Topic: Watch and Pray Fervently for the Body of Christ [Church of God Mission International] Above Only Daily Devotional 11 June 2021
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Above Only Devotional
Friday June 11
Watch and Pray Fervently for the Body of Christ
Romans 1:8-9 (NLT), Colossians 4:12 (NLT)
Let me say first that I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith in him is being talked about all over the world. God knows how often I pray for you. Day and night I bring you and your needs in prayer to God, whom I serve with all my heart by spreading the Good News about his Son. *Ephaphras, from your city, a servant of Christ Jesus, sends you his love. He is always earnestly praying for you, asking God to make you strong and perfect and to help you know his will in everything you do.
God wants us to be interested and concerned about the state of the body of Christ, just as He is. One of the things Apostle Paul listed as his sufferings as an apostle of Christ was the daily pressure he felt because of his concern for the churches (2Cor.11:28-29). This is why, as our first text above says, Apostle Paul prayed day and night for the churches. Just as the devil was out to distract and stop Jesus when He was on the earth, the devil is still out today to distract and stop the progress of the body of Christ today. As we pray fervently for the body of Christ, the power of God will be made available and we will prevail. When the devil tried to have Peter and sift him as wheat, Jesus prayed for Peter and his faith was preserved (Luke 22:31-32).
There is so much to pray about for the Church. Jesus prayed earnestly for us when He was on the earth (John 17:20) and He is still praying for us right now in heaven (Heb.7:25). In John 17:15 and 21, Jesus prayed that God will keep us from the evil in the world and that we should be one. In our second text above, we see that Epaphras prayed earnestly for believers to be strong and perfect in the will of God for their lives. Apostle Paul prayed for God to grant believers the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Christ. He also prayed for the eyes of believers to be open to the hope to which God has called us. God’s glorious inheritance in us and God’s mighty power at work in us (Eph.1:15-20). The Bible implores us to “never stop praying, especially for others. Always pray by the power of the Spirit. Stay alert and keep praying for God’s people” (Eph.6:18, CEV). You can never tell whose life and faith around the world is being helped by your fervent prayers for the body of Christ.
Prayer Focus:
Pray and ask God to strengthen and preserve the faith of believers. Pray in the spirit and pray for the Church as you are led.
Bible in One Year Reading Plan
1 Kings 8:1-66, Acts 7:51-8:13, Psalm 129:1:8, Proverbs 17:1