General Prayer of Encouragement 12 July
Elder Noel Brown offers this General Prayer of Encouragement 12 July 2020.
My Brothers, Sisters and Friends,
We are hoping that you are well. Regardless of the happenings around the world, remember that you are called to shine, to be the light in the midst of darkness. In His teachings on the Mount of Olives, Jesus Christ told those gathered:
“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”
Matthew 5:14-16 (NIV)
You are set to shine and should not be dimmed or put out. In every circumstance, God must be praised and glorified, so let us shine. Shining requires action. Hallelujah! Amen!
We continue to press forward in prayer, and today’s General Prayer of Encouragement is led by Elder Noel Brown. Elder Brown is in charge of the planning and administration department of GMC. He is also a lay preacher at GMC.
Let us pray:
Gracious Father, we worship You as the highest God. You are Elohim; the God of Power and Might. Thank You for being Jehovah Raah, The Lord Our Shepherd. You lead us in the paths of righteousness for Your name sake. Thank you for being the King of Glory, for being our Father, Redeemer, and King.
Thank You for reconciling us back to You through Your Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We are thankful to You for the Holy Spirit, the promised Advocate who empowers us to be effective witnesses to Your Kingdom here on earth. Thank You for loving us and watching over us. Today, we lift our eyes to You from whence cometh our help. We thank You that You neither slumber nor sleep.
Magnificent Father, we revere and honor You. You are our God and we submit our loyalty, our bodies and adoration to You. You are the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. You existed before time and created everything that exists. We declare that all things were made by You, and without You nothing was made that had not already been made. You created everything visible and invisible.
Lord, only You have held the ocean in Your hand. You measured off the heavens with Your fingers and You know how much the earth weighs! You are truly an awesome God! Lord, we give You the highest praise. Hallelujah to the Lamb!
Dear Lord, we come in the name of Jesus Christ thanking You for the power of forgiveness. Lord, we choose to forgive everyone who has hurt us. Help us to set our enemies free, release them to You, and not take revenge (Romans 12:19). Help us to bless those who have hurt us, and not curse them (Romans 12:14). Help us to walk in righteousness, peace, and joy, demonstrating Your life here on earth. We choose to be kind and compassionate, forgiving others, just as You forgave us (Ephesians 4:32).
Forgive us oh Lord of all our sins and trespasses even as we have now forgiven our enemies and those who have willfully hurt us. Thank You that You are Jehovah Tsidkenu: The Lord Our Righteousness, as You are to us, cause it that we will be so to those in this world. Lord, please help us to play our part so that men can be reconciled to You just as God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself.
Lord, we pray for our youths in this country. We ask that You cover, protect and guide their lives. We present to You those who are currently doing CSEC and CAPE exams. Lord, remember those in our congregation; Romeo Elliott, Jhada Graham, Nachkeemi Smith, Shane Brown Garvey, Travis Lawrence, Kimeka Facey, Renae Lindsay, Justin Grey and Carissa Heslop. Lord, You know the needs of each, and that their exams start this week. We ask for the spirit of excellence to be at work in them as they do each paper.
And now, Jehovah Jireh, our provider, we thank You for surrounding us with love. We declare that it is You who provide us with leadership at the local, national and international levels of our churches. We thank You for our elders, deacons, heads of departmental and auxiliaries, musicians, sound crews, ushers, full time workers of the church and security servers. Lord; “You have been our help in ages past, You are our hope for years to come, and You are our shelter from the stormy blast and our eternal home;” (Isaac Watts, 1719).
Lord, we pray that You grant wisdom to our leaders, grant supportive followers, and that we will cast all of our cares upon You because You care for us.
Lord, we call by name, The Honourable Prime Minister of Jamaica Andrew Holness, Minister of Health Christopher Tufton, Minister of Finance Nigel Clarke, health workers and support staff, Minister of National Security Horace Chang, Minister of Education, Karl Samuda, Opposition Leader Peter Philips, and their families; Jamaica Defence Force and Jamaica Constabulary Force personnel and Security Guards, all other leaders of government and their support staff. We also put to You all members of the cabinet, members of the opposition, business leaders and community leaders.
