How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news
(Romans 10:15 NLT)
A fantastic number of us are engaging with the Immerse Bible Reading Experience and this Sunday we will pick up another theme we’ve noticed as we engage with and read the New Testament.
What’s the Theme?
The theme is “beautiful feet”! Those starting week 5 of Immerse will be reading Mark, 1&2 Peter, and Jude. Each of these books is about the Good News of Jesus.
Mark opens with the words, “This is the Good News about Jesus the Messiah, the son of God”. Peter tells the people he is writing to that the “Good News has been announced” to them (296) and Jude writes about “the salvation we all share” (309).
Indeed, there is a very sense in which every book of the New Testament is about the Good New of Jesus, the Gospel, so we’ll be digging into this on Sunday.
Seeing the world Changed
The Gospel is about change and transformation and we know that prayer is key to change and transformation.
We are calling a week of prayer Monday 25th to Sunday 31st October.
Every morning, Monday to Saturday 7. 00 – 7:30 am, there will be an opportunity to gather together on Zoom to pray. We will also gather on Zoom in the evening of Sunday 31st 7:30pm – 8pm, again on Zoom to pray.
An Opportunity
This is an opportunity for us to cry at to God “Your kingdom come, your will be done, here on earth as it is in Heaven” (Matt 6:10).
Each day has a theme or issue for what to pray for and I’ve listed those below.
PG Tips
Pete Greig has lots of wisdom to share about prayer and he encourages us to do four things when we intercede.
- get informed: find out what you can
- get inspired: what is God saying about this
- get indignant: be honest with God, engage your heart on these issues.
- get in synch: engage together, which is why we are doing the Zoom meets, but you may want to find other ways of praying with each other, and of course we’d love to hear from you what God is saying to you.
Share
If you feel God has spoken to you through a word of scripture, a dream or vision, a prophetic word, then we’d love to hear this. You can share this initially with the pastoral team by emailing office@qpbc.org
Fast
We felt God challenge us that this is not just a week of prayer but also a time for fasting.
Fasting is a time of foregoing a little to gain so much more.
The foregoing is normally food, but could be TV, or social media. It is a good idea to ask the Holy Spirit what it is you need to fast from.
If you’ve not fasted before then God may just ask you to take small steps, e.g. fast one day out of the 7 or eat breakfast and dinner, but fast lunch each day and spend this time in prayer.
Daniel Fast
Due to underlying medical conditions, it is not safe for everyone to fast from food. If this is you, perhaps consider what many people call the Daniel fast (Dan 1: 8- 17). This is where you eat simply and eat only fruit and veg.
Dig In
God will call some of us to fast for the whole week. Remember, your body will react to this and tell you it’s starving. You’re not!
Yet, we may need to dig in and press into God when the hunger pains strike. The good news is that this is a phase which should pass, however, remember to drink plenty of water.
Keep Your Focus on God
Fasting is not just giving something up but is an opportunity to gain so much.
- gain time to spend in prayer.
- gain in dependence upon God, especially when you feel very hungry.
- gain time in the presence of God and experience a greater intensity of being open to God during these times.
- gain in our alertness to what God is saying to us and calling us to.
- gain greater insight about what God is doing in our situations, our city, nation, and world through the Holy spirit.
Prayer Themes
As promised, here are the themes for each day.
- Monday: Health and the pandemic
- Tuesday: Poverty and economic challenges.
- Wednesday: Conflicts and migration.
- Thursday: The Church, salvation, and discipleship
- Friday: The city and its transformation.
- Saturday: Mental well-being.
- Sunday: The climate crisis and COP 26.
Zoom meeting details:
- Meeting ID: 862 7572 6908
- Pass code: 426476.
Looking forward to not just seeing you on Sunday but through the week on Zoom prayer.
Brodie