Next Steps

Tom is going to do our scripture reading, but I have to surprise him with the fact that I changed it.

Colossians chapter 1 is what we're going to do. 9 through 12. Sorry about the last minute. Change their Colossians chapter 1, 9 through 12, free stand with me and honor of God's word.

Morning. For this reason, we also since the day we herded, do you cease to pray for you? To ask that, you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing him being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. Strengthened with all might according to his glorious power for all patience and long-suffering with joy. Getting thanks to the father who has qualified US to be partakers of the inheritance of the Saints in the light. Thank you. Thank you, Tom. Please be seated.

All this week, each evening. We have met for prayer and it has been a wonderful wonderful times. Been a fantastic week. We spent time in the word. We spent time in prayer. We had Fellowship. We had snacks. It was it was great. And what I want to do is I want to recap what we covered during our week of prayer. And originally, I had intended to go on with our study in 1st Corinthians, but after praying about it and thinking about it, I realized we need to just make today kind of our grand finale for our week. So we're going to spend time in prayer as a church. This morning. That's what we're going to do. For our service will still look at some scripture where we're going to pray. So we started off our week on Monday night, looking at Unity. Have you looked in Ephesians for we talked about as a church? We need to move in the same direction and we focused on walking worthy of our calling patiently, taking wrong and bearing false surrendering to the Holy Spirit having agreement on a central Doctrine and Grace, and love, and non-essentials and Desiring. Unity on Tuesday night. And we looked at Philippians 4, we talked about the preparation for peace, the pursuit of peace and the presence of peace, and we prayed that we would rejoice in the Lord. Be gentle and reasonable with one another that we would pursue peace that we would experience cheese that we would meditate on things that bring peace and walk in obedience and be at ease on Wednesday night. We looked at Romans 10 9 to 17, and we talked about evangelism we talked about how is vandalism as mandated by Christ, but it is for each and everyone of us individually as Believers. We talked about how it is mandated by noon. We learned how Roman says they can't hear without a preacher, right? People need to come to Christ, but they can't hear unless we are telling people about Christ. We talked about our responsibility to evangelize. I'm afraid for a desire to evangelize for opportunities. For the words to say it to be led by the spirit and to have God's heart for the lost. And then we looked at discipleship on Thursday night in division 4. We talked about how God has given gifted people to the church. We talked about the purpose of those gifts, the duration in the focus. We prayed that we would know our gifting that we would serve the body of Christ that we would become mature in our face and we would exercise discernment and that we would lovingly speak the truth and that we would practice biblical discipleship. On Friday night, we looked at our Direction, our Direction, and we looked an ass chapter 13 where we see, John directing the early church, and he directed them as they were serving. He directed them as they were listening. And as they took action, until we prayed that we would Faithfully serve our local church family. We prayed that we would listen for God's Direction. It would be open to what he calls us to do that. We would move forward in agreement, that we would do what God calls us to do. And we would make necessary sacrifices and last night. We looked at growth and we talked about how we need to grow. And to do that. We have to have proper activity, right? We need to be in the word. We need to be doing these things that God has called his church to do. We need to be faithful. We need to have dedication. And we prayed that we'd be committed to the word of God and we could make our opportunities for Fellowship that we had prioritize, Hospitality that we would spend time together in prayer and that we would be faithful, even when there is opposition and that we would fear the lord and depend on the Holy Spirit. Today, our topic is going to be next steps. Next steps. We're going to kind of wrap up our week of prayer and then we're going to top it off with Fellowship. Just like we did all week long. I think it fits so well and so we're going to wrap up or we can further. Talk about next steps and the ideas, what practical action needs to be taken as we move forward. And so as we prepare to talk about prayer, we're going to pray. So let's pray. Father. I thank you so much for the opportunity and privilege that we as the Church of God have to gather together. Father, your word commands it. And we have found that when we walk in obedience to your word, there is blessing. There is Joy. There is a fullness that we experience as we walk together in this journey of Life. Father. I ask that you would bless our time in your word that you would bless our time in prayer, and we would have a wonderful time of Fellowship together. We thank you and we praise you in Jesus name. Amen. One of the realizations that we came to during this week, is that we need to pray for each other more. And as we look at our next steps, what do we need to do? We need to be praying for one another. And one of the things we need to be praying about is we need to pray for healing, trying to do with the James chapter 5. James chapter 5, and we're going to look at just verse 16.

