Prayer Guide

Monday

 Acts 2 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. 5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. 7 Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? 9 Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” 12 Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”

How cool would it be to have been there! To experience the wind of revival blowing so powerfully into the congregation in Jerusalem – so powerful that all those present were astonished and confused in the moment, questioning what it all meant. It sometimes seems, in reading this passage that it was a spur of the moment thing that just kind of happened but that’s not really the way it was.

Let’s drop back to chapter 1, the disciples asked Jesus if this was the time the kingdom of Israel would be restored. His answer was this, “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the

Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Hoschton, and in all Georgia and the United States (Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria), and to the ends of the earth.”As we continue to circle the promises of God, we can imagine being one of the disciples. Jesus had promised something they had not experienced would happen. They weren’t sure how it would all play out. They gathered together in anticipation but really didn’t know what they were anticipating.

Do you feel that way right now? As you circle the promise of God for the person or circumstance you are in, do you sense the possibility of it even though you may not see the substance (the how) of it? Welcome to our faith!!! Let this passage lift you as the disciples saw their persistence pay off in a big way in Acts chapter 2! But there’s more to it than just the pay-off as we’ll look at tomorrow…oh, did you know you were Christ’s witness to Hoschton, Braselton, Jefferson, Flowery Branch, Jackson/Hall/Gwinnett counties; Georgia; U.S. and beyond? Yep, that’s right…it’s you (and me). No plan B…better get to circling if it’s up to us, right?

Praying like it depends on God and

Working like it depends on you.

Keep circling!

Tuesday

There’s that word that we often speak with authority in this place: DUNAMIS! POWER! The POWER of God delivered through the Holy Spirit…of course, the disciples didn’t know the Holy Spirit yet – Pentecost had not yet come. The Helper had not yet arrived. Did they sit back and wait on this gift to just show up?

NO! And neither should we be sitting on our heals…

12 Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk from the city. 13 When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. 14 They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.

Are we constantly in doubt? Or are we ‘constantly in prayer’?

2 Chronicles 7:14 If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sins and heal their lands.

Waiting for God without ever seeking, asking, knocking is foolishness. Are there times to be still? Absolutely, but that stillness needs to include prayer as well. We spend too much time waiting and not enough time praying.

How have your prayer habits improved over these last few weeks?Is prayer becoming a first thought instead of a last resort?

Prayer is a spiritual discipline that becomes stronger the more we develop it! The disciples were constantly in prayer prior to the day of Pentecost. I wonder if our congregation is constantly in prayer what might happen in us, through us, for us and around us? Worth considering…

Praying like it depends on God and

Working like it depends on you.

Keep circling!

Wednesday

My challenge to us all this Lenten Season is to take an hour and half on Wednesday nights to come together and circle the prayers of this congregation. We will meet in The Grove beginning on March 13th at 6:30pm. We will circle prayers and pray boldly for God to show up and show out!

Isaiah 56:7  (NASB) 7 Even those I will bring to My holy mountain and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable on My altar; For My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples.”

We will pray joyfully and give God all the glory for all He does! I do hope you’re already praying for the future of this church in our ministry location/building but the purpose of the building is the point. We seek ministry opportunities! We are serving:

At West Jackson Elementary School in Good News Club and supporting Isa Martinez.

In our recovering community through Celebrate Recovery In the special needs community through ‘The Mighty’ With our children through Grow to be You Dayschool, Children’s ministry and

Club 456 With our young people through 412 Youth We have partnerships with iServe and help with bags of love and food trucks Support Piedmont Rape Crisis Center through giving gifts cards for gas and food In the One Race Movement, Legacy Mentoring, and others

In discipleship through our small group ministry: Grow Groups Our worship focuses on glorifying our Lord – celebrating what He is doing in and

through us as we fill the gaps in our community with the love of Christ!!

Pastor Mike related that part of his prayer is that we are the tip of the spear as God moves in this place and through us, His people.

God continues to have a plan for us individually and as a congregation – continue to pray boldly for each of the ministries mentioned above – for God to work powerfully in our community through each one. Pray for our church to be a force for Jesus!!! And continue to pray for the person or circumstance you have been praying for!

Praying like it depends on God and

Working like it depends on you.

Keep Circling!

Thursday

2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

When the Holy Spirit moves in our life, change happens…the POWER of God rests within us, how could that not change us in incredible ways?

