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.

“And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write,

‘These things says He who is holy, He who is true, “He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens”: 8 “I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name. 9 Indeed I will make those of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not, but lie—indeed I will make them come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you.  10 Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. 11 Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown.  12 He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name.
 
13 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”’

I'm continuing to write some prayers based Judges 19:22-20:48. In this passage of Scripture we read how Israel went to war against Benjamin because some Benjamites had sexually abused a Levite's concubine who later died as a result of their abuse.

I would like us to continue to consider and reflect upon the perseverance of the Israelites in battle and what we can learn from their example, and then turn those things into prayers for perseverance for ourselves, so we might keep God's command to us to persevere. There are three things I would like to draw your attention to in the Judges passage, and Lord willing, I hope to continue to post prayers based on this passage of Scripture.

I. A prayer for holiness. First, the children of Israel were clear about what sin was. So too ought to be praying for a clear vision of God's holiness and an increasing desire to be holy and to live holy lives. (I've already posted about that here and here, as well as in previous prayers on this blog. Holiness must be the constant prayer of the people of God.)

II. A prayer for unity. Second, the children of Israel were united in their efforts. So too we ought to be praying for God to protect the unity we have in Him and that we would endeavor to uphold the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (My last post/prayer related to unity as will today's post.)

III. A prayer for continuing obedience. Third, despite defeat, the children of Israel continued to seek and prepare themselves to do God's will and followed through in obedience. So too we ought to be praying God would keep us seeking His face, that we might be diligent and vigilant and follow through in obedience to His revealed will for us.

In today's prayer I would like to focus us on our need for unity in the Gospel.

Father, Son and Spirit, one God in three persons,

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

How can we have such unity and harmony if we are not of one mind about the Gospel of Jesus Christ?

In Leviticus 10 (NKJV) you warned us through your servant Moses:

Forgive us, Holy Father, spotless Lamb and Holy Spirit, we have offered You the profane fire of false gospels.
Protect us, Holy Father, spotless Lamb and Holy Spirit from offering You the profane fire of false gospels.

You are holy, holy, holy. As we come near You we must regard You as holy and before all people You must be glorified. All we offer to You must be holy.

Many who proclaim Your Gospel have twisted it; instead of allowing Your glory to shine through the sufficiency of Christ, they allow profane fire to shine in the world. Such profane fire is not the true light and has no real power to save. O, Lord have mercy on us. Send us pastors and teachers who have been led by Your Holy Spirit into the truth of the Gospel to lead us and teach us.

Whenever the Gospel is not proclaimed rightly, You are not glorified. You alone are the source of our life in Christ Jesus, You made Him alone to be our wisdom and our righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that no one can boast but in You. All things were created by You, through You and to You so that all praise, honor and glory goes to You alone.

When we add anything to the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, we no longer regard You as holy.
When we add anything to the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, we diminish and obscure Your glory.
Instead of putting Christ on the lampstand for all to see, we are putting profane fire there.

We confess we have offered profane fire to You.
Cleanse us, O God, show us where we are offering profane fire to You.

Show us where we keep living in bondage to the law and religious traditions of men rather than knowing the freedom You have provided for us so we might no longer be entangled with a yoke of bondage.

Protect us from adding any of our own works onto the pure, beautiful and wholly sufficient sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
Protect us from adding our own filthy rags to the perfect righteousness that has been imputed by faith to us in His sacrifice and imparted to us through the gift of your indwelling Holy Spirit.

When we take anything away the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, we no longer regard You as holy.
When we take anything from the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, we diminish and obscure Your glory.
Instead of putting Christ on the lampstand for all to see, we are putting profane fire there.

We confess we have offered profane fire to You.
Cleanse us, O God, show us where we are offering profane fire to You.

Show us where we keep living in bondage to our sin and cultural norms rather than knowing and living in the freedom You have provided for us so sin might no longer have dominion over us.

Protect us from taking away Your call to sanctification and for holy living for the believer.
Protect us from taking away the necessity of the new birth, the need for us to be born again.

By Your Holy Spirit's work, protect us, strengthen us and guide us into all truth so we might strive together for the faith the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the only true Gospel, the only Gospel that has power to save, and persevere in the battle set before us.