We need to pray for healing James, chapter 5, verse 16.

James chapter 5 verse 16 says this Confessor, trespasses to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed. The effective fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much James gives us some very important lessons here because he doesn't just say pray for one. Another makes it not necessarily more complicated, but more specific. He says he's holding each other accountable. Right? And what I've asked all of us to do is to hold each other again, accountable to do that. We confess to one another. We hold each other accountable and then he says to pray for healing but this prayer that he says their prey has a specific quality to it. Here's what he says that. He says the effective prayer. What does he mean? He means a prayer that is focused on. Write the effective prayer, its focus, its targeted prayer, and then he says the fervent prayer through its effective fervent. Meaning it is consistent and persistent. Right? We pray consistently and persistently and then he says the effective fervent prayer of a righteous, man. We need to be wholly, disconnects back to the beginning, confessing our faults to one another, right? We need to be holy set apart for the Lord and then he says it's the effective fervent prayer of a righteous man that accomplishes much. He says it does what it's supposed to do, right? So he tells us to pray for healing and what I want to do this morning, as I want to pray for the healing of those in our congregation, until we have some that are going to be having surgery, right? So we're going to break your ears. Here's what we need to understand about you doing just got. He'll absolutely absolutely. Sometimes he sometimes he heals through medicine. Sometimes he heals permanently hear this, by calling us home to heaven. We have to understand that any healing in this life, is temporary. Right? Our bodies are going to go over there, going to break down. That's what's going to happen. Sometimes God chooses to allow modern medicine to heal us temporarily. Sometimes he miraculously heals us again temporarily permanent. Healing is when we get new bodies, right, but we have some we were having surgery and so we're going to pray for them. Joan. Do you want to stay there or do you want to come up? What would you like to do? As we pray for you, remain sitting? We're going to pray for John. Are there others who are having surgeries this week or in the near future?

Okay, and it's Jim Jim? Okay, and then I actually have oral surgery on Tuesday in a long process of stuff. So that's happening as well. So I'm pray for John. Anyone else you would like to? You're welcome to pray for John. Of course that you won't be heard on the sound system. That's okay. Will paper gym myself? Anyone else? This isn't something that we're only doing today. Okay, we're going to be doing this as needed today in. Our service will pray for people who need healing, but let me pray for Joan.

Father, just, thank you for Joan. I thank you Lord, for her faithfulness. I thank you for her being here and Lord. I just ask that as she goes in for surgery that you would give the doctor skill and wisdom given nurses at care for her, that the surgery would be successful. Lord. We know that you can do all things that we ask that it would be painless as possible. We ask that you would help her recovery to be Swift and that Lord, there would be a relief from pain when all is said and done. Thank you father, in Jesus name. Relation with the smile on her face and peace on Earth.

And if he will be in that room with her. The doctors. Find find. May she find joy in it actually, because the healing process with that follows. Really has to do with the love and the peace that she will have in Christ Jesus as well. So thank you Father for this opportunity to bring her before your very from Heavenly Father, we ask that you have y'all made Rasta healing. Jesus put his hand upon chill and take away her fears and anxieties as she goes to this process also for a kid that he doesn't want to pay all these things in Jesus name.

Father, when I also pray for our brother Jim is he goes in for surgery as well. And myself with my mouth, we ask for it again for skill for the Physicians Care and healing and Recovery as well. Thank you Father, that we can pray for these things in Jesus name.

What we want to do is not.

We don't want to be like, oh, yeah, we only do this, you know, once a year or something like that, we want to do this every time there's a need. So that means let me know if something's coming out of let others know. So we can be praying for you. We want to pray in our services. This is something that the body of Christ is called to do for one another on your hand out that you have. We have at the bottom, some prayer targets. And the first one that I have there is that we would share our physical needs with one another. That's what I'm talking about. And I know that I have been guilty, sometimes of not sharing what's going on in our family are our lives. So we want to do that off. And on your folks have asked me about Andrew our son. We didn't have an ultrasound for him. This week. We're going to be seeing a specialist in a couple of weeks would appreciate for his kidney, is still swollen and we don't know what all that means still. So, I just please keep him in your prayers as we as we do that. And I know there's others. Jack is going to be having surgery on his knee and November Wheels having surgery on his hip later that month, others are have a Mickey's going to be having knee replacement. Right? We've got lots of things going on. We want to pray for those things. We really do.

