PRAYER GUIDANCE DURING COVID-19 LOCKDOWN
Let’s Pray RPC - Weekly Update - 11/05/20 (Week 9)
I am sure you are familiar with the powerful words of Philippians 4:6-7: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” In these verses we see four ways to pray. Last time we thought about praying specifically.
This time we are thinking about praying expecting an answer.
One of the reasons we can pray with thanksgiving is that we can expect an answer. Sometimes the answer might not be what we expect, but the Lord has promised to answer. As many have observed, the answers the Lord gives can be “yes,” “no,” or “not yet.”
We might always like a “yes” but the Lord our heavenly Father knows what is best and he will not give us something that isn’t good for us.
Congregational
Pray for those in hospital at this time, whether suffering from coronavirus or battling other illnesses, that God’s presence would be very meaningful and real and that loved ones unable to visit would know his comfort, strength and peace.
Pray for elders making decisions and deciding how to best care for our church. Pray that the Lord would give them united clarity and wisdom. Pray that decisions made would be made out of a confidence in who God is.
National
Pray for wisdom for our politicians and health authorities as they determine what are the next best steps to take.
Pray that as care homes become the new frontline in the battle against coronavirus, that God’s sheltering hand would be known among residents, his protection experienced by staff and his reassurance granted to family members unable to visit loved ones.
Global
Pray for the work of PCI’s development partners Christian Aid Ireland and Tearfund, as they deliver coronavirus emergency initiatives amongst poor and vulnerable communities around the world.
Pray for the global church that it would be a light shining and the Lord would use this time to glorify himself by drawing people to a saving knowledge of himself.
Let’s Pray RPC - Weekly Update - 04/05/20 (Week 8)
I am sure you are familiar with the powerful words of Philippians 4:6-7: “[D]o not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” In these verses we see four ways to pray. Last time we thought about praying specifically.
This week we learn that we’re to pray remembering God’s goodness. Paul tells us to pray “with thanksgiving.”
Praying with thanksgiving requires us to remember all of the good things the Lord has done for us and is doing for us now. After all, there are more things in your mindscape than just worry needs. Worries might be in the foreground at the moment, but there are many other things to which you should draw your attention and for which you should be thankful.
Given the state of our broken hearts this isn’t easy because our natural tendency is to focus on our worries rather than to give thanks but there’s grace in those moments. May we run to the Lord this week remembering his kindness and goodness to us past, present and future.
Prayer Points
Congregational
Pray for staff furloughed from work, including those who serve in congregations and other ministry callings, that God would help them to overcome the frustration of this interruption to their roles and benefit from a season of unplanned Sabbath.
Pray for families with children or teenagers at home in lockdown, asking that God would help parents creatively balance schooling, home life and watching over the general well being of those under their care.
National
Pray particularly for governments on our own island and across the world as they navigate the fine lines of easing lockdown measures at the right pace, asking for God’s wisdom in judging the balances required.
Pray for congregations as the normal link between going to church and giving to its work is broken, asking that God will continue to provide what is needed to sustain necessary finances during the period of lockdown.
Global
Pray that this season of uncertainty in society, in which so many of the idols we have worshipped and false gods that we have come to trust in have been exposed, may begin to lead towards a fresh moment of awakening to the true and living God.
Pray particularly for churches as they serve those around them, asking that the relationships built would provide opportunities to show and share the good news and hope that comes through faith in Jesus Christ.
Let’s Pray RPC - Weekly Update - 27/04/20 (Week 7)
I am sure you are familiar with the powerful words of Philippians 4:6-7: “[D]o not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” In these verses we see four ways to pray. Over the next four weeks we will take a look at one of the ways we are to pray from these verses.
First - Pray specifically. Paul uses different words for “prayer” in verse 6. The first is a general word for prayer, but the second word, “supplication,” refers to an urgent specific plea. This is reinforced when he adds; “let your requests be made known to God.”
I’ve heard some folks say that when they pray they don’t ask for anything for themselves. This might sound very selfless and holy, but it is wrong! The prayer Jesus taught his own disciples include specific personal requests. It begins with praise to our Father in heaven and ends with his kingdom and power and glory; but in the middle supplications Jesus teaches us to ask God to meet our important personal needs. “Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” (Matthew 6:11-13).
Requests for daily provision, forgiveness, and protection are quite personal, and we are urged to bring them before the Lord regularly. This includes things we are prone to worry about. Do not be reluctant to cry out the Lord about anything and everything.
