Epaphras Prays Podcast

Praying for officials who would not be ruled by the fear of man, but instead govern by trusting the Lord and His power and might.

There is so much pressure and opportunity to give in to fear and so we pray they would trust in the Name of the Lord our God.

We continue to ask our Heavenly Father for good and Godly government here on earth, using two verses in Proverbs and 2 Timothy.

From the Preface to With Christ In the School of Prayer by Andrew Murray

Further Murray Insights

The church must be in prayer:

A congregation without a prayer meeting is essentially defective in its organization, and so must be limited in its efficiency.

Be quiet and expect

Each time you intercede, be quiet first and worship God in His glory. Think of what He can do, of how He delights to hear Christ, of your place in Christ, and expect great things.

Pray in secret

O, let the place of secret prayer become to me the most beloved spot on earth.

Prayerless is Powerless

The measure of our prayer is the measure of our power.

Until next time, grace and peace…

In 1 Timothy 2:1-4 we see a charge given to Christians to pray for all men in general, and particularly for all in authority — that we should make supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks.

We are called to pray, instructed to pray, taught what and how to pray.

Today as we pray for our nations government (all in civil authority) we will read through portions of Matthew Henry’s commentary for further insight on and pray from the passage.

Pray For The People Of God From The Word Of God

Here are four passages we are praying from this week:

* Thu - Matthew 26:40-41

* Fri - John 17:11

* Sat - John 17:15

* Sun - John 17:17

Will you join me in praying these verses, and ask one person to join you?

Until Monday, grace and peace

Photo by Jared Erondu on Unsplash

Why does a nation turn from the Lord? He who sits in the heavens laughs, and warns. We can defy and perish - or surrender and be blessed.

In our nation currently, we seem to be in Psalm 2, conspiring together and raging against the Lord and rushing headlong to authoritarianism.

Come, let us pray for the rulers and authorities across the land - that they would heed the warning, and willingly submit to the Lord’s Anointed, while they still are able.

Prayer Insights … from Alistair Begg

Last week we learned about praying bigger prayers, better prayers as Alistair used the letter from the apostle Paul to the Ephesian church to highlight four qualities which Paul prays for the them: Focus, Hope, Riches, Power.

This week we’ll add his fifth quality: Love

Eph 3:17-19 … that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Paul prayed the church would grow in their comprehension of the immeasurable love God has for us. “Paul wants them, and us, to experience the joy of knowing the unknowable — of knowing how loved we are.”

He wants us to know this corporately as a church; he wants us to think properly and know this love in our minds and not just as a feeling. And he wants to know this love is comprehensive, it is so vast it goes beyond what can be measured.

So, as we learn to pray bigger, let us pray for this love!

Pray For The People Of God From The Word Of God

Here are four passages we are praying from this week:

* Thu - Pray for Love - to be rooted and grounded in love

* Fri - Pray to comprehend with all the saints

* Sat - Pray to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge

* Sun - Pray to be filled with all the fullness of God

Will you join me in praying these verses, and ask one person to join you?

Until Monday, grace and peace

Photo by Zach Reiner on Unsplash

They know lots of things, but we ask for wisdom from Above for our government officials to make good Godly decisions.

We pray for them today, from James 1:5 and from Proverbs 3, for it is the Lord who gives wisdom.

A Devotional Prayer for Obtaining Godly Wisdom

[Pro 2:1-5 NKJV] 1 My son, if you receive my words, And treasure my commands within you, 2 So that you incline your ear to wisdom, apply your heart to understanding; 3 Yes, if you cry out for discernment, lift up your voice for understanding, 4 if you seek her as silver, And search for her as [for] hidden treasures; 5 Then you will understand the fear of the LORD, And find the knowledge of God.

Here are 5 key things we can do and pray for to discover the knowledge of God:

* receive, treasure - be intentional

* incline - study the word

* apply - have a teachable heart

* cry out, lift your voice - be consistent in asking

* seek, search - be diligent in searching

The promise of knowledge of the holy is conditional, that is - If we do these things, then comes the divine promise: we will understand and find.

Father, help us focus on searching the word for Godly wisdom and knowledge. May we meditate on your Word, and be teachable, asking regularly for wisdom we lack, and to make it a daily priority. Grant us to find insight, understanding, and discernment.