So a little later in the service, we're going to break that. I'm warning. You now. We're going to break up and we're going to just pray together. I can do that quite yet, but be prepared. I want us to spend time, praying together over different needs. So we need to pray for healing. That is biblical. Does that mean that God is going to miraculously and instantaneously, he'll every time though. It doesn't, sometimes he might sometimes he made you a modern medicine. And again, sometimes he may choose to Heroes permanently, but we also need to pray for needs, pray for needs. Look at Ephesians chapter 6. Verse 18, Ephesians chapter 6. First 18. Now, healing is a needed. So that would be covered under this. But we also have specific needs sometimes in the body and we need to pray for those as well Ephesians 6, verse 18.

Ephesians chapter 6, verse 18.

Call is wrapping up his letter to the Ephesians here and he has just, he is just finished the armor of God. And this is what he says right after talking about the armor of God and verse 16, Verse 18, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints. Praying. Always. Can someone tell me what the word always mean. Always continuously all the time, right? Brain always, he says, now, he's not telling us to walk around with her eyes closed and to ourselves. Okay, you will get hurt. If you do that, please don't, what he is saying, is we need to be have an attitude of prayer. There's nothing between us and we can pray any, and all the time. He says praying, always with all prayer and supplication, prayer. And supplication is the idea of general and specific prayers. Pray for someone in general. Lord, bless Gerald today, but if I know he has a specific, need this in someone's life or in my own life. So we need to be praying generally, and we need to be praying specifically for one another, going back to our first prayer Target. Here. We can't pray specifically. If we don't know what's going on in each, Others lives, right? We need to share our needs and our request with one another so prayer and supplication. But then he says, in the spirit in the spirit. We have to be filled with the spirit. How are we filled with the spirit, by having nothing between us and the Lord? When we're aware of sin. We can fax it and we forsake it, right. We are filled with the spirit when we're spending time with the Lord, when were in his word that fills us with the spirits, there were praying in the spirit. The second part of that is I'm not praying for just whatever. I want brains with the spirit leads me to pray about, right? Because I may want to pray that I would find the keys to a brand new Ferrari on my desk. That's probably not what the Lord wants me to have, right? Because I'd rather have an Austin Martin anyway. We are to pray for these things. We are to pray for these things in the spirit and then he says, being watchful to this end with all perseverance. Don't stop praying until you have an answer. Don't stop praying until you have an answer. How does God answer? Yes. No, wait. Wait, is when perseverance is required. I would love it. If every time I prayed for someone to be saved. God said yes, and they were saved that second. I have yet to have that happened in my life. Typically it is years of praying. For someone before they come to Christ. Perseverance in prayer is essential and supplication in the spirit, being with us and with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints. We pray for everyone. And some people say what, what about the person? I don't like pray, especially for that person because you know what that will do, that will change your heart. Or change your heart, we pray for all of the Saints. And so this is the idea that we are to pray for all the needs of our Brothers and Sisters in Christ. Again, we have to share them so that we can pray for them. And so we're going to break into little groups of a few people. Each share some needs over then. We're just going to spend a few minutes doing that right here. In this room. We're going to pray for the needs of the church. And then I'll come up back up here and we will break. We'll move on to the next point. So let's break into some small groups, and let's pray over needs. And also, you can pray over any of these, any of these prayer targets that we have on the bottom of our hand out. So pick a group and join it or raise your hand and be the group and tell people to join you.

We're going to break it up for just a minute here.

