Neighbor Prayer Update

Often times our prayer lives and our intercession can grow dry, repetitive, even lifeless. That’s why we are told to “pray in the Spirit on all occasions.” One of the best ways to pray in the Spirit — to pray according to God’s will — is to use God’s word as a guide for our praying. A friend recently sent the following prayer guide which has been very helpful as I pray for my neighbors.

I encourage you to once again, fresh and new, get out your intercessory prayer list of the people and nations that you are praying for and use the following Scriptures to intercede for them.

And this week, especially remember the Palestinian (Hamas) / Israeli (Gaza) conflict. It has begun to have a ripple effect in some other Neighbor countries. May God’s people all around the world rise up in these desperate times and be peacemakers and ambassadors of reconciliation.

Praying Scripture for Unreached People

What was Jesus’ purpose in coming?
· Luke 19:10 “…For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost.”
· Matthew 20:28 “…just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life–a ransom for many.”
· John 6:38 “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My will, but the will of Him who sent Me.”
· John 10:10 “A thief comes only to steal and to kill and to destroy. I have come that they may have life and have it in abundance.”
· John 12:46 “I have come as a light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me would not remain in darkness.”

AS YOU PRAY, INSERT THE NAMES OF PEOPLE AND NATIONS AS THEY COME TO MIND:

• Ask God to draw them to Himself. (John 6:44) “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.”
• Ask God to convict them of their sin (John 16:8) “And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me;”
• Ask God to open their spiritual eyes (2 Corinthians 4:4) “in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”
• Ask God to set them free from spiritual bondage (2 Timothy 2:25-26) “with gentleness correcting thosewho are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.”
• Ask God to give them opportunities to hear the word of Christ and faith to believe in Him (Romans 10:17) “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.”
• Ask God to help them believe (Acts 16:30-31) …and after he brought them out, he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
• Ask God to give them the gift of faith and the willingness to accept that gift. (Eph 2:8) For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift…
• Ask God to send a witness in their life (Matthew 9:38) “Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”
• Ask God for ways to connect with them (1 Corinthians 9:22) “To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some.”
• Ask God for opportunities to witness to them (Colossians 4:3) “praying at the same time for us as well, that God will open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ, for which I have also been imprisoned;”
• Ask God for boldness to witness to them (Eph 6:19) “And now, Lord, take note of their threats, and grant that Your bond-servants may speak Your word with all confidence,”
• Ask that we would share the gospel fully in words, deeds, miracles and Spirit’s power. (Rom 15:18-19) “Yet I dare not boast about anything except what Christ has done through me, bringing the Gentiles to God by my words and my deeds among them. They were convinced by the power of miraculous signs and wonders and by the power of God’s Spirit. In this way, I have fully presented the Good News of Christ.”