Until next time, grace and peace…

God is our refuge, and very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear. Psalm 46 is reminding us of the ancient truth that the Lord of hosts is with us. In this PrayerPodcast we pray for our nation and our government, that He may be exalted among the nations!

I sought the LORD, and He heard me,And delivered me from all my fears. Ps 34:4

Prayer Insights … from Alistair Begg

What is chief among our prayers? Probably the things most often on our list of prayers are the things that most matter to us - our situations, our family, our work, and our health, etc. Likely the material and practical things in our day-to-day.

But when we read the prayers in the epistles of the apostle Paul, what is noticeably absent are his prayers for his own material things. It may well be that he didn’t include his own personal prayers in his letters to the churches, but we note that he also didn’t include any instructions that the church should be praying for them either.

All that matters may be brought before God, but what we bring before God is not always what matters most.

Perhaps, what we are to be seeking most is His kingdom and His righteousness. When we look with the eyes of our hearts to the future, writes Alistair, it changes our lives now. We pray less about the practical details of this life, and first and foremost about the spiritual realities of our eternal life. Eternal matters more; the concerns of today less.

I want to pray bigger, and better. And I want you to enjoy praying like that too. (Begg)

So let’s learn to pray like an apostle, and pray big prayers — from the Word of God, which are the prayers of what matters most. That is, what we really need is to know the truth of the gospel, and who we really need to know is Jesus. Alistair writes that more than anything else, what you and I really need is to be made experientially aware of the truth and reality of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Whatever situation we are facing, we need God’s help with that and so what we most need to know is the gospel. The gospel truth makes a difference in prayer and in practicalities. First though, we need to pray spiritually and then, as we move on to our practical concerns in our prayers, we need to let the way we pray about them flow from the spiritual truths we’ve prayed about.

Using the letter to the Ephesians as a guide, Alistair picks out five great qualities which Paul prays for the church there. We will highlight the first four this week and explore the final one next week.

Pray For The People Of God From The Word Of God

Here are four passages we are praying from this week:

* Thu - Pray for Focus: Eph 1:17-18, that we learn to see and know God

* Fri - Pray for Hope: Eph 1:18, that we are certain of eternity not yet realized

* Sat - Pray for Riches: Eph 1:18, that we see our inheritance is God’s glory

* Sun - Pray for Power: Eph 1:19, that his great power is working in us to believe

Will you join me in praying these verses, and ask one person to join you?

Until Monday, grace and peace

Part of what we pray is Thanksgiving: Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. We are to give thanks for those in our nations government – and for the benefit we have under their government.

…but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God…

Jesus Promises The Holy Spirit

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, [Counselor] to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. John 14:16-17

If Jesus tells us to ask for the Spirit, and He himself asks for us — then we should keep this command and ask Him to keep this promise.

Pray For The People Of God From The Word Of God

Here are four passages we are praying from this week:

* Thursday - Luke 11:13

* Friday - Galatians 5:22

* Saturday - Galatians 5:25

* Sunday - Romans 8:14

Will you join me in praying these verses, and ask one person to join you?

Until Monday, grace and peace

Photo by Lina Trochez on Unsplash

When we pray, we can pray for the good of those in government – for their health, safety and for wisdom. We pray most especially salvation for those who do not know the Lord, and we pray even for those who would be opposed to the people of God.

We are instructed in 1 Timothy 2:1-2 to pray for all who are in authority in today’s PrayerPodcast.

1:05 We are thankful for our nation. We are thankful for our nation's government for whom we pray for today. We make prayers this day that we may, as people in this land, obtain good, and our government leaders would obtain good.

2:06 We pray that they may seek for and find the wisdom of God for decision-making for all of our civil affairs. May our government leaders rule justly.

3:17 we ask you to have mercy on our land and on our nation's government leaders, our public servants, our civil servant leaders.

4:03 We lift them before you and we pray for their good and for their success in office, not for merely their own good, but for the good of our land and for good of we the people, for good of God's people from sea to shining sea.

Psalm 85

1 You showed favor to Your land, O LORD;

You restored Jacob from captivity.

2 You forgave the iniquity of Your people;

You covered all their sin.

3 You withheld all Your fury;

You turned from Your burning anger.

4 Restore us, O God of our salvation,

and put away Your displeasure toward us.

5 Will You be angry with us forever?

Will You draw out Your anger to all generations?

6 Will You not revive us again,

that Your people may rejoice in You?

