Scripture: John
11:1-53
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 need 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 Spirit of life to work in us so that we can:
-
Resist the mind of the flesh.
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Be comforted that we are saved, and not
condemned.
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Walk according to the Spirit.
-
Trust more fully that the Spirit dwells in us
and is at work in us.
Pray for those who grieve and
continue to weep at the grave of friends and loved ones; that they may be
comforted and strengthened in Jesus’ proclamation, “I am the resurrection and
the life….”
Pray for God’s people to cry out
to him and confess our sins as we have confidence that he forgives sins for
Christ’s sake.
Pray for those who are dead in trespasses
and sins; that God would assemble them into the body of Christ and breathe new
breath, the breath of faith and everlasting life, into them by the proclamation
of the Word of God’s grace.
Pray that we might be among
those who proclaim the Word that gives life to those who are dead in sin, and
that when God gives us opportunity that we would speak his Word faithfully,
joyfully, and with full confidence in him.
Pray for those who struggle with
illnesses – especially those who struggle with lasting illness – that God would
strengthen their faith and encourage them in their suffering.
Pray for the dying that God
strengthen their faith, keep them in the palm of his hand, and fill them with
the hope of eternal life that all who trust in Jesus have, and pray for them to
have a blessed end.
Pray the Lord’s Prayer.
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