How to Pray for Your Church

2 Thessalonians 1:11-12

1. Recognize the importance of prayer.

“To this end” there is a purpose in prayer.

Prayer is a means by which God extends His grace to us.

“Means”- Illust. You have access to water in your home. Somewhere there is a reservoir or a well and your home is connected to it by a system of pipes. Those pipes are the means by which water comes into your home.

Do you need those pipes?

What if you removed those pipes?

Do you realize how important it is for you to pray for your church? Paul prayed for churches:

Thessalonica, Colossae (1:9-10), Ephesus (1:16-17), Rome (15:14-33), Philippi (1:9-11)

Prayer is a means of God’s grace!

If God does not use our prayers as a means of His grace why are we told to pray:

“Lead us not into temptation”

“Deliver us from evil”

“Thy will be done”

“give us this day our daily bread”

Do you pray for the church at Jefferson Street?

Illust. We have four columns in this chapel. What if I came in here with my chainsaw and cut one down? Two down? Three down? Would it matter?

Every member of this church is a column. We are to hold this church up in prayer. Maybe we would do better if the roof sagged over every prayerless saint!

“for you” we are not praying for brick and mortar. We are praying for people. I hope you see faces when you start praying for this church. Illust. Praying in middle of night.

You want a plant to die, quit watering it.

You want a fish to die, quit feeding it.

You want a church to die, quit praying for it.

2. Pray that the people in our church would walk worthy of His calling.

This isn’t talking about salvation. It’s talking about sanctification.

If you are saved you have already been called. When God saved you He made you worthy.

Now He commands us to walk worthy of that calling.

Illust. In my closet I have clothes that are: worthy of fishing, worthy of working in the yard, worthy of date night with Jennifer.

Imagine 10 people in the world invited to a dinner with a King. You are one of the ten chosen. There will be dinner, pictures taken, and a conversation with royalty. All the world will be watching. You would dress worthy fo the occasion

The dress here refers to how we live. Our character is our clothing.

We need to pray that the people in our church would live like Christians are called to live.

Holy, humble, forgive, love, speech would be clean, convictions would be strong.

I’m not interested in building a huge church. I am interested in having a holy church.

The devil is after all of us. We should pray for one another’s sanctification.

3. Pray that by God’s power our good desires will be granted.

A. Pray that souls will be saved.

That’s a good thing to pray for, isn’t it?

My heart breaks every Sunday when I give an invitation, and no one is saved. What do we need if we are going to see salvations?

Pray for God to bring lost people to church.

Pray for God to open their eyes.

Pray that God will put us into contact with lost people. (Illust. Use the cards we have. How many will you hand out this year?)

I want to see real salvations. Lives drastically changed.

Tracey illust.

B. Pray that attendance will increase.

That’s a good desire, isn’t it?

Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together…

Attendance went down last year from 87 to 80. That breaks my heart.

Would you pray that the members of this church attend? Would you commit to praying for that every week?

The preaching is better

The singing is better

The fellowship is better

When we are all here.

I had an old man ask me one time: What makes a Christian decide what Sunday to go to church and what Sunday not to go?

I didn’t have an answer for him.

I can complain but that doesn’t do any good.

I can try to shame folks, but that doesn’t do any good.

Prayer works. Would you pray that the able-bodied Christians that call JSB their church would come every Sunday they are physically able.

C. Pray that the Lord will send laborers.

Jesus commands us to pray for that (Matt. 9:38).

We need laborers to replace the ones we lose:

Age limits some

Death takes some

The devil captures some

Just to maintain what we have we need laborers

We need laborers to do what we cannot do.

Worship, teachers, preachers. Pray God will call some people to preach!

We need laborers to extend our ministry. So that we can do new things.

D. Pray for the sick and suffering.

We have people in our church that wake up and go to bed in pain.

We have people who are tired because they are caregivers to a loved one.

We have people who live in nursing facilities.

Disabled

Depressed

We want new folks, but we can’t forget the old.

E. Pray that our church will be united.

That’s a good desire!

Jesus prayed in John 17 that His people would be one. We ought to do the same.

Union is different than unity. Union means we are affiliated with others.

Tie two cats’ tails together and throw them over a clothesline. You have union but no unity.

Uniformity is different than unity- everyone looks and thinks the same exact way.

Unity means we are one in heart and purpose.   

I don’t want union.

I don’t want uniformity.

I want unity.

F. Pray that we will have wisdom.

If it is God’s will for us to relocate, pray that He shows us clearly.

There may be big decisions to make this year. We need to know the will of God.

4. Pray that God will be glorified through our church.

“so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you and you in Him”

This is the ultimate prayer. We want the mighty name of Jesus to be lifted up.

We want people to look at JSBC and say “God is doing a good work!”

This is why we want:

To walk worthy of His calling

Souls to be saved

Attendance to increase

The Lord to send laborers

Sick & Suffering to be comforted

Unity

Wisdom of God

When people visit JSBC we want them to praise God.

If we pray these prayers and God answers them, He will be glorified in our church.

If we don’t pray it shows we are not interested in God getting glory.  Prayerlessness reveals our motive.

This is God’s church. We should want Him to be on full display. He deserves glory.  What a privilege it is that God would let His glory rest upon this little church. I believe He will. It is our job to pray that it happens.