I was at a prayer group last night where we were encouraged to pray with big vision. Here’s a flavour of what was shared with us.
Pray for God’s presence where you live, work or study, in your families and communities. The message was that prayer is a battle where we need the shield of faith and the Lord to strengthen our use of the sword of the spirit, taking us deeper into His Word. Do we treasure the scriptures and use them to give us authority as we pray?
It’s the 500th anniversary of what in 2017? The Reformation, which shook the world and reshaped history. The prayers were bold: for an awakening that would move into every level of the nation’s life; campuses, colleges, schools, the media, government. Is our desire that there would be so many conversions that it would actually change the character of Britain, the prayer that God would bring substantial change in the church, nation and reaching into Europe?
We were reminded of the prayer of the Welsh revival: ‘More Lord’ and then ‘Even More’. Do we pray for greater vision and expectation? ‘Lord, stretch our faith.’
Is the church in Britain today frozen? Is there a need to re-discover the wonderful dynamic power of the gospel, and prayers for revival that fill us with compassion and a deep passion for the lost? Let’s pray for a mighty mobilisation of prayer in our church and beyond.
The final challenge we were given: to start the year focusing on God’s presence, God’s promises and on prayer. As we pray, may we all see our extraordinary God glorified in 2017.
I felt encouraged to pray.