Category: Prayer

Pray for Afghanistan

O God of mercy and of peace, 

We hold before you the peoples of Afghanistan. 

Be living bread to those who are hungry each day. 

Be healing and wholeness to those who have no access to health care amidst the ravages of pandemic.

Be their true home to all who have been displaced.

Be open arms of loving acceptance to those who fear because of their gender, ethnicity, religious or political views. 

Be peace to those engaged in armed conflict and those who live within its shadow. 

Turn our hearts and minds to your ways of just and gentle peace, 

Open our eyes to see you in all acts of compassionate care. 

Strengthen our hearts to step out in solidarity with your suffering people and hold us all in your unfailing love. 

We pray in the name of Jesus Christ, who emptied himself of all but love in order to bring life in all its fullness. Amen

This prayer was written by Ramani Leathard,

Christian Aid’s Head of Region for South East Asia and Afghanistan.

Points for prayer

Give thanks that our partners are still able to operate for now and that there is an indication that projects helping communities meet immediate and urgent needs will be allowed to continue.  

Pray for peace and protection for the Afghan people facing great uncertainty and the threat of serious human rights abuses. 

Pray in particular for women, girls and ethnic and religious minorities in Afghanistan, that hard-won advancements in rights will not be reversed. 

Pray for a coordinated and effective international response to the humanitarian crisis.

Pray for support to reach all those in need of emergency assistance in Afghanistan because of the compounded effects of conflict, climate change and Covid-19.  

Pray in particular for the thousands of Afghan Internally Displaced People who are facing famine and who Christian Aid have been assisting through the hunger appeal launched in July. 

Pray that the devastating cuts to the aid budget will be reviewed, and that increased funding is made available immediately and effectively to Afghanistan. 

Pray for safe and open borders for all those who wish to and are able to leave Afghanistan. Pray that they would be met with sanctuary and hospitality.  

Pray for all who remain, for courage and protection.

Pray with all those who ‘hope that the situation gets better and we can go back to a normal life with dignity, respect and peace.

Pray for the halting of attacks on civil society. For effective political negotiations.

Pray for peace.

https://www.christianaid.org.uk/pray/prayer-afghanistan#:~:text=Pray%20for%20Afghanistan,Pray%20for%20peace.%C2%A0

Now this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only TRUE God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent. John 17:3

Revival Sermon by Dr Martyn Lloyd Jones

Prayer for Revival

The church today is too regular, doing what other religions can do. Other religions can teach a man to be moral and just. Other religions can create a sense of community and friendship. Other religions can do good things in the community. Christians tend to be content with these small things; content with the unexceptional and ordinary condition of the Church. We must pray for revival. In this sermon on Exodus 33:12-17, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones looks at the prayer of Moses, as Moses prays for more. God had returned to Israel and Moses is grateful for this, but he wants more. Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains that praying for revival is praying for something extra, something more. Revival is not ordinary. It is a special, unusual, and exceptional move of God. The Christian praying for revival is no longer satisfied with the ordinary condition of the Church. He prays for God’s glory to be shown. He cries for the “depths” that God may be known. True revival cannot be manipulated. The moment we believe this can be organized, we are in great danger. Listen in as Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains that church needs the power of God. The Holy Spirit must fall upon us, and we must be revived.

FEATURED SERMON

The Apostles Doctrine

A Sermon on Acts 2:40-42

And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.

The Fellowship of the Believers

And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. (ESV)

What is the church and who are Christians? According to Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, to know what the church is and understand its mission, he recommends looking to the church in Acts 2:40–42. There the church is a community of born again, spirit-empowered believers who boldly proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ to a broken and sinful world. The church committed itself to the teaching and preaching of the apostles’ doctrine and the fellowship. The church of Acts was far more than a social gathering, but it was the power of God, manifested on earth through the work of His Spirit. The early church did not grow by attracting people by appealing to humanity’s carnal desire, but though the power of the gospel. It is this gospel that the church is tasked with guarding and proclaiming. It is this glorious gospel that can transform the lives of those around us. If the church today and beyond is to be a faithful servant of Jesus Christ, and if the church is to be a faithful steward of His gospel, it must commit itself to the teaching and works of the apostles as found in God’s word.

The Apostles Doctrine – a sermon from Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones https://www.mljtrust.org/sermons/the-apostles-doctrine/

A Prayer of Repentance for Ireland

Heavenly Father, we thank You for our Christian heritage from Patrick and the Celtic church until now.  We thank You for our history as a ‘land of saints and scholars’, spreading the Gospel to the world.  However, today we acknowledge that for many years the world has known our land as a place of hatred and bloodshed. Throughout our history, the name of Your Son Jesus Christ has been used to justify many things that have brought dishonour to You.  Our bitter disputes and hard hearts have driven Your Kingdom from us and we have served the idols of national identity and tribal fears.  We confess that we have taken Your Holy name in vain.  

We gather together today to own our sins and the sins of our fathers which have stained our land. We are truly sorry and we earnestly repent.  Please have mercy on us and forgive us for what we have done against You, what we have done to this land and what we have done to one another.  Together we come to the foot of the cross declaring that only Jesus can take away our sins and heal our land. 

We recognise that along with the heritage that we have received from You there are weeds and snares of compromise and untruth.  We confess fear, mistrust, hatred, violence, negativity, judgementalism, entitlement and complacency.  We ask you to release us from all unhealthy bondages of culture, wrong covenants and the unhelpful mindsets of our history and bring us into the righteousness, peace, and joy of the kingdom of God.

Father, Lord of heaven and of every tribe, tongue, and nation on Earth. We as Your church affirm that ‘All authority in heaven and on earth’ belongs to Jesus and He has commissioned us to ‘Go make disciples of all nations’. 

Today we speak into existence a new mindset in the heavenly realms over our land, that will allow our politicians and all our people to move forward into a peaceful and harmonious future together where there is room for all. 

We declare, we will have King Jesus to rule over us, as our only Saviour and Lord, we will serve His Kingdom above all other earthly Kingdoms and we will choose to walk in His footsteps, loving and serving one another – to the glory of God the Father, in the name of Jesus the Son, and in the power of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.