Coronavirus – Prayer Requests From the Church in Wuhan, China

A real photo of a family at Guangzhou Airport, showing the fear prevalent in much of China today.

 

A Prayer Request from a Wuhan Pastor:

* Peace be upon you. At this time the virus has been at the center of our thoughts and lives. We are always watching the latest news, and thinking about how our family and the church should face this.

* As for my family, I have gathered masks and food and have ventured outside as little as possible. When venturing out in public I have worn a mask, but as for the rest, I place my life in the Lord’s hands.

* As for the church, we are all part of a great struggle. We are facing a severe test of our faith, and we feel that Christians in our city are not only called to suffer with the people, but we have been called to pray for those who are fearful, and to introduce them to the peace of Christ.

* Please pray for the peace of Christ to rule and reign in our hearts, so that we may be a witness to those who are without hope.

* Pray that through this hardship, God’s children will grow nearer to the Almighty, and that the Lord will use it to purify our souls and give us many opportunities to proclaim the gospel.

* Brothers and sisters, I encourage you to be strong in Christ’s love. Even a sparrow cannot fall to the ground apart from the will of the Father. With so many millions facing this pestilence, can it be outside God’s will? In all that we are experiencing, is it any worse than what Abraham faced in Sodom, and Jonah faced in Nineveh? If God withheld judgment on Sodom because of one righteous man, or because of 120,000 who didn’t know their left hand from their right, withheld destruction from Nineveh, what of the city of Wuhan where we live?  We are part of many thousands of righteous believers who live in this city, made righteous by the Blood of Jesus Christ.

* Please pray for God’s mercy upon Wuhan, and ask Him to bring peace upon our city, province and all of China at this time.

* Please intercede, asking our wonderful Savior to bring peace and healing to those who are afflicted with the illness, to provide supernatural strength and protection for the medical personnel struggling on the front lines, and to bless every official at every level, who are working to help the people of Wuhan!

* Please do not be concerned with my welfare, nor be agitated or fearful, but pray in the Name of Jesus. Many people are courageously serving our city, especially the medical personnel who are risking their lives. If they can take on such worldly responsibilities, how can the Body of Christ not more readily take on spiritual responsibilities!

* Please ask the Lord to use this pestilence for His glory, so that when it is over, there will be many more souls born-again into the kingdom of God than have perished.

Some more helpful links about the Coronavirus and the Church in Hubei Province:

* See our stats and a map showing the Christian population of Hubei Province.

* This site tracks the latest figures showing the spread of the virus in China and around the world. It is updated many times each day. As you can see from the graph at the bottom right of the page, the virus appears far from having reached its peak, and the number of deaths is rapidly increasing daily.

* Read how churches in Hubei Province are meeting together online during this plague, and one pastor encourages us to realize this is a fierce spiritual battle in China, and not just a physical one.

God bless the people of Wuhan and China!

Source link : https://asiaharvest.org/coronavirus-prayer-requests-from-the-church-in-wuhan-china/

 

Related articles:

‘Not Just an Italian Problem’: Coronavirus Threatens Europe’s Economy (nytimes.com)

Coronavirus in China: the outbreak, measures, and impact (pharmaceutical-technology.com)

The Banquet is ready, the Bride is NOT!

This parable is as true today as it was when Jesus walked the earth. (Luke 14: 16-24)

Jesus replied: “A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.‘ “But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, ‘I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.‘ “Another said, ‘I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.’  “Still another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’ “The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.‘  ” ‘Sir,’ the servant said, ‘what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.‘ “Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full. I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.’ ”

Much of the Church is tied down to the cares and riches of this world, making them unready for the Lord’s return. Make no mistake, the Lord is coming back for a bride without Spot or Wrinkle, not for a bride caught up in sin, those people will not make it. [raptureprophecy.com]

Ask your children what they hear in the Lord’s house

“We spare neither labors nor means in order to teach our children secular sciences, so that they can serve well the earthly authorities. Only the knowledge of the holy Faith, the service of the Heavenly King are a matter of indifference to us. We allow them to attend spectacles but we care little whether they go to Church and stand within it reverently. We demand an account from them of what they learned in their secular institutes—why do we not demand an account from them of what they heard in the Lord’s house?” (St. John Chrysostom)

Christian prayer for 2019

 

O Lord God, forgive me of all my sins especially the one’s I kept holding on to. Forgive me for not doing the good that I was supposed to do in 2018. Give me your grace to set things right in this new year 2019.

I reject and repel all curses working and operating in my life, in the name of Jesus. And I ask that no curse that rises against me ever prospers.

Bring your healing to my body, mind and spirit. Protect me and all my Christian brothers and sisters all over the world from the snares of the Evil One. Cause your Church to always prevail against the powers of darkness, the ungodly and all heretics. Expose and banish all the Jezebel and Judas spirits from each place where your Holy Word is preached and cherished.

