Prayer Points (WE-110219)

I am so glad that there is nothing too mundane for God to consider in prayer and we limit God if we only think He’s interested in acting on certain things.  The deal is to is to reach His heart and pray for that which is on His heart and with that in mind, here is my effort in this week’s points for prayer.

• Job Seekers

 

I work with those who have been out of work for over six months. This time has made me all the more aware that when it comes to the world of work and particularly the British welfare state in operation just because you are claiming benefits for being out of work, that doesn’t mean you are necessarily eagerly engaged in looking for work. Without being antagonistic, I merely focus my energies on those who are serious about looking for work.

This week I came across a friend who I came to know from my job. He’s a great guy – full of human decency. In his 50’s just when he thought he’d found a job that he could get comfortable in, a spate of redundancies saw him lose his job barely nine months into it just before December.

Since then he’s endured rejection after rejection despite being willing, experienced and full of the qualities that make him great for work. This has had a devastating effect on his self-esteem, confidence and life-outlook. It made me weep seeing him in the condition and from my own experience I know being out of work for so long can have that affect on you.

In the week that has seen a rise in the unemployed in this country, I believe that the jobs are still there waiting to be filled, it’s just harder to identify them. For my friend and others who understand how we are created to work and how being out of a job affects our whole concept of being a person, please join me in remembering them in your prayers. I hope to be able to share good news soon of how these prayers take on feet and get results especially for people like my dear suffering friend.

• Big Society and God’s Kingdom

I defy anyone to read the gospel according to Matthew and not get stirred up about the Kingdom agenda. To do that is a tribute to the stiff-necked, hard-hearted and ignorant attitude that prevails in the lives of those walking this earth. The King and Kingdom seem to scream from every chapter, every incident, every episode and every discourse.

On the other hand The Big Society being promoted by David Cameron this week could be seen as another good idea to join Blair’s commitment to Education, Education, Education and John Major’s call to get Back To Basics. For anyone keen on the Kingdom it is imperative that we look to make the most of the opportunities that arise from this.

Policies and legislation don’t solve problems as deep and significant as those highlighted by the Big Society talk especially in healing the broken society. For Cameron’s pledge to take this seriously, there is also likely to be those who slip through the net and not get the support and essentially the job they need to progress.

As devout followers of Christ and earnest callers for the Kingdom come, this is not a license to have a go at Big Society. It is to consider those who are making those judgements and hope that our withnesss and ongoing work in helping the homeless will be used against him, but is something for which we are all responsible. Please remember the Kingdom’s considered outlived response to the Cameron demands in your prayers.

• Dan Edelen

One of the bloggers I enjoy reading regularly is Dan Edelen who blogs over at Cerulean Sanctum. His perspective on the state of Christianity, is so rich and provoking that I find myself dwelling on the things he says for days and weeks. He blogs because he evidently has a deep desire to see Christians being exactly what Jesus called them to be in the light of so many fake versions of the faith.

He has recently posted some heavyweight articles that don’t just provoke thought but stir the being into pursuing Christ more in action. That has got to be a hallmark of a good communicator used by God if your words can get people taking on what they’re meant to be doing in Christ.

There is one that he wrote late last month about being in our own world, that lead me to repentance. He challenges what our perspective on church should be, before giving a blistering call to arms not to be faffing about waiting for someone else to feed them but get on and do it ourselves. The latest one that’s stirred things up is about making a difference which echoes some of the stuff I’ve been bleating on about and pursuing in life practice lately. He puts things across so well that I’m enjoying learning from him.

As with all of us saints, Dan is a human being and has issues. I don’t know the brother that well, but there’s enough in his brilliant articles to suggest that he’s a man that is spiritually discontent unless he and his brothers and sisters in Christ put away childish things to mature in Christ. I recommend his blog highly and ask that you remember him in your prayers for his sterling work to the body of Christ.

God hears and answers the prayers of His people and is only too willing to engage in conversation to see how He can be best glorified in what He engages in. So as another prayer points ends for this week, remember them to the best of your ability and remember, sometimes you are the answer to the prayers you seek!

Have a great weekend.

For His Name’s Sake

Shalom

dmcd