Encouraging One Another to PRAY

Let us not forget to pray for one another. It is easy to procrastinate prayer, to put it off for a later time, or to doubt that it actually does anything. But the Lord promises us that prayer is powerful, it is the best thing we can do for our brothers and sisters around the world. I encourage you to stop right now, think about what you are blessed to be able to do today, and then think about someone in a completely different part of the world, or simply outside of our Highland Park bubble who does not have it as good as you. Maybe it’s a woman prostitute in South Dallas trying to make her living by selling her body to men at different truck stops, and she lives in fear of cerial killers who will take advantage of her body first and then kill her. Maybe it is a child in Ghana, Africa, or Uganda, Africa who has seen their mother and father killed in front of them. Maybe it is a Muslim woman in Saudi Arabia who is being forced to serve a man she did not choose to marry and is now being physically abused. Maybe it is a family in Russia who is being extremely repressed by their government and live in constant fear of their future; who are simply trying to make it through the day. Maybe it is your classmate sitting next to you who has been diagnosed with an illness that you don’t even know he or she has.

As followers of Jesus Christ, I pray that we can encourage one another to pray for our campus, our city, and our world. And allow the transforming power of Jesus Christ to radically rock, shake, and move. God is good, he promises to never forsake us, to never leave us. We must encourage one another in this journey called life where it is easy to become discouraged and lack in our prayer time or our belief in the power of prayer. I want us to pray for one another that the Lord will allow us and help us to encourage one another to ask, seek, and knock on God’s door. That he will help us to never forget what a simple prayer can do and that we may remind one another what it can do.

The power of prayer is amazing, God listens and God answers. How do I know this? Look around. Look around at the blessings, the good things, the transforming miracles that are taking place every second of every day. Look at what God has done in your life and in the life of those around you. God is working all around us, every minute of every day, on this campus and in this world. We just sometimes forget to look…

 

Please pray for these people that International Justice Mission is asking us to pray for. Remember the power of prayer and the impact you can have on these peoples’ lives. God is a radical God. He understands, and he takes care of his children.
“Thus says the LORD: Do not let the wise boast in their wisdom, do not let the mighty boast in their might, do not let the wealthy boast in their wealth; but let those who boast boast in this, that they understand and know me, that I am the LORD; I act with steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth, for in these things I delight, says the LORD.”

- Jeremiah 9:23-24

Africa

 *   Pray for quality aftercare partners in Rwanda to assist IJM in providing excellent services to our clients.
 *   Pray for wisdom for IJM Rwanda’s aftercare team as they help clients and their families address problems such as health difficulties, school fees for children, domestic violence situations and alcoholism.
 *   Please pray for Veronica’s case in which IJM Uganda is dealing with a very difficult perpetrator. Pray that he will agree to vacate the land he forcefully took from her. Pray that resolution would be attainable through mediation rather than a court order.
 *   Pray that the name of the Lord will be glorified at IJM Zambia Pastors’ Prayer Gathering this month. May client testimonies have a great impact on the pastors so that they may be encouraged to talk about the devastation of property grabbing and sexual assault to their congregations.