October 15, 2009

  • Give us grace to welcome the laborers You are sending

    In the past few weeks we have been focusing in prayer on the unity we have in Christ based on the unity of the nation of Israel as they went to battle against the Benjamites (see my posts here, here and here) in Judges 20.

    v. 1 Then all the people of Israel came out ... and the congregation assembled as one man to the LORD...

    v. 8 So all the people arose as one man...

    v. 11 So all the men of Israel were gathered against the city, united together as one man.

    We pray to You, O Lord of the harvest, to send more laborers into the harvest.
    Thank You for calling us into the harvest field.
    Give us grace to welcome the laborers You are sending.

    O, Lord of the harvest,

    We have been praying for You to send forth laborers into the harvest for the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few. We confess sometimes we are hypocritical and judgmental, we pray for workers, but then we do not welcome all whom You send. Let us remember that we do not choose the laborers, You do. It is Your harvest. It is Your work. We are only here because You have chosen and sent us.

    All whom You call to labor in Your harvest and to do Your work, we must welcome.

    May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, 6 that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7 Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.
    –Romans 15:5-7

    Help us to welcome all who come into the harvest field who are seeking Your glory and upholding Your Gospel of grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone: all who are contending for the Gospel and fighting against false gospels of orthodoxy apart from regeneration, moralism, legalism, licentiousness, and a return to the slavery of the law. May we contend alongside one another and never contend with one another so we might with one voice glorify You, O God, Lord of the harvest.

    By grace through faith You have birthed us into one Body by one Spirit:

    I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

    4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—    5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
    –Ephesians 4:1-6

    By Your grace at work in us, may we walk worthy of the calling to which we have been called.
    By Your grace at work in us, may we walk with humility.
    By Your grace at work in us, may we walk with gentleness.
    By Your grace at work in us, may we walk with patience.
    By Your grace at work in us, may we bear with one another in love.
    By Your grace at work in us, make us eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
    For there is one body and one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and one Father of all.

    After Paul writes about our unity in You, Lord Jesus Christ, He also reminds us You have given us each of us gifts as You have willed. You have gifted us differently, yet we are one Body. May we work together and allow one another to use our gifts to the furtherance of the Gospel and for Your glory. Knit us together so we might be one – one heart and mind with You and with one another. Help us to continue to encourage and edify one another to use our gifts to Your glory. In that way we are endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace and we will with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ as we go into the harvest field and preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth.

    We pray to You, O Lord of the harvest, to send more laborers into the harvest.
    Thank You for calling us into the harvest field.
    Give us grace to welcome the laborers You are sending.

    O, Lord of the harvest, when we do not welcome someone whom You are calling to labor in the harvest field, we are in danger of blaspheming Your Holy Spirit:

    Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. 31 Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. 32 And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.
    –Matthew 12:30-32

    Help us to be discerning, yes, yet help us to be welcoming of all whom You have called and are calling and all You have anointed and are sending to labor into the harvest fields. O, we know the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few, therefore...

    We pray to You, O Lord of the harvest, to send more laborers into the harvest.
    Thank You for calling us into the harvest field.
    Give us grace to welcome the laborers You are sending.

    O, Lord of the harvest, let us not forget Jesus' solemn words of warning to us:

    Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, 6 but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.
    –Matthew 18:5-6

    O, Lord of the harvest, give us grace to receive all who believe in you. May we not cause any one of these little ones to sin or to stumble.

    We pray to You, O Lord of the harvest, to send more laborers into the harvest.
    Thank You for calling us into the harvest field.
    Give us grace to welcome the laborers You are sending.

    O, Lord of the harvest, forgive us when we look down at youth and inexperience. Let us remember anything we have we have received from You. We have no reason to boast as we labor for You. You chose us not because of anything in us. In fact, You choose not many who are wise or powerful for Your foolishness is wiser than men and Your weakness is stronger than men. When we see a David ready to battle Goliath, let us not discourage him, but encourage Him to be strong in Lord. Let us not be like David's brothers, the other soldiers or Saul, all of whom doubted David's calling from You to go into battle, but instead let us bless those You have sent out as they go in Your Name to battle all who defy You so Your Name, Your glory and Your honor might be upheld.

    Now Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spoke to the men. And Eliab's anger was kindled against David, and he said, Why have you come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your presumption and the evil of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle.
    29 And David said, What have I done now? Was it not but a word?
    30 And he turned away from him toward another, and spoke in the same way, and the people answered him again as before.

    31 When the words that David spoke were heard, they repeated them before Saul, and he sent for him.
    32 And David said to Saul, Let no man's heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.
    33 And Saul said to David, You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth.
    34 But David said to Saul, Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, 35 I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him. 36 Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God. 37 And David said, The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said to David, Go, and the LORD be with you!
    –I Samuel 17:28-37

    O, Lord God, we all need such sure, steadfast and confident faith like David had. We must have a zeal for the Your honor and be grieved when Your Name and Your Church suffers reproach. You, O Lord, who delivered us from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of Your Son, will you not be with us as we go into battle in the harvest field? May we not try to make others wear the armor You have fitted for us. All they need do is to wear Your whole armor as they go into battle. You have called each of us differently. You will equip each of us all differently. But we all know this thing: we are all Yours in one Body, standing together for one Gospel and that the battle is Yours, O Lord, and You will never leave us or forsake. Our labor in You is not in vain, even though we may suffer loss here on the earth.

    We pray to You, O Lord of the harvest, to send more laborers into the harvest.
    Thank You for calling us into the harvest field.
    Give us grace to welcome the laborers You are sending.

    Please add your prayers below as the Holy Spirit leads you...

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tent_of_meeting

"he called it the tent of meeting..."

I am burdened to pray to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ for the reformation and reviving of Christ's church.

The phrase tent of meeting comes from Exodus 33:7: Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, far off from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting. And everyone who sought the Lord would go out to the tent of meeting, which was outside the camp.

This site is devoted to God first and foremost. In all that is done here, my prayer is that God is glorified and His Name magnified and Christ and Him crucified is lifted up so He might be preeminent and God might receive all the praise, honor and glory due His Holy Name. All who have come to a saving knowledge of our Father by grace through faith in the all-sufficient sacrifice of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ are welcome to enter this tent of meeting to seek the Lord.

This blog is a place for all believers in the Lord Jesus Christ to come and seek God's face for revival. My intention is for this tent of meeting to be a holy place where we can enter into PRAYER together to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, as the Holy Spirit leads you, please enter into prayer either here (think of "comments" as prayers) or on your own.

Habakkuk 3:2 O LORD, I have heard the report of you, and your work, O LORD, do I fear. In the midst of the years revive it; in the midst of the years make it known; in wrath remember mercy.

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