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Prayer for the City & Church: Mar 21-27

March 21st, 2011 by Stephanie

In light of this Sunday’s sermon on suffering and those in our congregation who have been suffering personally, this week’s prayer focus is on asking the God of all Comfort and Mercy to respond to our prayers for those who are suffering.

Prayer for our City:

• Pray for those who are hurting or suffering in our city – pray for a place they can turn to for comfort, counsel, protection and care.
• Pray for those who are suffering from abuse – physical, sexual, emotional, verbal, neglect – pray that they would not go unnoticed and would have someone safe in their life that they can turn to for care and for help to be removed from their current situation.
• Pray for our city to be awakened to the ‘groaning’ of creation and of our own lives that are longing for something greater than the passing pleasures of our world to fulfill us.  Pray that our city’s eyes would be opened to the Creator and would long for Him to fill them.

Prayer for our Church:

Pray for those who are hurting or in painful situations right now in our congregation.  Please pray especially for:

• Liz James’ father (Bill Donnery)
  • Pray for him as he is scheduled for brain surgery this Tuesday, March 22, for a severe brain aneurysm that he was diagnosed with a few weeks ago.
  • Pray for a safe surgery without any complications.  Pray for wisdom for the doctors and that the surgery would enable him to fully recover from the aneurysm.
  • Pray too for the Lord to reveal Himself to Bill and his wife, Janet (Liz’s parents) – that they would see their need for a Saviour and that He would be their Redeemer both physically and spiritually.

• Pray for Pete Hinton’s brother (Alan)
  • Diagnosed with cancer – Hodgkins lymphoma, stage 4 – last week and is still dealing with the reality of it. Please pray for wisdom for the doctors as they begin the chemo process with him.  Pray that it would be effective and would fully clear the cancer from his body before it begins spreading elsewhere.
  • Pray for his openness to the Gospel, as well as his wife’s – and for Pete and his parents to be a witness of Christ to them, as they care for and minister to them during this hard season.

• Pray for Mark Demmon’s sister (Tracy)
  • Tracy has a neurological condition called Neurofibromatosis, which has caused approx 1000 non-malignant tumors to grow throughout her body on the nervous system that, as they grow, push on her nerves and organs and cause constriction in the body cavity.  She recently had back surgery to remove a few of the tumors and is still recovering.  Please pray for her recovery process, especially as she is experiencing pain in her sciatica nerve.  Pray especially for the mental stability to endure the reality of this life-long disease and the limitations it presents her, as she is no longer able to work for the U.N. or use her PhD to teach, as she formerly did.
  • Pray for a massive tumor that is growing in her brain.  She has already had 2 major and 1 minor brain surgeries and now has a tumor growing in her brain that is more like a spider’s web and is growing between all the lobes of her brain, making it impossible to remove.  Pray that God would completely eradicate this tumor, as it is the only way to stop this tumor from permanent damage to Tracy’s life.
  • Praise God for her incredible testimony throughout this vicious trial and the impact she has had on many around her.  Pray that she would continue to find her joy in the Lord and would be blessed by the way her testimony and suffering is bringing those around her closer to the Lord.

Praise God for answered prayers!

• Praise the Lord for His protection and goodness poured over the MacDonald family and for healing and restoring Shaila to full health.  Praise God for the wisdom of the doctors and the outpouring of our congregation that showed care and comfort to the MacDonald family all week.  Pray for the continued healing of Sue’s wrist and for the family’s emotional and mental rest and healing from the trauma of the incident.
• Praise God that the Men’s Breakfast and Ladies’ Brunch were times of growth, encouragement and inspiration to the community of Grace.  Praise Him that we were challenged to go deeper into one another’s lives and to live as men and women after God’s own heart.  Praise Him for signs of spiritual growth happening among our congregation.
• Praise God for the Prayer & Praise night that brought our congregation together to pray for those who are suffering among us, for those who are serving our city and for the tragedies happening around the world.  Pray that God would continue to stir a spirit of prayer among our church and a belief that we cannot move forward unless we are grounded in prayer.

Romans 8

‘¹⁸For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. ¹⁹For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.  ²²For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. ²³And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.  ²⁶Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. ²⁷And He who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. ²⁸And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.’