“A Lifestyle of Prayer”

This week’s prayer focus:  God’s Indescribable Gift!

“And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you.  Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!”
2 Corinthians 9:14-15 (NIV)

With the Christmas holiday behind us, it is good to reflect on gifts given and received.  Perhaps you have gifts that will be returned because they weren’t right for you.  I pray that there are gifts you will cherish because you know they represent the heart of the giver.  As Christians, God has given us what Paul calls an “indescribable gift”.  In context, he seems to connect this gift with the “surpassing grace” of God.  I believe Jesus is at the heart of this great gift.  This week our prayer focus will be on the indescribable gift we have through our relationship with Jesus.  As you pray, remember that His presence ought to be evident in your life at all times — not just when it is seasonally appropriate.  Pray that God’s grace in your life would overflow in such a way that the people around you would recognize it.  Pray for a unity of spirit among believers in general and among your church family in particular.  

“And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.”
Ephesians 6:18 (NIV) 

Please spend time each day praying about who Jesus is according to scripture and about who He is in your life.  Thank you! 

Sunday: Pray for your church, its staff and leadership, and for all of the preaching and teaching that takes place.  Pray for me (Tom Lemler) and the work of Impact Prayer Ministry.

Monday:  JESUS.  Pray that you would recognize the indescribable gift of God in your life through the presence of Jesus.  Pray that God’s gift would cause you to seek Him for all that you need.  “Jesus answered her, ‘If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.’”  John 4:10 (NIV)

Tuesday:  Joy.  Pray that you would experience and share true joy because of the gift of Jesus in your life.  Pray that the people around you would see the joy of Christ in you.  “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them.”  John 17:13 (NIV)

Wednesday:  Energy.  Pray that you would be faithful in doing the good works God has created for you to do as you use the energy of Jesus within you.  Pray that you would trust the power of God to work within you to accomplish what you cannot. “To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.”  Colossians 1:29 (NIV)

Thursday:  Salvation.  Pray that you would always value the salvation you receive through Jesus Christ.  Pray that the people around you would know God’s desire for them to be saved.  “For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.”  1 Thessalonians 5:9 (NIV)

Friday:  Uniqueness.  Pray that Jesus would always be the one you look to for your salvation.  Pray that the people around you would come to know Jesus as the only way to be saved.  “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”  Acts 4:12 (NIV)

Saturday:  Surrender.  Pray that you would surrender everything to the Lordship of Jesus.  Pray that you would have a greater understanding of both the cost and reward of being a disciple of Jesus.  “In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.”  Luke 14:33 (NIV)