Ephesians 4:22-24 ESV To put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

You are created in the image and likeness of God! You are created to be more than you imagine you can be. You hear me say this often because life robs us of our identity and prevents us from living into this new life that God has given us in Jesus Christ.

This is where our freedom resides…in the reality that we have our eternity secured and can live freely in this world to fulfill the calling that God has given us.

Romans 12 4 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; 7 if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; 8 if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.

The hashtag #BeYou4Him is not a random thing – it’s a Scriptural thing and it’s what our purpose here is – Inspire people to fulfill God’s calling in their lives = BeYou4Him.

God created YOU to be who YOU are in the context of US so that HE could be glorified through His creation! Pretty awesome, isn’t it? You are a child of God…yep, that’s right, it’s YOU.

Praying like it depends on God and

Working like it depends on you.

Circle up!!

Friday

When we choose to stop trying to be what the world or other people or those crazy voices in our heads keep trying to force us into a mold not of God’s making, we will be free!

John 8:36 New International Version (NIV) 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

Two primary tenets in revival are found in the Scriptures for the last two days prayers: freedom and new life.

Some people like to say that freedom is about having no restrictions or parameters or boundaries around you – to be able to do whatever you want, whenever you want to do it. But what if true freedom is not found in doing whatever WE want but doing whatever GOD wants? Spend some time in this day thinking about what God wants…and how you can get closer to that place – the place where true freedom lives…because in that place you also find new life.

Praying like it depends on God and

Working like it depends on you.

Keep praying circles!!

Saturday

I don’t know about you, but I often let this world keep me shackled and I have a lot of old memories that try to keep me bound up. There are fears that creep in and can keep me stuck.

If that happens to you, look up the song “No Longer a Slave”. You can watch the video or just listen to the audio or just spend a moment with these lyrics:

You unravel me, with a melody; You surround me with a song. Of deliverance, from my enemies, Till all my fears are gone.I’m no longer a slave to fear, I am a child of God. I’m no longer a slave to fear. I am a child of God.

From my mothers womb, You have chosen me, Love has called my name.I’ve been born again, into a family, Your blood flows through my veins.I’m no longer a slave to fear, I am a child of God. I’m no longer a slave to fear. I am a child of God.

I am surrounded, By the arms of the father. I am surrounded, By songs of deliverance.We've been liberated, From our bondage. Were the sons and the daughters, Let us sing our freedom.

You split the sea, So I could walk right through it. My fears were drowned in perfect love.You rescued me, And I will stand and sing. I am the child of God

I’m no longer a slave to fear. I am a child of God. I’m no longer a slave to fear. I am a child of God

There is a freedom waiting for you today. It’s a freedom found in seeking and finding Your God. I have this vision in my mind of me struggling up a mountain, wondering where God is…I don’t sense Him and think maybe He has left me on my own. But as I round the corner, I see Jesus sitting on a large boulder with His legs hanging over the edge. He’s doing that leg kick thing that we do when our legs are dangling free. He smiles as I come up and I want to complain but I somehow know I should just shut up. The smile remains as He asks me “Are you ready to let me help you yet?”

It’s then that I realize that in my struggling up the hill on my own that I really was trying to force my will onto God’s plan.

As He hops off the rock, He leads me down a new path…and the burden is lifted. Something to consider.

Praying like it depends on God and

Working like it depends on you.

Remember that bold prayers honor God and God honors bold prayers. You are always one prayer away from a miracle.

Keep circling!!

Sunday

I want to leave (or begin) the week with this thought: GOD LOVES YOU BIG!Consider these Scriptures and look for the promises God has for YOU in them:Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations. - Deuteronomy 7:9

Give thanks to the God of heaven, for his steadfast love endures forever. - Psalm 136:26

The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing. - Zephaniah 3:17

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. - John 3:16

As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.  If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made

known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. These things I command you, so that you will love one another. - John 15:9-17"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud...it always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. - 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our heartsthrough the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. - Romans 5:2-5

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of Godin Christ Jesus our Lord. - Romans 8:37-39

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. - Galatians 2:20

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved. - Ephesians 2:4-5

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. - 1 John 3:1

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.  Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is

love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. - 1 John 4:7-11

Praying like it depends on God and

Working like it depends on you.Keep circling!!