Prayer Points
Congregational
Pray for creativity, energy and biblical insight as congregations move into a second month of seeking to minister in the situation of being unable to gather for worship or meet face to face with members.
Pray for members as they continue to show and share Christ’s compassion and speak an apt word for him as they enter another week as key workers or being good neighbours. Ask God to watch over them and work out his purposes through their everyday witness.
National
Pray for those in government charged with taking difficult decisions balancing public health and economic concerns as they consider easing lockdown restrictions. Ask God that they would receive good advice, gain clarity of all the issues involved and make the right decisions at the right time.
Pray for those who suffer from mental health difficulties asking that God would enable them to cope with the anxiety that arises from present circumstances and that he would equip family and friends to care in sensitive and constructive ways.
Global
Pray for the most vulnerable in society who are significantly impacted by the effects of the lockdown - struggling to make ends meet; experiencing cramped living conditions, under threat by the economic downturn. Ask God to be their comfort and strength and that the church will continue to find ways to offer practical support through food banks and other initiatives.
Pray for our mission partners - Norman and Linda Patterson. Their plans for this summer have completely changed with not being able to get out to Romania at the desired time. Pray that they would continue to look to the Lord at this time trusting his plans and purposes. Thank God they have technology to keep in touch with people in Romania and Norman has been able to preach to Romanian Churches online.
Let’s Pray RPC - Weekly Update - 22/04/20 (Week 6)
O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. Psalm 63:1-2
What does it mean to love God? It means to be satisfied in him. In him — not just his gifts, but God himself, as the glorious person that he is!
Yes, most definitely loving God will include obeying all his commands; it will include believing all his word; it will include thanking him for all his gifts. But all that is overflow. The essence of loving God is admiring and enjoying all he is. And it is this enjoyment of God that makes all of our other responses truly glorifying to him.
Do we feel most honoured by the love of those who serve us from the constraints of duty, or from the delights of fellowship?
My wife is most honoured when I say, “It makes me happy to spend time with you.” And so it is with God. As John Piper says, “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.”
None of us has arrived at perfect satisfaction in God yet. And so until that day when we fully realise who we are in Christ let’s be praying for ourselves and each other - “One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple” (Psalm 27:4).
Prayer Points
Congregational
Pray for elders making decisions and deciding how to best care for our church. Pray that the Lord would give them united clarity and wisdom. Pray that decisions made would be made out of a confidence in who God is.
Pray for members who own businesses, those who have lost jobs and those who are considered critical workers. Pray that all those people would develop a greater dependency with their Heavenly Father as they run to him with their fears, confusion, anger, exhaustion and doubts.
National
Pray for the Northern Ireland Executive at this time of increased tension for the government, asking God for cool heads, good judgement, wise allocation of resources and a spirit of cooperation.
Pray for wisdom for key decision makers within the health service who have to make careful choices about the allocation of resources.
Pray for many in the healthcare system who have been redeployed, that they would quickly fit into their roles and build good relationships with new colleagues.
Global
Pray that this virus would point people to the fact that God is going to ultimately judge the world of sin, and this reality would lead people to place their trust in the cure for sin, Jesus Christ.
Pray for the world, asking God not just to intervene in Ireland, but in every country and among all peoples touched by the pandemic. Particularly remember those in poorer countries with no health service.
Let’s Pray RPC - Weekly Update - 15/04/20 (Week 5)
I love spending time with my friends. Whether it’s catching up over coffee, face time or even better going on holidays together to surf, eat good food and get some sun - I love it! But what I love most about catching up with best friends is that you have this bond where you pick up from where you left off and you’re able to share everything. They know you, and you know them.
Similarly the Bible speaks of our relationship with God as knowing and being known (Gal. 4:9, 1 Cor. 13:12). J.I. Packer in his famous book Knowing God, writes:
“Knowing God is more than knowing about him; it is a matter of dealing with him as he opens up to you, and being dealt with by him… Friends open their hearts to each other by what they say and do… we must not lose sight of the fact that knowing God is an emotional relationship, as well as an intellectual and volitional one, and could not indeed be a deep relationship between persons if it were not so.”
By God’s grace we have prayer so that we might have this kind of friendship with the GOD OF THE UNIVERSE!
Prayer Points
Congregational
Pray that above all our members would want to know God and in doing so would soak themselves in His word and spend time with Him in prayer. Pray that as this happens they would love Him above anything else.
Pray for those who are especially vulnerable in these days – the elderly, those with underlying health issues, the isolated, poor and homeless – that God would be their peace and provider.
