Prayer For The Church - Gathered and Distant - To Know The Love And Care of God

 PRAYER FOR GOD'S CHURCH - GATHERED AND DISTANT

We’ve been praying through chapter 2 of the little book 1 John we find near the end of our Bibles.  Today we come to some descriptions and challenges to people who are connected to church.

We are aware that for months now we’ve not been able to “do church” as we had done for so long.  Locally at the church where I attend, we still can only have 50 people at a service and from a church of about 500, even though there are 2 areas on the building so 100 can meet on a Sunday, that still leaves so many at home on their own watching a service online.  It might be parents of little ones or those who have underlying health conditions that make it unsafe for them to be in contact with groups of folks – even with masks and social distancing.  Or it might just be laziness after many months of getting up and doing what we feel like doing and particularly on a Sunday when we’d prefer to relax than to make the necessary reservations earlier in the week and then get things organized to actually gather with other Christians in a bit of a strange way behind masks in socially distant ways.

I pray a lot these days for the church – I sense a drifting apart of the fellowship that God always intended the family of believers to have for one another.  And while it’s not just that we want a social event on a Sunday morning as part of our weekly routine, there is something fundamental that God has built into us and into the church that we would gather together to worship Him, hear His word taught, and fellowship with one another.

So let’s pray for the church today.  I’ll put the words of scripture on the screen and we’ll pray according to them.

Dear children, the last hour is here. You have heard that the Antichrist is coming, and already many such antichrists have appeared. From this we know that the last hour has come. These people left our churches, but they never really belonged with us; otherwise they would have stayed with us. When they left, it proved that they did not belong with us.   1 John 2:18-19

Heavenly Father, we thank You today for your good plan for the church, a gathering of caring and loving people who worship You and serve together to care for one another and share the Gospel across the earth.  We do pray that You will keep our hearts from drifting away from these essentials, no matter how inconvenient it is to gather together during this season of the pandemic.

We pray for those who had thin threads to the church and who have drifted because they didn’t get a chance to hear enough to make a firm commitment to You.  Call out to the drifters today, we pray.  Stir up a desire in them for more than what they are experiencing today.  Give them grace to return to You and to the church so they grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus.

But you are not like that, for the Holy One has given you his Spirit, and all of you know the truth. So I am writing to you not because you don’t know the truth but because you know the difference between truth and lies. And who is a liar? Anyone who says that Jesus is not the Christ. Anyone who denies the Father and the Son is an antichrist. Anyone who denies the Son doesn’t have the Father, either. But anyone who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.    1 John 2:20-23

We pray to be people of the truth and to hold fast to the truth that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life.  In this post modern world where everyone is satisfied with their own brand of “truth” we pray to be clean and clear witnesses to the fact that only those who come to the Father through Jesus are finding true spiritual life and a guaranteed future in heaven with You forever.  We pray to communicate this with grace and with courage even when it is an inconvenient truth to share.

So you must remain faithful to what you have been taught from the beginning. If you do, you will remain in fellowship with the Son and with the Father. And in this fellowship we enjoy the eternal life he promised us.      1 John 2:24-25

We need Your help, God, to remain faithful to the truth that has always been the truth.  We need the Holy Spirit to work in us today so we live in open fellowship with You.

I am writing these things to warn you about those who want to lead you astray. But you have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you, so you don’t need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know, and what he teaches is true—it is not a lie. So just as he has taught you, remain in fellowship with Christ.      1 John 2:26-27

Teach us Holy Spirit, all that we need to know today so we are not lead astray.  We’re so glad You live in us and in Your church.  When we can gather and be taught there, we will give ourselves to getting to a gathered place of worship and teaching, and where it is impossible we do trust that You will teach us all we need and will fill our hearts with a very special fellowship with You that is sweet and true.  Help us to find our way as people and as the church during this age, and particularly during this season of the pandemic.  Amen