Wednesday: Week of Fasting & Prayer
Let’s pray for THE NATIONS…
“Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession.”
- Psalm 2:8
“He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war any more.”
- Isaiah 2:4
“For dominion belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations.”
- Psalm 22:28
Pray for yourself that God will give you a vision for the nations. You may feel very stuck in your local setting, which may feel very small, but know that through both your prayers and your actions you can touch nations you may never visit.
Pray for the nations on your doorstep. In our multicultural nation we don’t need to travel to another country to meet people from other nations, we just need to step out of our front door. Pray that God will open doors for you to meet people from other nations in your street, at work, when you’re out and about, and that he would use you to be a blessing to those people.
Pray for people from Kerith who have moved overseas. This includes Sam & Hannah Fairs-Billam in Zambia (leading ‘Tehila) and Andy & Mickey Partington in Bolivia (leading ‘Novo), but you may know of others. Pray for them, their children if they have any, and the work they are doing.
Pray for the churches we have connections with in other nations. This includes Albania, Lithuania, Estonia, Serbia, Macedonia, Zambia and Malawi but you may know of others. Pray for them to know the love of God in Jesus more clearly, to be empowered by the Holy Spirit, to know unity and to grow in health and impact.
Pray for Christians facing persecution around the world. In nations such as North Korea, Afghanistan, Somalia, Libya and Pakistan (listed by Open Doors as the 5 countries where Christians face the most extreme persecution). Pray for courage, boldness and comfort for our suffering brothers and sisters.
Pray for the promise to Abraham to be fulfilled, that all nations on earth will be blessed through the church.
For children…
RESOURCE NEEDED – a physical globe, or a printed picture of one, post it notes, pen.
If you have a globe – now is a good time to use it! Look at various countries across the world. Talk to your child about current news items from across the globe, finding the country, writing prayers on post it notes for those situations in those countries and placing it on the map.
In Kerith Kids we sponsor with www.compassionuk.org both Deo, from Uganda, and Alondra, from Nicaragua, through the children’s financial giving on Sundays. Ask your children about them and spend time praying for their families, their education and health - and that they will know Jesus!
Pray for all of us to look after our world as well as we can. Have conversations about how you as a family can do more to help the planet – write a family manifesto, asking God to help you in this!