Two days ago, excessive rains caused flash flooding in Makwa. 151 people have been confirmed dead, and 3,000 people displaced. Pray for the Lord to provide food and shelter for these people, and for them to also hear about Him – the spiritual Shelter we all desperately need.
Nigeria ranks very high on the world persecution watchlist. Islamic aggression against Christians is at an extreme level. Pray for this to change.
Pray for any believers affected by the flooding in Makwa to be especially strengthened and encouraged today by the Lord’s continual presence with them.
“Then He [Jesus] spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart,”
Blatten, Switzerland: Pray for the 300 evacuees whose village was buried by mud and glacial ice to hear about the only City that can never be destroyed, and obtain personal residences there through faith in the finished work of Christ.
NEBC: Pray for the Lord to provide for the urgent facility and financial needs the school has.
Your Choice: Please pray for a request you remember from one of the other locations featured this week:
Memorial Day church outreaches
Yandina, Solomon Islands
Montevideo, Uruguay
Sunday Songs Series Conclusion: “Sweet Hour of Prayer”
This isn’t a normal post, but I’m asking you all to read, pray, and respond as God leads in relation to what is written below. Thank you!
God wouldn’t let the baker sleep, so at 2 AM he got up and started baking bread…three professional batches’ worth of bread. At breakfast time the next morning, he loaded it all up and took it to a local orphanage. Three hundred children sat at the tables, but their plates were empty. They had gotten dressed and ready for school, come to the table, thanked God for the breakfast they did not see, and waited. And then the baker came.
Following his delivery, the milkman knocked at the door. His delivery cart had broken a wheel directly in front of the orphanage, and the milk would sour by the time the wheel could be fixed. He wondered if the orphanage would be able to use ten cans of milk. Thus it was that three hundred hungry orphans had full stomachs that morning when the cupboards were empty.
This true story of George Mueller’s orphanage in Bristol, England, is well-known and loved by many. We often highlight the faith of the man who started the orphanage, or the fatherly provision of God for the orphans. Today, I want to shine the spotlight on the baker whose name we don’t even know. We continue to tell his story 150 years later, and all we know to call him is “the baker.” He couldn’t sleep, and he listened to the Spirit’s whisper in his heart. That obedience made a huge difference, not only in the provision of a meal to hungry children, but in the subsequent encouragement to trust God’s provision as his story has been retold to generations. He didn’t know exactly what was going on or would result, but he obeyed.
Today, I’m asking everyone who reads this to be that baker. NEBC (https://nebcvt.org/ ) is a Christian college making a difference for God in the Northeast. They operate by faith, and they need some “bakers” who will listen to the Spirit’s prompting to give what they have. If you’ve never heard of NEBC, here’s a link to an informative interview that discusses both who the school is and the urgency of their current situation: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1BmdmdFLJn/
Last night, our church took an offering to give toward pressing end-of-the-month needs that NEBC has. I watched an eight year old girl put a dollar bill in the offering plate, and a teenager drop in yard work cash. If children and teens can step up to the plate, all of us can, too. All of God’s children are in this thing of spreading the gospel together, so let’s each do what we can to help. Like the baker in Bristol, you may not know the full impact your gift will have this side of eternity, and your name may not be famous, but – also like the baker – God wants to use you, and you will rejoice in time to come.
Yesterday a 92 million cubic foot glacier crashed down a Swiss mountain, causing mud and ice to cover 90% of the alpine village of Blatten. Three hundred residents had been evacuated, but one man is currently missing. Pray for the search to find him to be successful.
Pray for the 300 evacuees to hear about the only City that can never be destroyed, and obtain personal residences there through faith in the finished work of Christ.
Pray specifically for Blatten’s mayor, Matthias Bellwald, to seek God’s answers for life and eternity, both in his personal and professional endeavors.
Pray for the Lord to send out workers to the harvestfield of Yandina.
Photo from Google Earth
1. Yandina is on Mbanika Island, one of the Solomon Islands. These buildings are not far from the water. Pray for a lady hanging out clothes to line dry in Yandina today to know the God who can clean any heart from sin’s stain.
2. Pray for a person coming to the Yandina Clinic for treatment to meet the Great Physician.
3. There is a cocoa plantation in Yandina. Pray for the Lord to send His light and truth to a worker there who has wondered Who God really is.
Psalm 113:3
This post was originally published on January 11, 2023.
Memorial Day is meant to be a day of reflection, honor, and gratitude for those who paid the ultimate sacrifice to preserve freedom. The “Hymn to the Fallen” by John Williams powerfully captures these sentiments:
Pray for immediate family members of US military who have died in the last decade to know the gratitude of a nation and the hope that God alone can provide.
Pray for today’s generation of young people to have the caliber of character that is willing to sacrifice ease for freedom, faith, and family.
Countless Memorial Day observances are planned for today across our land. Pray for many people to accept God’s offer of salvation as a result of participating churches that will be seeking to point the way to the One Who gave His blood to obtain eternal freedom for all who believe.
“Then He [Jesus] spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart,”
Last Sunday marked the end of the planned dozen weeks in the Sunday Songs Series. However, since I did not mention that fact to officially conclude the series, I decided to add one more song this week. Because TGP’s entire ministry is based on prayer, what song could be better than “Sweet Hour of Prayer”?
I first remember coming to like this song as an eighth grader living in Happy, Texas. I would think about the words while I was doing housework, and for some reason, it made me also think of my Grandma Ballard. She had passed away several years prior, and I don’t know if she ever especially liked the song or not, but I could picture her praying while she did housework. At any rate, “Sweet Hour of Prayer” captures a sense of the refuge for the soul that prayer has always been to God’s people. May we all be encouraged to continue coming before our Father’s throne in prayer all the days of our earthly pilgrimage.
Pray for Christians the world over to find refuge in prayer to their Father today.
Pray for a lost person hearing a believer’s prayer to want that kind of a relationship with God, and accept His offer of salvation.
Many times Christians pray for years before they see the answer to a particular request. Pray for the Lord to bring provision for some of those long prayed for needs today.
Pray for the Lord to send out workers to the harvestfield of His chosen people.
Embassy workers Yaron and Sarah were killed in a terrorist attack Wednesday evening as they were leaving an event in Washington DC (ironically, the focus of the event was bridge building and humanitarian aid in the Middle East). Thank God, they both believed in Jesus as their Messiah. Pray for their families to know the Lord’s continuing strength during this difficult time.
Pray for unsaved friends who have previously talked to Yaron and Sarah about the Messiah to go ahead and place their faith in Jesus.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and for the eyes of world leaders to be opened to the reality of what is occurring.
Pray for the Lord to send out workers to the harvestfield of Prague.
The above building is comparable to a city courthouse, with various offices inside. Pray that couples using the wedding ceremonial hall will have a desire to start their homes on a solid foundation, and that the Lord will put someone in their lives to explain Biblically how to do that.
Pray for the craftsman/his family who built the wooden doors above to meet the greatest Carpenter of all time.
When exiting the building, one can see a cross steeple in the distance. Pray that the Holy Spirit will use that sight to remind city officials of the need for God’s blessings on Prague, and that they will seek His wisdom for how to best manage their city.
Hebrews 13:3
This post was originally published on August 28, 2021.
