and actions to praise
him with.
Pray for Sunday’s Worship Services; that God would meet us
in his Word and Sacraments to forgive us and form us as his people, and that
our response would be love for God and others.
Pray the Lord’s Prayer.
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