Today we enter a string of a few days when we focus on some smaller islands and nations, sometimes covering multiple lands on one day. Although it's important to read through the prayer points for each country, please be sensitive to God's heart for YOUR prayer time. There's a big world out there, and He calls us to pray different things at different times of day to cover all the things He wants to accomplish both IN us and THROUGH us. If my prayer for the day doesn't resonate with your heart, please spend your time on what God impresses most strongly upon you!
Now, please read about two islands, Malta and Martinique, on pages 568-571 (see Acts 27-28). You may recognize Malta from Paul's stop there. While they initially gave him a warm reception, they quickly thought he was a murderer, and then decided he must be divine. Amazingly, this small piece of soil became the first nation in Europe to embrace Christianity. How like God to establish a continental beachhead on an island that, had the weather been fine and dandy, the boat Paul was on would have just sailed past! Truly He chooses the least to confound the wise ... a good reminder when we pray that some of the tiniest nations may be huge in His plan! Let's pray for two of them today.
My prayer for today: Lord Jesus, we come before You reminded again that the smallest scrap of dirt on this planet belongs to YOU. That includes Malta and Martinique. Lord, we lift up Malta to You, and ask for their Christian heritage to be appreciated and lived out. We pray for renewal within the Catholic Church so that the Maltese will embrace a personal walk with You and that their religious traditions would lead to a door into deeper commitment to Your kingdom. Pray for leaders of renewal groups to train believers to be biblical sound, passionately worshipful, genuinely loving, and carefully obedient to all You command. We pray for Malta to be a launching pad for strong missions to North Africa. For Martinique, we pray for protection from natural disasters and we pray against spiritual apathy. Let the people be shaken out of their carelessness before You. We pray against the legacy of slavery and ask You to bring reconciliation. We pray for the churches to be grounded in the Word and to lead the way in bringing Martinique to a place of wholeness through the One who is our peace.
No comments:
Post a Comment