National
Pray for those receiving treatment for Coronavirus as the anticipated peak in cases occurs, that they will know God’s comfort, strength and healing. Particularly remember NHS and HSE staff who have contracted the virus and the UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnston.
Pray for those in need of regular therapy and treatments that must now be postponed, that God would help them stay patient and they place their trust in Jesus Christ.
Global
Pray that Christians all over the world would know the presence of the risen Christ in a very real and meaningful way as they celebrate his victory in strange, unusual and varied circumstances arising from the Coronavirus pandemic.
With the recent celebration of Easter Sunday pray that those who do not know Jesus would be considering Jesus work afresh and in doing so would place their trust in Him. Give thanks to God that He is glorifying himself among the nations right now!
Let’s Pray RPC - Weekly Update - 08/04/20 (Week 4)
Since getting married I’ve learned many things. One thing I’ve learned about is makeup! For those reading this who are as clueless as me when it comes to makeup, makeup is a term used to describe different cosmetics used to enhance or alter appearance.
Since being a Christian I’ve also learned many things. One thing I’ve learned about is makeup. A different kind of makeup! Makeup that says “I'm fine” whenever life screams “MESS!”
Here’s the thing... The Bible never encourages you to ‘apply that kind of makeup’ to your faith. Psalm 22 is a perfect example. It’s an account of a Christian talking with God about horrible circumstances. When your life gets ugly – and there are few experiences uglier than death – don’t pretend that your soul is at rest if it isn’t. Speak honestly with God and with others.
Remember - God welcomes questions and groaning - Psalm 13, 42 & 55. We can approach God without embarrassment because NOTHING, not even our questions and groaning separates us from His love.
Congregational
Pray for those in isolation who are cut off from their normal routines and support systems, that they would seek their strength in Jesus.
Pray for health workers who are caring for those with COVID-19. Pray for their protection from the virus, for stamina during long and intense work hours, and for safe protocols to be observed in healthcare institutions in order to keep them protected.
Pray for health workers to seek the Lord during this crisis.
National
Pray for Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, and all who serve with them would have health and stamina to lead over this period.
Pray that God might use such a time as this to arouse people’s longings that they might find their source of true comfort in Jesus
Global
Pray for our global mission workers throughout the world, especially in areas with high rates of infection. May God give them words of hope and equip them to love and serve those around them.
Pray that all the livestreaming of congregational worship, posts on social media, and phone calls would be used by God to speak into people’s lives and that those who as yet do not profess faith in Jesus would find a saviour.
Let’s Pray RPC - Weekly Update - 02/04/20
Was there ever a time when my mum wasn’t keeping an eye on me? Growing up it certainly felt like mum was always watching me. Out the back playing football - she would peer out the kitchen window, as I “completed” homework - she would be constantly checking up on me. At times (all my teenage years) her watching over me felt like mum being mum, and I didn’t want that. She cared about where I was going, who I was spending time with, how my phone was being used and who I was chatting to online. As a teenager I didn’t appreciate mum watching over me but now I’m so thankful for the way in which she parented me.
He Watches Over Our Souls
Psalm 121 is a treasure for the suffering believer and one of the comforts from this passage is that the Lord is constantly watching over our souls (verses 3b–4). As much as it felt like my mum was watching over me I knew that wasn’t the case in reality. She couldn’t. She’s human. She had to sleep. However the Lord shall neither slumber nor sleep. Yahweh is always awake, always aware, and always watching over his children.
No Separation From His Love
For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39)
The Lord not only watches over us, but does so with a love that we can never be separated from because we are in Christ. Covid-19, self-isolation, lying helpless in hospital - they can’t separate us from His love.
Run to Yahweh in Prayer
No matter what you are going through right now surrender to Yahweh in prayer remembering He is constantly watching over you and he does so with the bloodshed love of Christ that you can never be separated from.
Congregation
Pray for families. Thank the Lord for the time he has given families to be with each other and ask that He would use this time to teach families many things about Himself. Pray for wisdom and clarity in thought and speech when talking about Covid-19 with parents. Pray for children that they know them and they would trust Him in the midst of fear, confusion and worry.
Pray for the Lonely. Pray they would know the Lord is constantly watching over them with an unwavering love. Pray that the church will do all it can to draw alongside those whose loneliness has only intensified at this time and in doing so would make us a more loving community of people.
National
Pray that medical staff would find energy and strength and be enabled to use their gifts and skills to help those most in need;
Pray that food suppliers and retailers would be able to cope with the extra pressure of delivery, stocking shelves and selling to customers in stressful circumstances.
