All-church Prayer Meeting – March 1, 2020

Baltimore Bible ChurchPastoral EncouragementLeave a Comment

Dear BBC Family,

We know that it is God’s will for us to pray without ceasing (1 Thess. 5:17).  Our personal lives and our corporate life as a local church ought to be conspicuously marked by prayer.

But what should we pray for and what should our attitude be in prayer?  In Luke 11:1, one of Jesus’ disciples asked Him to teach them to pray.  Jesus’ reply to this request is a great source of instruction for us on how we ought to pray.  In Luke 11:2-13, we can glean the following principles for prayer:

  1. (11:2a) In prayer we our addressing our heavenly “Father.”  This reminds us of our reconciliation to God through Christ and that we have been amazingly and graciously made part of God’s family!
  2. (11:2a) We are reminded that God’s name is to be recognized and revered as holy.  Even though He is our Father, we must never forget that He is holy and our desire should be that every single person on this planet would recognize and worship our holy God.
  3. (11:2b) We should pray for God’s kingdom to come.  This reminds us that prayer is about aligning our wills and priorities with God’s will and priorities.  It’s about His kingdom and not ours.
  4. (11:3)  We should remember that God is the one who supplies our needs every day. This reminds us of our dependence on Him for even the basic necessities of life.
  5. (11:4a) We need God’s forgiveness.  He is the only One who can forgive us our sins.  Even though we have been justified through Christ and declared positionally righteous, we still sin and need God’s forgiveness and cleansing.
  6. (11:4b) We must forgive others who have sinned against us.  In so doing, we are to imitate our heavenly Father’s forgiveness of us and our sins against him. This kind of forgiveness is an obligation for us, it is not optional.
  7. (11:4c) We must ask to be protected from temptation.  This reminds us of our spiritual weakness and dependence on our Father in heaven to protect us and strengthen us.
  8. (11:5-10)  We are to pray persistently and expectantly.
  9. (11:11-13)  Our heavenly Father is good and knows how to give us good gifts!  He has given us the Holy Spirit and He will give us every good thing that we truly need that is for His glory and our good.  We have every reason to confidently trust Him for the smallest and greatest needs in our lives.

I hope that these observations will encourage you in your personal prayer life and in your corporate times of prayer with the rest of the BBC family.

And next Sunday morning, March 1, at 9:00am we will be having an all-church prayer meeting during the Sunday School hour!  No other classes will be offered during this time so that we will all have the opportunity to pray together. This will be a great opportunity for us to come together as brothers and sisters in Christ to give thanks to our heavenly Father, confess our sins before Him, and to seek His face for the many needs that we have individually, as a local church, and beyond.

In Christ alone, 

Pastor Matt
Pastor George

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