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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