Week of Prayer - Advance Prayer Focus - Day 3

This week it’s a Week of Prayer at Redeemer, and over the next three days we’re going to be highlighting areas within the Advance sphere of churches, which you can be praying for!

Today we’re asking you to pray for the Holy Spirit to move powerfully in two ways, in the life of a church leader struggling with serious health issues, and by equipping those across the world who are passionate about church planting.

Pray for Dar Es Salaam

Sheshi and Trudie Kaniki, along with their wonderful eldership team lead God's Tribe Church in Dar es Salaam. Sheshi is currently battling cancer, and we would love you to pray for them personally as well as for their church - here's what they are trusting God for:

- Please pray for Sheshi as he is starting what is scheduled to be his last round of chemo. As well as wisdom and peace moving forward as he considers treatment options.
- Continued prayer for Sheshi and Trudie's children, that this season, although stretching and hard, would be for the strengthening of their faith.
- Pray that the Spirit would continue to move and work in God's Tribe as whole and in the lives of individuals as they increase their focus on evangelism and outreach.

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Pray for the Advance Church Planters Course

The Advance Church Planters Course (ACPC) exists to equip leaders both theologically and practically to plant and lead Gospel-centred, missional, Spirit-empowered and reproducing churches. It has been so wonderful to see the batches of leaders come through the course over the years, as well as the churches who have benefitted from this strengthening and training! 

The course is currently offered in the UK, the US and in South Africa. Pete Cornford from Redeemer London, Tom Taping from One Harbour, and Dave Adams from Jubilee, oversee each hub's course respectively. We recently caught up with them to hear about the current participants and modules.  

"We are so grateful for the technology that allows us to meet online when we can't meet in person. The whole program can continue. We can also draw on speakers from around the country and further afield! It's been hard because the peer relationships are not being formed, so that is limited when we are meeting online, we are trusting that we can soon return to that!" - Dave Adams, South African ACPC 

Pete Cornford, who coordinates ACPC in the UK, celebrated this being the first time participants had gathered physically in the same place together. 

Prayer Points

- Pray for current participants of ACPC as some gear up to plant. 

- Pray for 'would-be' participants, that God would add to the course and use this content to equip and encourage many church planting couples and families. ( On the 17th of July, the UK hub is hosting an online event for people to learn more about planting with Advance.) 

- Pray for God to continue to raise up future church planters for the next generation.

Week of Prayer - Advance Prayer Focus - Day 2

This week it’s a Week of Prayer at Redeemer, and over the next three days we’re going to be highlighting areas within the Advance sphere of churches, which you can be praying for!

Today we’re focusing on Advance church plants in Madagascar & South Africa.

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Pray for Madagascar

Take a look at the video from Blake and Rachel Tucker in Madagascar!

Please join them in prayer for the following: 
- Trusting for a maturing of disciples which would result in leaders being raised up.
- Two of the four churches in Antannanarivo are experiencing venue constraints, even before COVID hit and now even more so. Please pray that God would open doors for great venues!
- Some of the young leaders are facing either big life changes such as marriage, or health issues - pray that God strengthens them.
- Pray for the salvation of many in the region!

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Pray for South Africa

In South Africa, there are two new church plants gearing up to plant in the next short while. Both of these church plants are in area's where recent looting has been rampant, please pray for peace in these area's and for God to guide the journeys towards planting!

Rob and Ilse Weddel are planting in Boksburg in Gauteng, and Tom and Nokwazi Moffat are planting into eThekwini in Kwa-Zulu Natal. Since the filming of this clip, both teams have secured venues, which we thank God for!

Prayer Points

Boksburg
- Strength for both the sending church ( GodFirst, Benoni), as well as the new church plant.
- Trusting God for the salvation of many in the Boksburg area.
- They are praying for a visible footprint in the Boksburg area for the glory of God.

eThekwini
- That God would go ahead of them and stir the hearts of many in the area, and draw people to himself through this local church.
- That God sends leaders with gospel clarity and capacity to serve and love in this context.

Week of Prayer - Advance Prayer Focus - Day 1

This week it’s a Week of Prayer at Redeemer, and over the next three days we’re going to be highlighting areas within the Advance sphere of churches, which you can be praying for!

Today we’re focusing on two nations where Advance churches are seeking to transform their local areas through the power of the gospel - South Africa & Nepal.

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Pray for South Africa

For much of this week, South Africa has been in the grip of destructive looting and unrest. Mainly in the Gauteng and Kwa-Zulu Natal provinces, however fear and uncertainty has rippled throughout the nation.

