21 Days of Prayer & Fasting: Day 17 Prayer Focus: GROW “And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to EQUIP THE SAINTS for the work of ministry, for BUILDING up the body of Christ, until we all ATTAIN to the UNITY of the FAITH and of the KNOWLEDGE of the Son of God, to MATURE manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to GROW up in every way into him who is the head, INTO CHRIST, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the BODY GROW so that it BUILDS itself up in LOVE.” - Eph. 4:11-16 In the above passage I have capitalized some key words/phrases for you to focus on as you pray today for the growth of the body of Christ, the church. A. Pray that every Christian who calls our church home will be equipped to contribute to the growth of the body of Christ. B. Pray that we would grow to be more unified. Notice that the goal is not to be unified regarding our political party affiliation, tastes in music style, or favorite sports team (despite the obvious benefits of converting Dallas Cowboy fans to NY Giants fans). What we are to pray for and work towards is that all of God’s people would have a clear and accurate understanding of the person and work of Jesus. Not only do we want everyone to grow in their knowledge of Jesus but also in their faith. It is not enough to gain knowledge about Jesus, we need to grow to actively trust him in all circumstances! C. “Growing into Christ” involves growing to think like Christ, feel like Christ, and behave like Christ. Pray that we all would grow to love what Jesus loves (i.e. people, truth, righteousness) and hate what Jesus hates (i.e. deception, sin, the Devil. Notice that “people” are not part of this list!) Pray that we would have Jesus perspective on things; that we would grow to be able to view every situation the way Jesus views it. D. Finally, pray that our church grows in love. Pray that everyone who encounters members of our church, whether it be on our campus or in the community, would see the love of Jesus in us. Jesus said, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35)
Posted on: Fri, 24 Jan 2014 14:05:38 +0000
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