Amen.

And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.

“‘I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead.
2 Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God.
3 Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you.
4 Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments, and they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy.
5 The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.
6 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones.
2 And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry.
3 And he said to me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, you know.
4 Then he said to me, Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.
5 Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live.
6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the LORD.

7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone.
8 And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them.
9 Then he said to me, Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord GOD: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.
10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.

11 Then he said to me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are clean cut off.
12 Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel.
13 And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people.
14 And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the LORD; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the LORD.

O God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

You are a living God. You are the God of the living and not of the dead. But yet we confess that we are all but dead. The dry bones are very dry. There is very little breath left. We have a form of godliness but deny the power thereof. We confess that we have pushed Your Spirit out of Your Church because we have relied on our own power. We confess we have quenched Your Spirit. We confess we have grieved Your Spirit. We confess we have relied on ourselves rather than You. We confess we have tried to walk in the works You have ordained by us in our own power. We confess we have gone astray and not walked with You.

Living God, we are desperate. You have shown us we are all but dead. We have no hope apart from You because we have no life apart from You.

We are Your people. Do not forsake us.
Be merciful to us, O living God. Send Your Spirit to us.
We confess we are dead. Breathe Your life into us.

Forgive us, O God, for Jesus' sake. Forgive us, O God, for we are Your people You have purchased with Your Son's precious blood. We have brought reproach to Your Holy Name.

We are Your people. Do not forsake us.
Be merciful to us, O living God. Send Your Spirit to us.
We confess we are dead. Breathe Your life into us.

Living God, in Your mercy You have shown us we are all but dead. We were once dead in our sins and transgressions and Your mercy and grace raised us to new life in You. We acknowledge that we have neither life nor breath apart from You. We are dying today. Grant us mercy and grace once more and breathe life into these dead bones.

We are Your people. Do not forsake us.
Be merciful to us, O living God. Send Your Spirit to us.
We confess we are dead. Breathe Your life into us.

The world is not being turned upside down because we are about to die. How can we bring life to a dead world if we are all but dead? Forgive us, O God. You are the God who brings life to the dead.

We are Your people. Do not forsake us.
Be merciful to us, O living God. Send Your Spirit to us.
We confess we are dead. Breathe Your life into us.

We have been worldly. We have fashioned our lives, our congregations and our denominations after the ways of the world rather than the ways of Your Kingdom. Forgive us, O God.

We are Your people. Do not forsake us.
Be merciful to us, O living God. Send Your Spirit to us.
We confess we are dead. Breathe Your life into us.

We confess we have not opened ourselves up to the work of Your Spirit. Forgive us, O God. Open up our graves and raise us up from our graves, O God of the resurrection.

We are Your people. Do not forsake us.
Be merciful to us, O living God. Send Your Spirit to us.
We confess we are dead. Breathe Your life into us.

We confess that we have a form of godliness but have denied Your power. We have taught Christianity as a moral code rather than a life. Forgive us, O God. You are the God of the living and not of the dead.

We are Your people. Do not forsake us.
Be merciful to us, O living God. Send Your Spirit to us.
We confess we are dead. Breathe Your life into us.

We confess we have continued to be full of ourselves. We have not asked You to empty us and to fill us with Your Spirit. Forgive us, O God. Fill us up with all Your fullness.

We are Your people. Do not forsake us.
Be merciful to us, O living God. Send Your Spirit to us.
We confess we are dead. Breathe Your life into us.

We confess we have had no fire because we have neglected to ask You to baptize us with fire. We have tried to manufacture and then offer to You and to the world strange fire. How can we turn a dark and cold world upside down apart from Your light and fire?

We are Your people. Do not forsake us.
Be merciful to us, O living God. Send Your Spirit to us.
We confess we are dead. Breathe Your life into us.

We are all but dead. We have no real life apart from Your Spirit. Come and dwell in us afresh and anew morning by morning. We have no hope apart from You, living God, because there is life in no other but You.

We are Your people. Do not forsake us.
Be merciful to us, O living God. Send Your Spirit to us.
We confess we are dead. Breathe Your life into us.