Here is an update from Gareth Bowley from Reconciliation Road Church, Greg Tait from GodFirst, and Mosala Balatseng from Grace Generation Church on behalf of the KZN and Gauteng church leaders:

"Thankfully, our people are safe and no loss or destruction have come to any church properties. Sadly, however, economic and retail infrastructure has been destroyed in all towns across the province of KZN and many in Gauteng. In Durban and Pietermaritzburg, there are almost no business or public services open to the public and all COVID vaccine sites have been stopped. There is concern about availability of food, fuel and essential items in many areas.

Added to this, it seems as though racial tensions in some areas have been fuelled, highlighting the deep divisions within our nation."

Prayer Points

- South African leaders as they govern in this difficult time.
- Restoration of law and order, of supply chains for food, medical supplies, fuel and ambulance services.
- For community members and municipal workers who are beginning to join forces to clear up the streets.
- Pray for businesses that have been destroyed and individuals who have lost employment.
- Pray for the restraint of vigilantism and opportunistic evil.
- For Christ followers to lead in racial reconciliation, and demonstration of love and unity.
- Pray that churches and individuals would cling to the Hope of Christ and be strengthened by him.

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Pray for Nepal

Puran and Rebecca Rasali from Khatmandu, wrote to us all with an update from Advance relating churches in the Nepal region. You can read that here. 

Here is how you can pray:
- The whole area has been very hard hit by COVID19, please pray for health and restoration.
- Damak Fellowship in Eastern Nepal is in the process of purchasing a piece of land for a church property. Half the money has been paid and they are trusting for the rest. Please pray for God's provision.
- Aiselukharka Community Church in Khotang are building a venue, after meeting in homes almost for 3 years. Half the work is done. Please pray with us that it can be complete by end of this year.
- Funds have been provided for Kathmandu Capital Church to procure a small piece of land. Pray for the clearance from Social Welfare Council. They are trusting for the funds for building, by the end of this year, we like to start construction work.

Prayers from (Recent) History - Frank Hudson

Recently during our Week of Prayer, we published a number of prayers which were originally prayed by famous believers down through history. But one of the most incredible things about prayer is that it is universal! We believe as Christians that anyone who lifts their voice in prayer has a direct line to their Heavenly Father! That’s why we pray, because we know that God listens to each and every one.

Today we share a prayer from someone who might not have been as famous, but was just as important in the eyes of God, Frank Hudson. Frank is the late father of Mandy Hudson, a member of the Redeemer Family who has written for this blog in the past, below she shares the story behind today’s blog…

My Dad was 80 when he died. He became a Christian when he was 45. Previously, he'd been a spiritualist medium, a gambler and very independent minded. He encountered Christ through the witness of his family (including me, I hope!) and would testify later that he was delivered when he read the words about how God gives good gifts to his children. (Matt 7 v11). He always celebrated his relationship with God, was an evangelist, Gideon and methodist lay preacher.

After my Dad died we found this prayer in his Bible which he used each day to start his devotions. I think it's from a combination of sources but what was good to read and see the challenge of giving every second to God.

I hope you enjoy reading his prayer.

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Heavenly Father,

Thank you for creation, for today, for my life, for your great love, faithfulness, forgiveness and mercy.

Thank you for Jesus.

Thank you, Heavenly Father, that you sent your only Son - Jesus Christ to live among us. Jesus died on the cross for my sin, for my sake.

Praise you, Lord Jesus, you rose from the dead, you ascended into heaven, you sit at God’s right hand. You pray for your people.

Heavenly Father, thank you for Jesus.

Thank you for sending the Holy Spirit, thank you for His work in my life. Thank you for grace and peace and rest in God. Thank you for all the gifts, thank you, Lord for prayer.

Lord, I pray that you will forgive me for my sins of today. I have sinned in thought, word and deed. I am sorry for my sin and I ask for your forgiveness.

I pray Lord for your continued watch over my life, watch over my going out and coming in.

I pray that you will watch over me every second and I pray that I will give you every second.

Amen

Prayers from History - Reinhold Niebuhr

This week at Redeemer is our Week of Prayer! We believe that prayer is a crucial part of the Christian life, not just personally, but on a corporate level. When we join together to pray we believe that we have access to the power of God to transform our own lives, and the lives of our friends and family, as well as situations across this city, this nation, and the nations. This week there are plenty of opportunities to get involved in our prayer meetings, and you can find all of the details HERE. We would love to have you join with us!

We’re also taking this opportunity to join in prayer with some mighty men and women of faith from history! Each day we’ll be publishing a blog featuring a prayer written by someone in history, which we hope will encourage you to engage in personal prayer yourself, and remind you that prayer is not a one time event, but can be something that lasts and remains in peoples hearts and minds for years.

Today we pray with Reinhold Niebuhr, an American Reformed theologian and political commentator.

God, give me grace to accept with serenity
the things that cannot be changed,
Courage to change the things
which should be changed,
and the Wisdom to distinguish
the one from the other.

