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.

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.

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:

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.

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:

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...

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.

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.

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've been reflecting on the unity the nation of Israel has as they went to battle against the Benjamites in Judges 20 (please see my posts here, here, here and here) and then praying we might be united as one Body to the glory of God.

(I have based much of today's prayer on Paul's words in Philippians 1:12-2:18; I would encourage you read that passage of Scripture.)

Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel.

In Judges 20 we see the Israelites uniting together and working together.

Holy Father, Son and Spirit, God in three Persons, Blessed Trinity,

We confess when we do not allow the mind and word of Christ to be dwell in us
We are unable to arise united together as one man
We arise against ourselves.

Instead of arising as one man for the sake of Your Name and for Your glory,
we divide Your Body and stand against one another.

Instead of arising as one man for the sake of Your Name and for Your glory,
we divide Your Body and strive against one another.

How can a divided Body preach one Gospel?

Forgive us, blessed Trinity, when we stand against one another.
Forgive us, blessed Trinity, when we strive against one another.
Forgive us, blessed Trinity, for grieving You.

May the mind and word of Christ dwell in us so we might arise as one man.

May the mind and word of Christ dwell in us as we abide in Him.
Help us arise as one man and stand fast in one spirit,
Help us arise as one man and strive together with one mind for the faith of the Gospel,
Work in us to will and do do of Your good pleasure.
It is Your good pleasure that Your Gospel be preached to all nations.

May we hold fast the word of life, the Gospel of the glory of Christ,
May we shine as lights in a dark world
For the praise of Your glorious grace
That every tongue should confess Jesus Christ is Lord
To the glory of God the Father!

Holy Father, Son and Spirit, God in three Persons, Blessed Trinity,

We confess when we do not allow the mind and word of Christ to dwell in us
We elevate nonessentials to the place of essentials
We arise against ourselves

Instead of arising as one man for the sake of Your Name and for Your glory,
we divide Your Body and stand against one another.

Instead of arising as one man for the sake of Your Name and for Your glory,
we divide Your Body and strive against one another.

How can a divided Body preach one Gospel?

Forgive us, blessed Trinity, when we stand against one another.
Forgive us, blessed Trinity, when we strive against one another.
Forgive us, blessed Trinity, for grieving You.

May the mind and word of Christ dwell in us so we might arise as one man.

May the mind and word of Christ dwell in us as we abide in Him.
Help us arise as one man and stand fast in one spirit,
Help us arise as one man and strive together with one mind for the faith of the Gospel,
Work in us to will and do do of Your good pleasure.
It is Your good pleasure that Your Gospel be preached to all nations.

May we hold fast the word of life, the Gospel of the glory of Christ,
May we shine as lights in a dark world
For the praise of Your glorious grace
That every tongue should confess Jesus Christ is Lord
To the glory of God the Father!

Holy Father, Son and Spirit, God in three Persons, Blessed Trinity,

We confess You have saved us by the hearing of one Gospel, the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
We confess You have called us to preach one Gospel, the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
We confess there is no other Way.
We confess there is no other Truth.
We confess there is no other Life.
We confess there is no other Savior but the Lamb of God.
We confess there is no other Mediator between God and man but the man Christ Jesus.
We confess there is no other Atonement by which men can receive repentance and remission of sins.
We confess there is no other Righteousness but that through faith in Jesus Christ.
We confess there is no other Name under heaven which men can be saved.
We confess there is no other Power unto salvation for everyone who believes.
We confess it is Your good pleasure that Your Gospel be preached to all nations.

May we hold fast the word of life, the Gospel of the glory of Christ,
May we shine as lights in a dark world
For the praise of Your glorious grace
That every tongue should confess Jesus Christ is Lord
To the glory of God the Father!

Holy Father, Son and Spirit, God in three Persons, Blessed Trinity,

O, may the mind and word of Christ our Savior dwell in us
So we might all arise united together as one man
That Christ alone might be preached and Christ alone might be magnified.

May we arise as one man for the sake of Your Name and for Your glory,
May we stand together for the faith of the Gospel.

May we arise as one man for the sake of Your Name and for Your glory,
May we keep the unity of the Spirit and strive for the Gospel.

How wonderfully can a united Body preach one Gospel!