Dear God, we pray concerning the state of the Covid-19 pandemic that has now plagued the world. We know that nothing has taken You by surprise and we know that You have the situation under control.
Your word tells us that:
“… There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.”
2 Timothy 3:1-4 (NIV)
We pray, oh God that You will temper judgment with mercy as we face difficult times. We pray that You will use this time to gather Your people together and to You.
Lord, the crime situation in our country needs Your intervention. We commend every form of criminal mind and acts to You Lord. You see the plan of evil concerning our country and its people but we stand in the name of Jesus Christ and ask that You will eradicate, deliver us from every form of wickedness. Lord, we cry for mercy! Help us Dear Father! Only You can help us Lord!
Lord, we are told that in the last days, nations will rise against nations and kingdoms against kingdoms but Lord, remember Your elect. We pray for all world leaders especially for those in Asia, Europe, Israel, U.S.A and those within our region. Lord, we ask that the world leaders will work together for the good of their country and people; and not act selfishly towards other nations.
Lord, we pray for the families, especially our men. Intervene on our behalf, and cover the black men who are being targeted and killed without a cause. At the same time help all of us, as men, to be responsible fathers, employees, followers of Christ, and citizens.
And now Jehovah Rapha, the Lord who heals: we remember Your word written in scriptures:
“But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.”
Isaiah 53:5 (NIV)
Lord, help us to hold onto Your word as we deal with losses and illnesses.
Lord, we ask for Your hand of healing and restoration as it relates to the following circumstances:
We present to You those who are mourning; Brother Andrew Getton who lost his mother (buried last Thursday) and Sister Arlene Tomlinson who lost a brother (lived in the U.S.A); Sister Melva Knight who lost an aunt; and Brother Orville Beckford and Sister Ann Beckford who lost a Sister and Sister-in-law respectively.
Lord, we now mention our families who are ill. Sisters Iris Lawrence, Jennifer Nicholson, Virginia Muir, Claris Johnson (mother of Jehan Johnson), Marville (Cherry) Murray (Sister Iris Lawrence’s daughter), Janet Chen-Young, Joyce Bailey, Lucille Alexander, Jhada Graham, Ethlyn Atkins, Cherrie Lee, Brother George Gabbidon, and Andrew Robinson (Sister Claire Robinson’s son), Brother Danville Japp’s father, Mr. Isaiah Japp.
Those from our usual sick and shut-in list:
- Mr. Cecil & Mrs. Madge Burton
- Mrs. Violet Reynolds
- Sis. Monica Powell
- Sis. Claire Robinson
- Sis. Ivel Barrett
- Sis. Rosa Bonilla
- Mrs. Violet Campbell
- Mrs. Margaret Evelyn
- Dee-Anna Young
- Bro. Esmond Williams
- Ms. Edith Morrison
- Sis. Marlene Ellis
- Mrs. Jasmine Nicholson
- Sis. Olive Campbell
- Bro. Aston Walker
- Sis. Zeta Leslie
- Sis. Vivienne Hutchinson
- Sis. Norma Billings
- Sis. Madge Hanson
- Bro. Roosevelt Thompson
- Sis. Valerie Johnston
- Mr. Lloyd Kelly
Lord, the songwriter says: “Glorious things of thee are spoken, Zion, city of our God; he whose word cannot be broken formed thee for his own abode; on the Rock of Ages founded, what can shake thy sure repose? With salvation’s walls surrounded, we will smile at all our foes” (John Newton, 1779). Help us to take comfort in these words knowing that You will remain with us through all our circumstances.
Lord, we thank You for a tremendous breakthrough, for mercies and Your grace. We know that Your mercies never fail, that they are new every morning, that You are a God who hears and answers prayers.
So now we thank You for answering our prayers,
in Jesus’ name.
Amen
Our Weekly Prayers are for everyone. Therefore, if you are also in need of prayer or comfort, please contact us with your request. We would be so very happy to share with you.