Living one day at a time,
Enjoying one moment at a time,
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,
Taking, as Jesus did,
This sinful world as it is,
Not as I would have it,
Trusting that You will make all things right,
If I surrender to Your will,
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life,
And supremely happy with You forever in the next.

Amen.

Prayers from History - Phillis Wheatley

This week at Redeemer is our Week of Prayer! We believe that prayer is a crucial part of the Christian life, not just personally, but on a corporate level. When we join together to pray we believe that we have access to the power of God to transform our own lives, and the lives of our friends and family, as well as situations across this city, this nation, and the nations. This week there are plenty of opportunities to get involved in our prayer meetings, and you can find all of the details HERE. We would love to have you join with us!

We’re also taking this opportunity to join in prayer with some mighty men and women of faith from history! Each day we’ll be publishing a blog featuring a prayer written by someone in history, which we hope will encourage you to engage in personal prayer yourself, and remind you that prayer is not a one time event, but can be something that lasts and remains in peoples hearts and minds for years.

Today we pray with Phillis Wheatley, the first African-American author of a book of poetry - Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral - published on September 1st 1773.

Oh my Gracious Preserver!
hitehero thou hast brot [me,]
be pleased when thou bringest
to the birth to give [me] strength
to bring forth living & perfect a
being who shall be greatly in-
strumental in promoting thy [glory]
Tho conceived in Sin & brot forth
in iniquity yet thy infinite wisdom
can bring a clean thing out of an
unclean, a vess[el] of Honor filled
for thy glory—grant me
to live a life of gratitude to thee
for the innumerable benefits—
O Lord my God! instruct my ignorance
& enlighten my Darkness
Thou art my King, take [thou]
the entire possession of [all] my
powers & faculties & let me be
no longer under the dominion
of sin—Give me a sincere &
hearty repentance for all my
[grievous?] offences & strengthen
by thy grace my resolutions
on amendment & circumspection
for the time to come—Grant me
[also] the spirit of Prayer & Suppli[cation]
according to thy own
most gracious Promises.

Prayers from History - John Wesley

This week at Redeemer is our Week of Prayer! We believe that prayer is a crucial part of the Christian life, not just personally, but on a corporate level. When we join together to pray we believe that we have access to the power of God to transform our own lives, and the lives of our friends and family, as well as situations across this city, this nation, and the nations. This week there are plenty of opportunities to get involved in our prayer meetings, and you can find all of the details HERE. We would love to have you join with us!

We’re also taking this opportunity to join in prayer with some mighty men and women of faith from history! Each day we’ll be publishing a blog featuring a prayer written by someone in history, which we hope will encourage you to engage in personal prayer yourself, and remind you that prayer is not a one time event, but can be something that lasts and remains in peoples hearts and minds for years.

Today we pray with John Wesley, the English theologian and evangelist, who was the leader of a revival movement which gave rise to the Methodist church.

I am no longer my own, but thine.
Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt.
Put me to doing, put me to suffering.
Let me be employed for thee or laid aside for thee, exalted for thee or brought low for thee.
Let me be full, let me be empty.
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal.
And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, thou art mine, and I am thine.
So be it.
And the covenant which I have made on earth, let it be ratified in heaven.

Amen.

Prayers from History - Martin Luther King

This week at Redeemer is our Week of Prayer! We believe that prayer is a crucial part of the Christian life, not just personally, but on a corporate level. When we join together to pray we believe that we have access to the power of God to transform our own lives, and the lives of our friends and family, as well as situations across this city, this nation, and the nations. This week there are plenty of opportunities to get involved in our prayer meetings, and you can find all of the details HERE. We would love to have you join with us!

We’re also taking this opportunity to join in prayer with some mighty men and women of faith from history! Each day we’ll be publishing a blog featuring a prayer written by someone in history, which we hope will encourage you to engage in personal prayer yourself, and remind you that prayer is not a one time event, but can be something that lasts and remains in peoples hearts and minds for years.

Today we pray with Martin Luther King Jr., the African American minister and activist, who was a vocal member of the civil rights movement until his assassination in 1968.

Lord…
We thank you for your church, founded upon your Word, that challenges us to do more than sing and pray,
but go out and work as though the very answer to our prayers depended on us and not upon you.
Help us to realize that humanity was created to shine like the stars and live on through all eternity.
Keep us, we pray, in perfect peace.
Help us to walk together,
pray together,
sing together,
and live together
until that day when all God’s children
- Black, White, Red, Brown and Yellow -
will rejoice in one common band of humanity
in the reign of our Lord and of our God, we pray.

Amen.

Prayers from History - Elisabeth Elliot

This week at Redeemer is our Week of Prayer! We believe that prayer is a crucial part of the Christian life, not just personally, but on a corporate level. When we join together to pray we believe that we have access to the power of God to transform our own lives, and the lives of our friends and family, as well as situations across this city, this nation, and the nations. This week there are plenty of opportunities to get involved in our prayer meetings, and you can find all of the details HERE. We would love to have you join with us!