Strengthen us, Blessed Trinity, to stand fast in one spirit
Strengthen us, Blessed Trinity, to strive together with one mind for the faith of the Gospel.
Strengthen us, Blessed Trinity, to be well-pleasing to You.

May the mind and word of Christ dwell in us so we might arise as one man.

May the mind and word of Christ dwell in us as we abide in Him.
Help us arise as one man and stand fast in one spirit,
Help us arise as one man and strive together with one mind for the faith of the Gospel.
Work in us to will and do do of Your good pleasure
It is Your good pleasure that Your Gospel be preached to all nations

May we hold fast the word of life, the Gospel of the glory of Christ,
May we shine as lights in a dark world
For the praise of Your glorious grace
That every tongue should confess Jesus Christ is Lord
To the glory of God the Father!

We've been focusing 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 and here) in Judges 20, yet we can have no true unity if we are not ALL responding to the Lord's call to us.

Verse 1: Then all the people of Israel came out, from Dan to Beersheba, including the land of Gilead, and the congregation assembled as one man to the LORD at Mizpah.

Today I would like to focus on the need for all of the people of God to come out to battle, to respond to His call to them, not just some of the people...

Holy God, our Redeemer,

We are all called to be engaged in the battle against the wiles of the devil, against principalities, powers, rulers of darkness, spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. We like the idea of being seated in heavenly places, but don't always like the idea of battle or of responsibility. Yet Your call to battle goes out to all of us whom You have birthed into Your family by Your Holy Spirit through faith in Jesus Christ. We are not merely family members but we are also Kingdom warriors. As soon as we are Yours, we are the devil's target, and we are engaged in battle, in spiritual warfare.

This call to battle is not limited to a few particular people in the church. Yes, we are gifted differently, we all do not have the same gifts, we are all different parts of the Body, yet each one of us is called to battle with the gifts and resources You have entrusted to us. Your gifts are given to us so we might glorify You and build up the Church, not for our own selfish interests. You have placed the members in Your Body as You will for a particular purpose. As soon as You delivered us from the power of darkness and the evil one, You conscripted us into Your army. You have intended for all of us to be engaged in fighting for Your glory and Your Gospel. That is part of our calling as children of God. We can pray all day long for unity, as well we should, but if each and every one of Your people You are calling are not responding in faith to Your call to battle, the battle will not be won. We will be hampered. We will be at a disadvantage. We will be weakened. May we be like the Israelites, may none of us be disobedient to Your call. Circumcise and soften hearts to respond to Your call to battle.

Captain of our salvation, You are calling soldiers to enter the battle.
Give Your people ears to hear what You have to say to the Church.
Give each of us ears to hear what You have to say to us.
Give us all hearts to respond to Your call to us in trusting faith.
Make each of us willing to come out so we might assemble as one Body.
Strengthen us to endure hardship and not be entangled with the affairs of this life.
Strengthen us to fight as good soldiers of Jesus Christ.
If all of us do not respond in obedience to Your call, how can the battle be won?
If all of us do not respond in obedience to Your call, how can we see Satan crushed under our feet?

Then all the people of Israel came out...

Lord of the harvest, You are calling laborers to go into the harvest fields
Give Your people ears to hear what You have to say to the Church.
Give each of us ears to hear what You have to say to us.
Give us all hearts to respond to Your call to us in trusting faith.
Make each of us willing to come out so we might assemble as one Body.
Strengthen us to continue to plant and water and wait patiently.
Strengthen us to work hard as patient farmers of Jesus Christ.
If all of us do not respond in obedience to Your call, how can the harvest be reaped?
If all of us do not respond in obedience to Your call, how can we enjoy the precious fruit?

Then all the people of Israel came out...

Forerunner, You are calling athletes to compete in the race.
Give Your people ears to hear what You have to say to the Church.
Give each of us ears to hear what You have to say to us.
Give us all hearts to respond to Your call to us in trusting faith.
Make each of us willing to come out so we might assemble as one Body.
Strengthen us to compete according to the rules and discipline ourselves.
Strengthen us to persevere as good athletes of Jesus Christ.
If all of us do not respond in obedience to Your call, how can the race be won?
If all of us do not respond in obedience to Your call, how can we obtain the incorruptible crown?

Then all the people of Israel came out...