Thursday, May 13, 2021

#122 How to Prepare Prayer Lists

 

   Dr. Wesley L. Duewel-  All Christians who take their call to intercession seriously pray with some agenda in mind. But intercession can be greatly enhanced through the use of written prayer lists. God will lead you in the names to be included.

   Some intercessors have several such lists—one basic list which is used daily, and others which may be rotated on different days of the week. Some have a longer list for Sunday or other days when they can spend more time in prayer. (Google image, Prayer List)

   The following suggested categories will guide you in preparing your own personal prayer lists:

 Government leaders. Christians are commanded to intercede for the leaders of our government (1 Tim. 2:1-4) Such leaders include the president, governors, and mayors. You will probably want to mention also the two senators from your state, your representative to Congress, and perhaps each of the Supreme court justices.

   Be sure to pray for other officials, especially those whom you know to be Christians serving in front-line positions, or others who play a strategic role in policy making.

   Other leaders. Praying daily for all the leaders of your local church—pastor, Sunday school teachers, elders and deacons, and others—is your spiritual responsibility (1 Thess. 5:12-13).

   Other Christian leaders. Pray for other influential Christian leaders. You may want to pray for one or more evangelist, Bible teachers, editors and writers, gospel singers, youth leaders, and children's workers.

   Missions. Since world evangelization is the priority Jesus gave to His church until He comes again, and since so much of the world is largely unreached, God obviously expects every Christian to pray for missions (Matt. 24:14; 28:18-20; John 20:21; Acts 1:8). In your prayer for missions, include the following specific areas:

  • Missionaries. As God leads, select one or more missionaries with whom to be in daily prayer partnership.  
  • Nations. Ask God to lay on our heart one or more nations as your special inheritance by prayer (Ps. 2:8).
  • Missionary Organizations. Pray generally for all such organizations; focus on one or more as special needs arise.
  • National Christians. Pray for one or more national pastors or lay workers in other countries.

   Other Christian ministries. Evangelistic teams, prison ministries, youth ministries, city missions, Christian publishing houses—all are targets for Satan's attack, hence, essential areas for intercession.

   Your loved ones. Include both saved and unsaved family members for whom you feel personal responsibility.

   Unsaved people. Ask God to assign some unsaved person as your personal prayer responsibility. Pray daily until that person comes to Christ. God will likely also provide opportunities for you to show Christian interest or love, or an opportunity to witness. You may also be led to pray for some to whom you will never be able to give a word of testimony.

   Special needs. The Holy Spirit will suggest urgent needs for immediate intercessory prayer. This list will change from time to time. You may be impressed to pray as you read the newspaper, or listen to television newscasts reporting tragedy, famine, special international conferences, court cases, people injured in accidents, people seriously ill, problems of domestic unity among people you know, special church meetings.

How to Use Prayer Lists

    1. Record prayer lists in a small diary or notebook. Brief prayers can be much used by the Holy Spirit. These instant expressions of your Christian love, concern, and desire have been called "telegraphic prayers," "lightning prayers," or " moment prayers."

   2. Keep prayer lists handy.  

  3. Use the incidents of the day as an unwritten prayer list. 

   Praying through your day in this way is a beautiful way to pray without ceasing (1 Thess. 5:17).

(Chapter 33, p. 246-249 italics added for emphasis)


Used by permission 
of the Duewel Literature Trust, Inc,
Greenwood, Indiana
Available by phone
317-881-6755, ext, 361

Let's pray-

    Father, we ask that You lead us in our interceding for others, that we'll follow Your agenda for praying for individuals that You lay on our hearts. Making lists will be a great help to include many folks over the week's interceding.

   Remind us to pray for our government leaders, various other leaders we're aware of. May we pray for Christian leaders in our church, missions we're aware of, our loved ones, unsaved people we know, and any special needs that come to our attention.

   May we keep our lists handy, so we can offer prayer for particular needs throughout the day for those You bring to mind, and also for incidents that happen during the day, which are brought to our attention by friends, over the internet or on TV.

   We give our interceding entirely into Your keeping, so we may become more effective in our praying. In Jesus' name we pray this. Amen.
      

Jane Ault- quoted from her book: EMOTIONAL FREEDOM, THE CHOICES WE MUST MAKE  [pp. 58, 59]

"Jesus is the Person of Truth. The Bible is his written word to us; therefore, it also is truth. The following Psalm of David describes the value of God's word:

'The instructions of the Lord are perfect,
   reviving the soul.
The decrees of the Lord are trustworthy,
   making wise the simple.
The commandments of the Lord are right,
   bringing joy to the heart.
The commands of the Lord are clear,
   giving insight for living.
Reverence for the Lord is pure,
   lasting forever.
The laws of the Lord are true:
   each one is fair.
They are more desirable than gold,
   even the finest gold.
They are sweeter than honey,
   even honey dripping from the comb.   
They are a warning to your servant,
   great reward to those who obey them.' "
                        —Psalm 19:7-11 (NLT)


Words of wisdom-

~ How do you respond to challenges? Do you surrender the handling of them for advice from God? It is reassuring to know that He would help us with the solution and will provide direction in His time
—even though we want an instant answer. He will answer, as He always has! 


 Thursday, the 14th  Starts my 11 days of Spring vacation.
I won't be texting, unless you have a prayer request. 

The next "Today's verse" and blog posting will be the 25th.
 
 I'll not answer anyone on the 18th, as it will be my day of fasting and prayer.
 I will also celebrate my 84th birthday that week! 


Upcoming posts 

#123 How to Agree in Prayer
25th- Tuesday's post by Dr. Wesley L. Duewel

#124 My Prayer of Commitment to Intercede 
(Dr. Duewel's last Post)
27th- Thursday's post by Dr. Wesley L. Duewel

How To Find Contentment
29th- Saturday's post by Mary Southerland

Praying or Doing?
6/1- Tuesday's post begins posts from ODB's booklet
PRAYER CHANGES THINGS
by various authors


  [These following links have been corrected]


The North Country Christian Fellowship Center Churches,

located in the St. Lawrence county of NY,

broadcast their Sunday services at 10 or 10:15

You can view past services too.

Sermon listing: https://www.cfconline.org/sermon-library








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