We’re also taking this opportunity to join in prayer with some mighty men and women of faith from history! Each day we’ll be publishing a blog featuring a prayer written by someone in history, which we hope will encourage you to engage in personal prayer yourself, and remind you that prayer is not a one time event, but can be something that lasts and remains in peoples hearts and minds for years.

Today we pray with Elisabeth Elliot, the Christian author and speaker, who was a missionary for two years to the tribe in Ecuador that killed her first husband, Jim Elliot.

Loving Lord and heavenly Father, I offer up today all that I am, all that I have, all that I do, and all that I suffer, to be Yours today and Yours forever.
Give me grace, Lord, to do all that I know of Your holy will.
Purify my heart, sanctify my thinking, correct my desires.
Teach me, in all of today’s work and trouble and joy, to respond with honest praise, simple trust, and instant obedience, that my life may be in truth a living sacrifice, by the power of Your Holy Spirit and in the name of Your Son Jesus Christ, my Master and my all.

Amen.

Prayers from History - St Patrick

This week at Redeemer is our Week of Prayer! We believe that prayer is a crucial part of the Christian life, not just personally, but on a corporate level. When we join together to pray we believe that we have access to the power of God to transform our own lives, and the lives of our friends and family, as well as situations across this city, this nation, and the nations. This week there are plenty of opportunities to get involved in our prayer meetings, and you can find all of the details HERE. We would love to have you join with us!

We’re also taking this opportunity to join in prayer with some mighty men and women of faith from history! Each day we’ll be publishing a blog featuring a prayer written by someone in history, which we hope will encourage you to engage in personal prayer yourself, and remind you that prayer is not a one time event, but can be something that lasts and remains in peoples hearts and minds for years.

Today we pray with St Patrick, a 5th century bishop and missionary in Ireland.

Christ with me,

Christ before me,

Christ behind me,

Christ in me,

Christ beneath me,

Christ above me,

Christ on my right,

Christ on my left,

Christ when I lie down,

Christ when I sit down,

Christ when I arise,

Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,

Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,

Christ in every eye that sees me,

Christ in every ear that hears me.

Prayers from History - Mary McLeod Bethune

This week at Redeemer is our Week of Prayer! We believe that prayer is a crucial part of the Christian life, not just personally, but on a corporate level. When we join together to pray we believe that we have access to the power of God to transform our own lives, and the lives of our friends and family, as well as situations across this city, this nation, and the nations. This week there are plenty of opportunities to get involved in our prayer meetings, and you can find all of the details HERE. We would love to have you join with us!

We’re also taking this opportunity to join in prayer with some mighty men and women of faith from history! Each day we’ll be publishing a blog featuring a prayer written by someone in history, which we hope will encourage you to engage in personal prayer yourself, and remind you that prayer is not a one time event, but can be something that lasts and remains in peoples hearts and minds for years.

Today we pray with Mary McLeod Bethune, an American educator, missionary and civil rights activist.

Father, we call Thee Father because we love Thee.

We are glad to be called Thy children, and to dedicate our lives to the service that extends through willing hearts and hands to the betterment of all mankind.

We send a cry of Thanksgiving for people of all races, creeds, classes, and colors the world over, and pray that through the instrumentality of our lives the spirit of peace, joy, fellowship, and brotherhood shall circle the world.

We know that this world is filled with discordant notes, but help us, Father, to so unite our efforts that we may all join in one harmonious symphony for peace and brotherhood, justice, and equality of opportunity for all men.

The tasks performed today with forgiveness for all our errors, we dedicate, dear Lord, to Thee.

Grant us strength and courage and faith and humility sufficient for the tasks assigned to us.

Amen

Pause to ask "why?"

A one word question can have a big impact. 

Recently at work I've been learning the importance of pausing to ask the simple question "why?". 

Having people around who prompt you to consider a fresh perspective can be a real gift. When we’re blinkered and focusing on the “when” or “how of a project, "why" can sometimes bleed into the background. 

Christmas and New Years busyness requires some moments of pausing to asking “why”. With most of my daily and weekly routine missing, the absence of standard times and places can leave me struggling to find space to pause, including moments to pray and listen to God. Space to just focus and reflect on God has the power to thread Jesus and his good news throughout the season rather than push it entirely to the periphery. 

So, one way to “keep the main thing the main thing” over the next few weeks is fighting to keep time for prayer and waiting on God. Taking opportunities to pray helps with the “why” of the season and feeds to soul. 

There’s still time to sign up for 24 hours of prayer (Friday 6pm - Saturday 6pm) and start as you mean to go on.