7 Show us Your loving devotion, O LORD,

and grant us Your salvation.

8 I will listen to what God the LORD will say;

for He will surely speak peace to His people and His saints;

He will not let them return to folly.

9 Surely His salvation is near to those who fear Him,

that His glory may dwell in our land.

10 Loving devotion and faithfulness have joined together;

righteousness and peace have kissed.

11 Faithfulness sprouts from the earth,

and righteousness looks down from heaven.

12 The LORD will indeed provide what is good,

and our land will yield its increase.

13 Righteousness will go before Him

to prepare the way for His steps.

Pray For The People Of God From The Word Of God

Here are four passages we are praying from this week:

* Thursday - Psalm 2

* Friday - Psalm 67

* Saturday - Psalm 80

* Sunday - Psalm 85

Will you join me in praying these verses, and ask one person to join you?

Until Monday, grace and peace

Photo by Marek Piwnicki on Unsplash

Who may ascend the hill of the Lord?

Psalm 24 says he who has clean hands and a pure heart. Who do we want as leaders in government and in positions of authority? The same, not those who are false and deceitful.

As we pray for our nations government, let’s ask for the clean and pure.

Prayer Insights … from C.H. Spurgeon

Let us lift up our heart with our hands to God in heaven. — Lamentations 3:41

The act of prayer teaches us our unworthiness, which is a very salutary lesson for such proud beings as we are. If God gave us favors without constraining us to pray for them we should never know how poor we are, but a true prayer is an inventory of wants, a catalog of necessities, a revelation of hidden poverty.

While it is an application to divine wealth, it is a confession of human emptiness. The most healthy state of a Christian is to be always empty in self and constantly depending upon the Lord for supplies; to be always poor in self and rich in Jesus; weak as water personally, but mighty through God to do great exploits; and hence the use of prayer, because, while it adores God, it lays the creature where it should be, in the very dust.

Prayer is in itself, apart from the answer which it brings, a great benefit to the Christian. As the runner gains strength for the race by daily exercise, so for the great race of life we acquire energy by the hallowed labor of prayer. Prayer plumes the wings of God's young eaglets, that they may learn to mount above the clouds. Prayer girds the loins of God's warriors, and sends them forth to combat with their sinews braced and their muscles firm. An earnest pleader comes out of his closet, even as the sun arises from the chambers of the east, rejoicing like a strong man to run his race. Prayer is that uplifted hand of Moses which routs the Amalekites more than the sword of Joshua; it is the arrow shot from the chamber of the prophet foreboding defeat to the Syrians. Prayer supplies human weakness with divine strength, turns human folly into heavenly wisdom, and gives to troubled souls the peace of God.

We know not what prayer cannot do! We thank you, great God, for the mercy-seat, a wonderful proof of your marvelous loving-kindness. Help us to use it rightly throughout this day!

Pray For The People Of God From The Word Of God

Here are four passages we are praying from this week:

* Thursday - 1 Peter 5:10-11

* Friday - 2 Peter 1:2-3

* Saturday - 2 Peter 3:18

* Sunday - 2 Timothy 4:17-18

Will you join me in praying these verses, and ask one person to join you?

Until Monday, grace and peace

Photo by Chen ming liang on Unsplash

Jesus said those recognized as having authority lord it over us, rather than showing humility and meekness. We are reminded to be ready for every good deed, peaceable and to malign no one.

Our PrayerCast today for those in government authority is from Titus 3:1-2

Pray For The People Of God From The Word Of God

Here are passages we are praying from this week:

* Thursday - James 4:6, 10

* Friday - 1 Peter 5:6, 7

* Saturday - Matthew 5:5

* Sunday - Colossians 3:12

Will you join me in praying this verse, and ask one person to join you?

Until Monday, grace and peace

Photo by Michael Aleo on Unsplash

For any leader and on any journey there are decisions and dangers. We are asking for wise leaders who will seek guidance, and we are asking for their protection.

In our PrayerPodcast, let’s lift up those in authority today praying from James 1:5, Proverbs 3:21, 1 Corinthians 16:13

Pray For The People Of God From The Word Of God

Here are passages we are praying from this week:

* Thursday - 1 Cor 16:9

* Friday - 2 Cor 2:12

* Saturday - Col 4:2-4

* Sunday - 2 Thes 3:1-2

Will you join me in praying this verse, and ask one person to join you?

Until Monday, grace and peace

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash