Friday, July 10, 2020

Day 126: A WEEK OF PRAYER FOR OUR WORLD IN CRISIS - World Evangelism



DAY 126
                                                  Faith in the Midst of a Pandemic         
A series of daily reflections for people of faith
by Rev. Robert Bayley, Interim Pastor
Patuxent Presbyterian Church, California, Maryland
Week Eighteen – Saturday 18 July 2020

A WEEK OF PRAYER FOR OUR WORLD IN CRISIS

World Evangelism

O God, you have made of one blood all the peoples of the earth, and sent your blessed Son to preach peace to those who are far off and to those who are near: Grant that people everywhere may seek after you and find you, bring the nations into your fold, pour out your Spirit upon all flesh, and hasten the coming of your kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. - The Book of Common Prayer: The Mission of the Church

On the wall of the chapel at the Ludhiana Medical College in north India is a painting of a huge globe with the image of Christ draped over it, his thorn-crowned head pressed into it, arms stretched out with hands clasped in prayer, imposed into his intercession in the Garden of Gethsemane.  A print of this picture was given to me by a lady in the church I served in New Zealand, retired then after decades of serving as a Presbyterian missionary in India. It was her favorite picture, and she kept her copy where she could see it daily, for she was an intense prayer warrior into her ’90’s, interceding for the world for which Christ died. Under it were the three words forming the most succinct and critical prayer request of Jesus the man who was God, uttered in the Garden of Gethsemane to his sleeping disciples: “Watch with me.” Matthew 26:40

How do you pray for something as overwhelmingly immense and complex as the world? The above prayer can be a good daily start. The number one resource I would recommend and which I have used over the years is a book called Operation World: The Definitive Prayer Guide to Every Nation in the World by Jason Mandryk. All sorts of general information is given for each country plus the status of churches and Christians and specific prayer needs for each country. It’s an informative eye-opener that will, if you use it, be used by the Holy Spirit to plow the heart of Jesus for the world into your own heart, and you will never be the same. Pray again the prayer above that God will pour out His Spirit on all flesh.

Reflective question: Will you consider Operation World as part of your spiritual journey?

Reflective Scripture: Matthew 28:19 – “Go and make disciples of all nations …”

Reflective hymn: 
“O Christians, Haste” – Mary Thomson (1834-1923)
O Christians, haste, your mission high fulfilling, to tell all the world that God is light,
That he who made all nations is not willing one life should perish, lost in shades of night.
Publish glad tidings, tidings of peace, tidings of Jesus, redemption and release.

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