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Luke 18:1

“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.

Listen to “Sweet Hour of Prayer”:

https://youtu.be/krDrQD2kzOM?si=PvzrBd65m9Uhqj-s

1. Pray for Christians the world over to find refuge in prayer to their Father today.
2. 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.
3. 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.

Thank you for joining us

for the Sunday Songs Series!

2 Corinthians 4:7

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

In 2 Corinthians 3, Paul describes the fact that believers are ministers under the New Covenant of righteousness, a wonderful thing since we can see more clearly the transforming glory of God than those in the OT (3:6,9,18). In chapter 4, he continues with encouragement. God’s mercy enables us not to faint in serving Him (4:1); even though it is difficult, it is doable (4:8-9), and afflictions are light in comparison to eternity (4:16-18).

The reality that makes perseverance and success possible is described succinctly in 2 Corinthians 4:7 (see above), and reiterated throughout both chapters. Christians are compared to jars made from pottery (as indeed we are, for God made man from the dust of the Earth), that contain the Treasure of treasures – Jesus Himself (4:6). What a wonderful gift from our gracious God!

Listen to “Earthen Vessels”:

https://youtu.be/XFHzzGAog2M?si=X6gKyxe–A7NRnut

1. Pray for believers around the world to be encouraged by 2 Corinthians 4:7 today.
2. Pray for lost people to attend Biblical churches today, and to perceive that God Himself is present and active in the services. Pray for their response to then be obedient faith to His call to salvation.
3. Pray for believers to let the life of Jesus inside them work mightily through them every day this week (4:10b, 11b).

Matthew 5:16

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

Prayer List for the Lost:

Please email any updates or additional names to targetedglobalprayer@gmail.com. The monthly email will go out Tuesday, May 20, for all who have specifically requested it. [If you would like to get this list of specific names to pray for, you may email the above address as well. It is a PDF file with one page of names that can be printed out and posted in a convenient place.]

1. Sunday Songs Series: “Go Light Your World”: Pray for the Lord to call a dozen people to take His light to a foreign field.
2. Hope, USA: Pray for the next person who enters the Hope Town Hall to hear and believe the gospel.
3. Your Choice: Please pray for a request you remember from one of the other locations featured this week:

Torreon, Mexico

Tortel, Chile

Dilling, Sudan

Psalm 34

Thank you for praying!

Today’s prayer requests are focused on Psalm 34. Penned by David during a difficult season of life and a narrow escape, this psalm continues to extend hope to God’s children today. Follow this link to read a paraphrase of Psalm 34:

https://poemsfortheking.blogspot.com/2024/05/psalm-34.html

1. Pray for Christians around the world to be encouraged today by the immeasurably valuable promises of Psalm 34.
2. Pray for someone who does not know God to see the difference He makes and trust Him as personal Savior.
3. Pray for our gracious Lord to meet the needs of each of our TGP team members today.

Matthew 5:16

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

All throughout our Sunday Songs Series, I have been planning to share the link for “Go Light Your World.” I first heard this song at the beginning of my freshman year in college. In one of the early chapels that fall, this song was played as any students who had been on mission trips the previous summer carried in flags from around the world to line up across the platform. It was very special to participate in this powerful visual reminder of the Great Commission.

Because today is Mother’s Day, I considered featuring another song. However, my own mom exemplified the words of “Go Light Your World,” so I am going ahead and posting it today as a tribute to her. I have never known another lady who did more to light her world for Jesus out of sheer love for Him, whether in her home with her children, teaching in churches and Christian schools, giving financially to countless ministries, initiating home missions projects, or serving on the foreign field. She was a very active participant with the TGP ministry.

Today, wherever each of us are, may we light our world for Him.

Listen to “Go Light Your World”:

https://youtu.be/TUTWR4vVIjU?si=0ggYAs_cdfAVTRx8

1. Pray for a dozen mothers to be saved across the USA today.
2. Pray for the Lord to call a dozen people to take His light to foreign fields.
3. Pray for the Lord to encourage a dozen Christians who feel like their light isn’t making a difference.

Please pray for a church outreach this morning to attendees and participants of the Battenkill Bike Race in the village of Cambridge, New York. Pray for the Lord to give the members of Open Bible Baptist Church opportunities to share the gospel at this event, and for someone to trust Christ as Savior. Pray also for the Lord to keep the rain away so that the outreach can occur.

Zechariah 4:6

“So he answered and said to me, ” This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the LORD of hosts.'”

Today’s song highlights the unseen yet vital work of the Holy Spirit.* Listen to “As the Wind Song Through the Trees”:

https://youtu.be/dXcn6brw7dg?si=6evmW5wFMtjn1xQp

1. Pray for Christians to understand and live by the principles of Romans 5-8.
2. Pray for the Spirit to have free reign in church services today to convict the lost of sin, righteousness, and judgment, and for their response to be repentance and faith.
3. Pray for a specific lost individual you know to have that same response to the truth of the gospel.

*It should be stated that the song’s comparison of the Spirit’s work to yeast / bread rising would be better omitted, because Scripture frequently uses that comparison to refer to sin, not the Spirit.

This past Saturday evening, my family had the opportunity to be outside at night away from city lights and observe a sky very similar to this one (a real-time view of Monday night’s sky from the Stellarium app).

Near the horizon is the Big Dipper. The two stars on the right side of the cup point to the North Star, which is also the end of the handle for the Little Dipper. The North star, or Polaris, has been the foundational navigational star for thousands of years. Near the top of the screen a segment of the Milky Way can be seen.

With major crises catapulting to the center stage of world events in rapid succession, it is good to step back and reflect on the sovereignty and immutability of our God – the I AM that I AM. He will have the final word, and He cares for His own. That is the guarantee of Scripture, and we can bank everything on the veracity of the Bible.

1. Continue in prayer for the Lord to defend Israel in their current war with Gaza.

2. Pray for an Israeli Christian your age to be encouraged by the above truths today.

3. Although clouds and light pollution often obscure our view, the stars above are still there shining to the glory of God. Thank our Father that, likewise, even when circumstances obstruct our view of His activities and purposes, He is at work and can always be trusted.

Psalm 2

This post was originally published on October 10, 2023.

Galatians 2:20

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

Wherever you are and whatever lies before you, may the truth of this song encourage your soul!

Listen to “Yet Not I But Through Christ In Me”:

https://youtu.be/zundjUFazfg?si=lwV7vgYGClCdF6ey

1. Pray for Christians around the world to worship and serve God this week through Christ who loves and lives in them.
2. Pray for lost people attending churches this morning in your state to know that God is present in the service, and obey the conviction of His Spirit in their hearts.
3. Praise the Father, Son, and Spirit for His continuous kindness and patience toward us His children.

1 Chronicles 4:10

And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, “Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!” So God granted him what he requested.

1. Senj, Croatia: Pray for a Biblical church to be started in Senj this year.
2. Faith, Turkey: Pray for Christians in Istanbul to have many Divine appointments to extend God’s offer of peace to their fellow residents.
3. Your Choice: Please pray for a request you remember from the other locations featured this week:

Salisbury, Australia

Arvaikheer, Mongolia

Londonderry, Northern Ireland

Sunday Songs Series: “Christ the Lord Is Risen Today”

Thank you for praying!