Opening Prayer

Heavenly Father, we praise You for the Gospel that has the power to transform us from the inside out, where our hurts, hardships and difficulties become opportunities to examine our hearts, and in turn, love and serve others. Through Your Love and Grace and Fellowship of the Spirit, help us to become more like Jesus in both word and action, people who love graciously and lavishly. We pray it be to the praise of Your Glory. In Jesus’ Name, Amen!

Scripture

Devotion

Every Christian knows and feels the temptation to act or pretend that we are more righteous, more Christlike, more praise-worthy and respectable than we really are. We do this in our relationship with others (vv1-4) and – foolishly – we try to do this in our relationship with God (vv1-15). It is Christ’s Grace alone however that dismantles our need to pretend and invites us to genuinely and sincerely draw near to God. The Gospel tells us that we’re not nearly as impressive or respectable as we think we are; so we can give up trying to pretend to be so. But the Gospel also tells us that we have an amazingly gracious Father (mentioned 10 times!), who is kind and gracious but also sovereign and truly praise-worthy (v9), and He invites us to come and know Him and have genuine fellowship with Him. In the Lord’s Prayer, we are encouraged to pray based on who God is (v9), and what our real needs are (vv10-13), knowing that He loves us, knows our needs (v8) and loves to bless those who truly seek Him (vv3,6,18).

Intercessory Prayer

Dear Heavenly Father, we thank You for sustaining us through the pandemic that has affected nations, churches, communities and countless individuals. We continue to pray for those who are still recovering from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, that You would restore their health and wealth. For those who are sick in the body, we pray that Jehovah Rapha will heal them completely of all infirmities and cover them in the Blood of Christ. We pray especially for those who have been psychologically and mentally affected by the events of recent years, that they may find peace, joy and fulfilment in the Love of Christ. May Your church stand united and become the beacon of hope and love as we reach out to meet the needs of the communities. Protect us, Heavenly Father, from all forms of diseases and infirmities so that in health, we may fulfil Your calling in our lives and be a blessing to those around us. As we pray and seek You, Heavenly Father, may You hear from heaven and forgive our sins and heal our land (2 Chronicles 7:14). In Jesus’ Name, Amen!