A Leaf from our Church’s Prayer Guide—May 14

Psalm 1
 
Blessed is the man
    who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
    nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
² but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
    and on his law, he meditates day and night.
³ He is like a tree
    planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
    and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.
⁴ The wicked are not so,
    but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
⁵ Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
    nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
⁶ for the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
    but the way of the wicked will perish.
 
 
For our church:
 
Please pray that the members of The Road would grow in their delight for the law of the Lord and would joyfully submit to all the instructions found in his Word. Pray that they would be marked by ever-deepening sanctification that refuses to follow the world’s subtle and incessant calls to compromise.
 
Our teaching moment:
 
“Lord, teach us to pray,” the disciples asked. (Luke 11:1) One truism regarding discipleship is ‘More is caught than taught.’ And yet, regarding prayer, modeling was not enough for the disciples. Jesus modeled the very life given over to prayer. (Matthew 26:36; Mark 1:35; Luke 6:12; John 17) Yet they sought him out and requested specifically to be taught to pray. It is not enough for you to be surrounded by believers who pray. It is not enough to pass through the waters of baptism or to partake regularly of the Lord’s Supper. The life of prayer begins when we seek out and submit ourselves to our great advocate, intercessor, and teacher, Jesus Christ.
 
A prayer from the past:
 
“Most loving Father, we humbly ask that you would look down from heaven in great mercy upon your whole church and every member of it. Be favorable to Zion, and build up the walls of Jerusalem.
 
Look with an eye of pity on the great ruins and desolation of your church. Heal up the wounds in all the nations. Regard it as your own flock, be gentle as to your own family, care for it as your own vineyard, love it as your own spouse.
 
Bless it with your grace, guide it with your Spirit, and defend it always with your mighty power.
 
Scatter, confound, and overthrow any forces that fight against the church, and have mercy on the church in this land. Bless us with true faith.
 
Deal with us, and with those who come after us, in your grace and favor, for the sake of your great name, and for the sake of our only Mediator Jesus Christ, to whom be all praise and glory, with you and the Holy Spirit, now and forevermore. Amen.” 
[Arthur Dent (1553-1607), cited in Elmer, Piercing Heaven, 296.]