Prayers: May 16, 2021

Prayers

Pray in thanksgiving for God’s presence in our lives:

• Thank you, Lord, that your Holy Spirit gives me inner strength.
• Thank you, Lord, for the warmth of sunshine.
• Thank you, Lord, that because I am yours, no one can snatch me away from You or the life You have planned for me. John 10:28
• Thank you, Lord, for confidence in knowing you have heard and will answer my prayers. Psalm 6:9
• Thank you, Lord, for being in charge of my story; help me to trust your good and perfect will.

Pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ:

• For those in assisted living arrangements. Thank God for caregivers.
• For healing for those with health concerns
• For wisdom in keeping ourselves and others safe as COVID restrictions are being lifted in the US. Pray for those around the world where COVID positivity rate is still high.
• That others come to know God’s love and grace because they see His Word lived out in us
• For those who are trying to recover from unstable employment and living circumstances
• For softening of hearts in those close to us, that we may find an opportunity to share about our hope found in Jesus Christ
• For those who are overwhelmed by change
• For healing for Pastor Charles and Pastor Joanna and safe travels for Pastor Josh and his family

Pray for CCC:

• To worship the Lord always, “for he has done glorious things”. Isaiah 12:5
• For wisdom in establishing reopening church plans
• That we not tolerate any practice that is not in keeping with our holy God
• For the new program being planned for teens
• To persevere in her ministry and praise God that He works with us, always able to “turn darkness into light.” Psalm 18:28
• To reflect God’s glory as “saints” not because we live sinless lives, but because we live a life consistent with the One we represent.
• For church leaders to be faithful and persevering in accomplishing the tasks God has called them to do

To Think About: We often have questions that can rock our faith such as ‘why do bad things happen’. God created a beautiful world, but humankind allowed sin to enter in so that the good and bad grow together.  Jesus tells us to trust Him instead of pulling out the “weeds” ourselves.  We cannot escape the world that has produced bad in our lives, but we can trust God to protect and nourish the good things he’s planted in us.   “‘An enemy has done this!’ the farmer exclaimed. “‘Should we pull out the weeds?’ they asked. “‘No,’ he replied, ‘you’ll uproot the wheat if you do.  Let both grow together until the harvest. Then I will tell the harvesters to sort out the weeds, tie them into bundles, and burn them, and to put the wheat in the barn.’”  Matthew 13:28-30 NLT

禱告事項

感謝主每日同行：

• 感謝神，你的靈給我內在的力量。
• 感謝主賜下陽光，讓我感受到溫暖。
• 感謝神！因為我屬於你，你又賜給我們永生，使我們永不滅亡，誰也不能從你的手裡把我們奪去。（ 約翰福音10:28）
• 感謝神，因為我相信“耶和華聴了我的懇求，耶和華必收纳我的禱告（詩篇6:9）。”
• 感謝主成了我生命進程的主宰；感謝你幫助我信靠你美善完美的旨意。

為主內弟兄姊妹禱告：

• 為生活起居需要幫助的人禱告，感謝主賜給護理人員。
• 為身體有病痛的人可以得醫治禱告。
• 當在美國取消對新冠病毒限制時，賜我們有智慧保護自己和他人的健康；為世界各地新冠病毒陽性檢測率仍然居高不下的人民禱告。
• 願别人在我們身上看到神的愛和恩典，因為我們將神的道活出來。
• 為努力尋求穩定的就業和生活環境的人禱告。
• 求主柔軟我們身邊的人，讓我們可以找到機會分享在耶穌基督裡找到的盼望。
• 為不能應對生活變化的人禱告。
• 求主醫治辜牧師和徐傳道，保守曺牧師和他的家人旅行安全。

為教會的需要禱告：

• 願我們常常敬拜神，“因他所行的甚是美好（以賽亞書 12:5）。”
• 求神賜給我們智慧，引導我們制定教會重新開放的計劃。
• 求神幫助我們不要容忍任何不與神心意一致的行為。
• 為新的中學生事工進展順利禱告。
• 讓我們堅守神國事工、為神與我們同工讚美神，因為“神必點著我的燈，耶和華我的神必照明我的黑暗 （詩篇 18:28）。”
• 讓我們成為彰顯神榮耀的“聖徒”，不是因為我們活出無罪的生命，而是因為我們生命與神保持一致。
• 為教會領袖能忠心持守完成神呼召他們的使命。

思考：我們常常遇到足以動搖我們信念的問題，例如：“為什麼有壞事發生”。神創造了美好的世界，但人類允許罪進入其中，導致良莠不齊。耶穌告訴我們要信靠他，而不是我們自己把“雜草” 拔除。我們不能脫離這個在我們身上產生敗壞的世界，但能相信神保護和滋養祂種在我們內裡的良善。馬太福音13章28節到30節說：主人說：“這是仇敵做的。”僕人說：“你要我們去薅出來嗎？” 主人說：“不必，恐怕薅稗子，連麥子也拔出來。 容這兩樣一齊長，等著收割。當收割的時候，我要對收割的人說：先將稗子薅出來，捆成捆，留著燒，唯有麥子要收在倉裡。”