“A Lifestyle of Prayer”

 This week’s prayer focus: Fruit of the Spirit!

“Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NIV)

As we continue to grow in A Lifestyle of Prayer, it is important to remember prayer should be a lifestyle, not an event.  View prayer as your first priority, not as the last resort.  This week we finish our focus on the fruit of the Spirit with a day for each of the final three elements of the fruit of the Spirit and also  praying about the three hindrances to living by the Spirit that are listed at the end of the passage.   Remember, it is “The Fruit” of the Spirit — it is not a buffet where you pick and choose — you ought to have each of these elements present and growing in your life as a result of God’s Spirit living in you!    Continue to use the prayer guides/lists from the past weeks.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.  Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.  Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.  Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
Galatians 5:22-26 (NIV)

Please spend time praying each day for that element of the fruit of the Spirit to be growing in your life or the hindrance listed to be diminished in your life.  With that focus in mind, pray for yourself, your family, your friends, neighbors, and all the other “one anothers” we’ve been praying for over the past weeks.  Thank you!

Sunday: Pray for Tom Lemler and the work God is doing through Impact Prayer Ministry.

Monday: Faithfulness.  Pray that God would continue to reveal to you what true faithfulness looks like.  Pray that God’s Spirit would produce in you great faithfulness to God and to the people in your life.  As you pray for people today, pray that they would be drawn to God’s faithfulness so that they too would be found faithful.

Tuesday: Gentleness.  Pray that God would continue to sand the roughness out of your life and replace it with gentleness.  Pray that God’s Spirit would help you to be gentle with the broken and hurting people you meet today.  As you pray for people today, pray that they would experience the gentleness of God so that they too would know how to be gentle with others.

Wednesday: Self-control.  Pray that God would help you to identify areas of your life that are out of control.  Pray that God’s Spirit would empower you to bring each of those areas under control — self-control that comes from God being in control.  As you pray for people today, pray that they would see God’s Spirit at work through your self-control.

Thursday: Conceited.  Pray that God would help you to not think more highly of yourself than you ought.  Pray for a humility that allows God’s Spirit to produce fruit in your life that you may share it with others.

Friday: Provoking.  Pray that God would help you to not stir up dissension.  Pray that you would consider the welfare of others even as you “provoke them to love and good deeds”.

Saturday:  Envy.  Pray that God would help you to  genuinely rejoice with those who rejoice.  Pray that you would learn godly contentment so that envy would not hinder God’s Spirit working in your life.