So we're going to have another chance to pray and just a couple of minutes, but we want to talk and just a little bit more about next, steps growth and future, and then we'll will end with another time of of prayer together. So go, if you would chew Colossians. 19212. We're going to look at that and then we'll end our time together this morning with another with another round of prayer. So if you didn't get to everyone get their prey or didn't get there, that's okay. Alright, we're sharing. We're sharing a request for sharing needs. So thank you all so much through 12. Colossians chapter 1, we're going to be praying here for growth specifically growth. In one another in our lives. Colossians chapter 1 verse 9, For this reason, we also since the day we heard of it, do not cease to pray for you. That's that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. Paul says, the day we heard of it. When do we pray for one another as soon as we know there's a need as soon as we know that there is a need and we pray again without ceasing and we pray that one another one for each other that we would grow in knowledge and understanding of the will of God and the knowledge and understanding of the will of God comes through his word. First 10 says this that you may walk worthy of the Lord fully pleasing him being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God between a walk worthy of the Lord. Do we pray this for one another?

That we would, he says, fully please, him be fruitful in every good work. The idea is that we would please the Lord and if we're going to do work that pleases the Lord, our hearts must please him first. How do we increase in the knowledge of God, by being in his word? We need to pray this for a Brothers and Sisters in Christ verse 11 says strengthened with all my according to his glorious power from patience and long-suffering with joy, we pray for one another that we might be strengthened in our faith. There. We might be growing in our faith. This strength that comes from the power of God, that we would have patients there. We would have long-suffering that we would have joy. We need to pray this for one another. This long suffering is the idea of endurance. We need endurance. We need to pray that for each other. Colossians 1, verse 12, who's getting, thanks to the father who has qualified US to be partakers of the inheritance of the Saints in the light.

Are we thankful people are we thankful for our salvation, for our sanctification, for our expected. Eternity with Christ? I love that. Paul says, here. He qualifies us. We don't qualify ourselves. He gives us an inheritance. He promises us that we will dwell in his light forever. We're going to have another time of prayer, but I wanted to make you aware of what we're praying about is how God would have us move forward. And one of the things that has come out of this that was mentioned and actually had been mentioned before where they need to have a weekly time of prayer as a church and so beginning of this Wednesday. I know, that's short notice, but we getting this Wednesday, we're going to do that and the formats going to be bringing food when I have dinner. We have Fellowship. We're going to pray together. Okay, we're not sure what all exactly this is going to look like, but we're going to start it on Wednesday. And if I understood that on the conversation that I had, with all of our men, this will replace the Thursday night. Bible study will do this on Wednesday night.

I did not get a time. But I was thinking 6, but does that sound good to everyone 6? It is, I signed nodding heads. I ignored all the ones that said. No, I'm just kidding. This is going to be changing. We want, we want to come to use this time of prayer as a launch into something more. And so we want to do this every night. Every week will come at 6 on a Wednesday 9. Bring some food will Fellowship together. Will pray together. We'll study the word together and we talked about Darryl and myself and Bill Fox kind of rotating on who kind of does the, the lesson that will be doing. So we're going to be doing all of that. You can join the same group. You can join a different group. However, you want to do that. But we want to pray again. Remember the prayer targets that we have. You can pray for my friend later and then after a while, Sing our closing song and then we'll go and we'll have a lunch time. I can't tell you how much it blesses, my heart to hear all this prayer going on. I might think of it as a sweet Aroma to our God. And so thank you for your willingness to do this. I know it's more comfortable for something less comfortable for others, but one more time join me, and we will split into groups again and will spend some more time in prayer.

All right. Thank you all so much for participating in that and it was mentioned to me and I love this idea. But we have folks who watch Us online live stream. And so I'm going to pray for them and then he needs that they might have and we will then we'll sing our last song, Father. I just thank you Lord for technology and ability that we have to live stream our service until Lord. Whether there are people who may watch this later or some of her watching it right now. I just ask your blessing on them for that. Any physical needs that they have would be mad. I asked word that you would grow them and increase their faith in their trust in you and draw them ever closer to yourself, Lord. I do. Thank you for this time that we've been able to have together. Thank you, Lord. For the fruit that your holy spirit is producing in our lives. I pray that we would be people who are always thankful for what you have done and what you continue to do. I pray. Lord that you would unify this body and draws ever closer to Jesus Christ. Thank you, Father, for this time that we have spent together. I ask for your blessing on the food and the fellowship that we are about to have bless us. We pray in Jesus name. Amen.