Scripture: Matthew
28:16–20
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 who 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 faith to believe that
God created all things.
Pray for creation; that humanity
would take proper care of it, that where we have harmed it we would seek to
repair the damage, that God would sustain it unit the Day he has appointed to
end it, and that every creature (people included) would have what they need for
life.
Pray for the Mission of God;
that God’s people would go through the world sharing the hope we have in Jesus,
that God would make disciples through us as we baptize and teach, and that more
and more people would follow Jesus into salvation.
That we would properly cherish
our own baptism and desire to learn more of God’s Word, his ways, and his will.
Pray that we would marvel at our
relationship to God, and that we would rejoice in all God has done in creation,
redemption, and sanctification (the work God does to make us holy).
Pray for those who share the
Gospel; evangelists who work in their communities, missionaries who travel to
foreign lands, and every follower of Jesus who is privileged to share the good
news of Jesus’ death and resurrection with others.
Pray for those who hear the
Gospel; that God would use the good news of Christ crucified and risen to
create faith in them, give them forgiveness of sins, and lead them to
everlasting life.
Pray for believers who no longer
feel the weight of their sin and neglect their relationship to God; that God
would draw them back to himself, they would know the depth of sin so they may
rejoice in the greatness of Jesus’ forgiveness.
Pray for the world and all the
violence that takes place in it; that God’s people would be agents of peace and
hope to those who hurt.
Pray for the sick.
Pray the Lord’s Prayer.
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