Lord, I also pray for the president's entourage's safety in Europe Friday.
The Christian world this week is reminded of ecclesial issues. No matter what one's theological stripe, it is imperative that Christians strive for the unity of the faith, and keep traditions and secondary doctrine in perspective. No matter what church history we may have, I pray that each ecclesial body would be faithful to Your Word. Let them come up to that royal Standard, and let them not go beyond what is written. Let love abound, and beyond that let the best doctrine win.
Or rather, let the presence of the Spirit within us win over both us and those who disagree with us. We need a fresh infilling of the Holy Spirit to empower us for the work ahead. That work is great; there is much that remains to be done. We trust that You are at work in the hearts of the believers, of each one who is willing to be discipled, bringing us to perfection.
A world is waiting to be turned upside down again by a Christian witness. Though we are slandered at every turn, the truth will eventually out. Just as we have seen progress in this nation, so now we begin to see progress in the world. Formerly closed lands are opening up, and our hope and our charge is to carry freedom and the Gospel into these lands. In the eighties and nineties the challenge was the looming Communist empire. That battle has been won, the enemy converted. And now we see our leaders of yesterday leaving the world stage in rapid succession. A new day is upon us, with a new and equally great challenge . We pray for our leaders to be up to this task.
The persecution of the brethren around the world is vicious. We pray for those who suffer for their identification with Your Cross. And may we not shrink from ours.
Lord give us unity to fight the good fight as Your Church universal, so that we might fulfill the Great Commission to spread the Gospel to the ends of the earth!