Opening Prayer

Lord, help us to reach out to You in times of need, in times of worry and fear. Help us to trust in You when we don’t get the answers that we are hoping for. Help us to wait on You and see You amidst our challenges and difficulties and to experience You in new and fresh ways. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Scripture

Devotion

“Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!”

Twice this statement is shouted in the account of Jesus healing the two blind men, found in verses 29-34. These two blind men, who were sitting on the side of the road had heard of Jesus, His ministry and His miracles, but they had never seen Him nor experienced Him first hand. And in the chaos, they made their presence and needs known.

There are two things we notice about Jesus in this passage. First Jesus, who knows all things, asked them to declare their need to make their requests known. “What do you want me to do for you? Second, we observe a compassionate caring merciful Jesus who upon their request healed them. We see Jesus demonstrating patience, He saw the need and responded lovingly.

As we reflect on this passage, let us not be shy in making our needs known and speaking them out to Jesus. We too can ask God for help with things that we are dealing with. Scripture reminds us: “do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” (Philippians 4:6 NRSV)

We can also be assured that God is compassionate. He doesn’t brush us away. He always has time to listen, and He will respond. The Psalmist writes, “The Lord is near to the broken-hearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord rescues them from them all.” (Psalm 34:18-19 NRSV)

Intercessory Prayer

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for the prison ministry. We are in such joy to uphold the prisoners and their families to You. Lord, we lift up these people, for You know their hearts and cry. Lord, many are hearing the Word for the first time and we can see a stir in their hearts and tears dropping with joy as they hear the Word of God in their own heart language. God, continue to work in every prisoner that comes and hears Your Word so that they will catch the fire to seek Your face daily and to fall in love deeper with You and start to pray for their cell mates who don’t know Jesus. Lord, we take this chance to pray for the inmates’ families for Your comfort, joy and peace and that they will also come to know the Loving Grace of the True Living God. We surrender everything into Your hands and trust You will pull us through. Let Your Glory fall on all and we want to see Your signs, wonders and miracles in the prison just like in the book of Acts. In Jesus’ Mighty Name, Amen!