By your Holy Spirit, lead your Church into all truth. Please cause more and more preachers to always preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ without fear. I desire that the Gospel is preached to all nations, Judea, Israel and Samaria and also all tribes and races. Please give them a opportunity to pass from the darkness of sin to the light of Christ, where there is salvation and righteousness for those who believe.

O Lord God, you are the creator of the heavens and the Earth. So I ask in faith, that you direct the course of events that happen on earth including my nation and state. I know you hate sin and therefore I ask that you overthrow all corrupt leaders worldwide, and put in their place good leaders who will only do good. Cause the sinister plans of vain politicians to be exposed. May all fake news groups be named and shamed and the people be alerted against them.

In your loving mercy, I plead that you give me your grace and healing in all things. I reject all false counsel of the world, and ask for your wisdom in all areas of my life. Help to recognize false friends and bad friends and so keep away from their evil influence. Bless my vocation and career that I be kept away from deception and be given more opportunities to do my best. Give me good favor in sight of all who see me and work with me. Cause my good works to shine before others so that they give glory to You my Father in Heaven.

I plead that in this year, the plans of terror are exposed and the forces of justice prevail against them. Please protect people worldwide from all natural and economic disasters. I ask in faith, that all nations and the their law enforcement personal take actions to stop human slavery and illegal trafficking of people especially children. Give freedom to those illegally chained and let them go free.

O Jesus Christ, I ask for my colleagues, friends and family,that they are kept safe from all evil and traps wherever they go. Save them from evil spirits and their evil influence. Please cause your grace to shine on them, especially those who have not yet received the Gospel. Let them surely be given opportunities to repent of their sins and believe in the Gospel. Give them good health of mind, body and spirit, everyday. I ask that you remove all curses working in lives.

I ask all this especially for the year 2019, in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Prayer Points for 2018

 

Personal Prayer points

1. I pray that the devil be unable to outwit me. I therefore choose the Gospel over all things of this worlds.
2. Save me from all dangers be it against my body, mind, soul and spirit.
3. Keep me away from all deception. I pray that you draw me out of any darkness that tries to cover me.
4. I ask in faith that all distractions which work against the will of God in my life be banished right now, in the name of Jesus.
5. That I become strong in body, mind, soul and spirit.
6. That I be delivered from evil, both seen and unseen, in the name of Jesus.
7. That I be released from all debts and stay out of all debts.
8. That I be the head and not the tail. And also that I be above and not below.
9. That I am able to finish in this year; all the good works that the Lord God has planned out for me.
10. I ask for the grace of God, all through this year in the name of Jesus.

 

Prayer points for family and friends

1. I pray for the salvation of my friends and family this year. So that each of them be saved in the name of Jesus.
2. Also that they are free from all dangers wherever they are and wherever they go.
3. That they are able to handle their finances and do not remain in debt nor misery
4. That they are guarded by the angels of God as they go about in the world.
5. That they grow in wisdom and prudence in their life and interactions with others.
6. That their relationship with myself improves and we benefit each other mutually.
7. That sickness and pestilence be banished from their lives, in the name of Jesus.
8. That all people only look with favour on my friends and family.
9. That my friends and family be sanctified all through this year, in the name of Jesus.
10. I ask for the favour and protection of God, over all my friends and family, in the name of Jesus.

 

Local and worldwide Church Prayer points

1. I pray that the church prevails over the kingdom of darkness in all of the world.
2. I pray that all witchcraft and spells against the people of God, be eliminated and rendered useless, in the name of Jesus.
3. That the Gospel is preached to each and every place on the Earth.
4. That false teachers and false prophets are exposed so that the people of God stop giving heed to their heresies but instead follow the Gospel.
5. That all selfish and ungodly Christian unity movements meet with failure. And instead there be true Christian unity based on the love of God.
6. That all migrants who have evil motives be moved out from the nations where they intend to harm Christians and Jews.
7. That all molesters of the innocent in the church are exposed and investigated, in the name of Jesus.
8. That all the people of God work together to preach the Gospel everywhere they live.
9. That all who believe in Christ be sanctified even more this year.
10. I pray that the Church on earth in guided by the Holy Spirit for the Second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

 

National Prayer points

1. O Lord Jesus, I ask for peace and security in my nation from all enemies, both foreign and domestic.
2. I pray that my nation is freed from all corrupt leaders, at all levels of government and judiciary.
3. I pray that all sinful tendencies among the people are not supported by my nation and its leaders.
4. I pray that my nation is protected from all disasters be it natural or man made.
5. I ask for your blessing over the armed forces and protectors of my nation.
6. That all traitors fail in their attempts to sell out and harm my nation.
7. That my nation has wise leaders who are sane in their thoughts, words and actions.
8. That all the infrastructure and resources of my nation are kept secure.
9. That the Gospel if preached across all my nation in it fullness and without any fear nor compromises.
10. That my nation is always fair and friendly towards the nation of Israel as per the will of God.