Pray for Ashley Graham, Ben Preston, Lucas Parks, Richard Hill and Seamus Burke (once members of RPC who are now ministers elsewhere). Ask the Lord would use them and their churches His Glory at this time. Ask for wisdom in making decisions about services, pastoral care and everything else that ministry entails. Pray that the Lord would keep them and their families fixed on Jesus at this time.
Global
Pray for our global mission partners and their families - Trevor Watson (Sweden), Sasko (Poland), Norman and Linda Patterson (Romania), Smiles Foundation (Romania). Pray that God would use them at this time in whatever ways to be witnesses for the Gospel and in doing so people would turn to worship Him. Pray safety and spiritual strength for them and their families at this time.
Let’s Pray RPC - Weekly Update - 25/03/20
What do you do when Covid-19 keeps you awake at night? What do you do when the media paints nothing but bleakness? What do you do when self-isolation prevents you from getting away from what we are facing? Or maybe a better question to ask is… Who do you run too?
All of us are running to something at this time in our lives for joy, peace, and satisfaction. But here’s the thing… There’s only one person who can give you, your family and this broken world all those things - Your Father in Heaven.
One of the most encouraging promises found in Scripture is that the Lord is attentive to the cries of his children. Psalm 18:6, 34:17, and 61:1-2 are just a few examples.
The good news is you and I have individual access to the God of the universe through prayer. Yes, we have a compassionate Heavenly Father who hears our prayer and responds in love for his glory and our good.
That truth is life changing on its own, but here's something even more encouraging for you - it doesn't matter how "messy" or "dirty" our prayers are. All throughout the Psalms, you read prayers that are riddled with fear, anger, doubt, exhaustion, and confusion.
God doesn't turn his back on these prayers and say, "Come back when you've cleaned yourself up." He listens to us, just the way we are. That's why the authors continue to pray with honesty throughout the entirety of the Psalms - their honest cries and groans are heard and answered, not rejected or ignored.
It’s in that knowledge we can pray, and pray these following things for our church, nation and world.
Congregation
Pray for members who own businesses, those who have lost jobs and those who are considered critical workers. Pray that all those people would develop a greater dependency with their Heavenly Father as they run to him with their fears, confusion, anger, exhaustion and doubts.
Pray that all our members would use this time to assess their spiritual temperature and potentially do a number of things in light of that: 1: Confess sin to God, 2: Pursue God in His word, 3: Develop God dependency in prayer, 4: Help loved ones to do the same.
National
Thank God for the wisdom he has given to the health authorities and political leaders thus far. Pray that God would continue to be gracious in granting our politicians and health authorities wisdom in what’s best and most loving for our nation.
Pray for the church across Ireland, at a time when people are living in fear and paranoia, they would tangibly love each other and the world. Pray that the church would also proclaim the ultimate peace found in the purchasing blood of Jesus and in doing both these things it would lead people to salvation.
Global
Ask God to be merciful to the leaders of the World Health Organisation that they would find the best ways to treat people who contract the virus, and how to prevent its spread.
Pray that this virus would point people to the fact that God is going to ultimately judge the world of sin, and this reality would lead people to place their trust in the cure for sin, Jesus Christ.
Let’s Pray RPC - Weekly Update - 18/03/20
Prayer is all about one thing - Surrender.
At a time when we can’t control our circumstances, at a time when worldly comforts are useless, it’s easy to lose hope and start despairing. But as Christians we have good news - we have a God who is in control, working all things together for His glory & our good; we also have a God who provides comfort - He is the Good Shepherd who makes us lie in pastures green.
The Gospel invites us, in a time of great uncertainty, to surrender to the One who is in control and our only comfort.
One of the ways in which we can show our surrender to God is by praying for others at this time. Below are some ways you can pray for RPC members, and for National & Global issues.
Prayer points:
Congregation
Pray for older/vulnerable members who could be critically affected by the virus. Pray that they will have sufficient support networks at a time when loneliness, isolation and fear could intensify. Ask that the Lord would give people real peace in the Gospel.
Pray for elders making decisions and deciding how to best care for our church. Pray that the Lord would give them united clarity and wisdom. Pray that decisions made would be made out of a confidence in who God is.
National
Pray for wisdom for our politicians and health authorities as they determine what are the next best steps to take.
Pray for protection for NHS staff who are working tirelessly to care for more patients than normal. Pray that churches across Ireland would be able to provide childcare to keep NHS staff on the frontline while schools are closed.
Global
Pray for the global church that it would be a light shining and the Lord would use this time to glorify himself by drawing people to a saving knowledge of himself.