 

International Prayer points

1. I pray that the Holy Spirit guides the course of events all across the world, for the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2. That all terrorists and those who spread rumors of wars are handed only failure in their efforts to harm the innocent.
3. That the laws of the world’s nations be in line with the Word of God.
4. That all businesses and industries manipulating their workers and the trust of their customers be exposed and closed in the name of Jesus.
5. I pray for peace in both the Korea’s and that Japan and China, USA and Russia, are also kept from provoking each other to wars
6. I pray for peace of Jerusalem which is the heart of Israel and for the whole land of Israel. I pray that every treaty that is in truth evil against Israel gets exposed and cancelled in the name of Jesus. Amen.
7. I pray that the all people especially the children and innocent of world are safe from landmines, radiation, chemical warfare and all type of terrorism, in the name of Jesus. Amen.
8. That all nuclear installations in various nations of the world are kept safe from sabotage and evil hands.
9. That all chemical and biological warfare programs are not misused in various nations.
10. I pray for the will of God to work in all nations whether they are believers or not. Amen.

 

True

Source: Pinterest.com

Head and not the tail

You shall be the head and not the tail,
You were not baptized to fail.
The blessings of the covenant old,
obtained by Christ for us we’re told.

Have true faith and let it show,
By God, be above and not below.
Do not fear when the Enemy assails,
The Church against Hell’s gates prevails.

Resist the Devil and let him flee,
Revel not in falsehood and vain glee.
Obey Jesus the Savior in full measure,
For he’s better than any earthly treasure.

God grant that you don’t have to borrow,
Let there be hope for every tomorrow.
Every blessing promised to Abraham pure,
By faith we receive in Christ Jesus to endure.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. (Galatians 3:14)

My thoughts when writing the above poem:

As per Deuteronomy 28 there are blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience. No one has a lived a pure and perfect and sinless life as Jesus Christ has done. Depending on following the Law, we also get subject to its curses if we break it. This is where faith in Jesus comes in. For it gives you not only the courage to be really above all temptation and evil of the world, it also let’s you inherit the blessings he obtained for you which were promised to Abraham by God. No wonder it said in the Scriptures “The righteous shall live by faith”.

Do not judge by appearances

Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment. (John 7:24)

Jesus in his great wisdom tells us not to judge by appearance but rather with right judgment. Here judgment is not necessarily about condemning anyone but rather having a right view of people and things.

You can apply this principle in many ways. This usually comes in handy in your interaction with others whom you either see or meet. You can apply this in relationships, church, buying things, leaders etc.

Relationships

A girl sees a robust looking man and decides to marry to him. She goes by his appearance alone. After two years of marriage, she now asks for divorce. Her reason for divorce is that her husband is a heavy drinker and beats her up every time he gets drunk. Suddenly his looks are no longer relevant to this bruised up girl.

A boy wants to marry a very attractive female whom he sees at a coffee shop. He keeps thinking if he should try his luck to meet her right away. So, immediately he approaches her for marriage but she says a no to him. Later in the newspaper he finds out that this woman is into drug trafficking and was arrested just days after she rejected him. He realizes how he just got saved from her.

Now just think for a moment if in both these cases the wisdom of John 7:24 was applied. Then both the boy and girl would try to observe behavior pattern, they wouldn’t make a hurried decision. They wouldn’t keep physical attractiveness as the only criteria for marriage. Most of all they would get the opinion of their family and wise friends before heading for marriage. This would save them a lot of embarrassment in the long term. (In fact some people may be ugly outwardly but inwardly are very beautiful in their character.)

Church

There’s a grim-looking unibrowed guest preacher at church. People are skeptical about his sermon that’s going to start. Yet he speaks only words of hope and encouragement in the name of Jesus Christ. The people who disliked his face suddenly wonder how could a stern looking person give them a wonderful sermon. Many now are convicted of their presumptuous thinking and pray for God’s mercy on them.

A new preacher comes to town and is visiting many churches. He comes dressed up in all white with a golden cross medal around his neck. Besides he looks angelic. Then at a church hall he gives a sermon and receives a standing ovation from the crowd in attendance. Even the resident preacher claps in approval. Little do the people realize that this preacher in white is a fraud. For that person goes city to city collecting money for a South American missionary outpost that doesn’t exist. Only after that preacher leaves the city when news arrives of his deception among the previous churches he visited. The resident preacher and his congregation feel stupid now.

If the people in such churches decided to not go by looks alone but instead research the facts they would not be conned. Also by not thinking bad of a person just because he doesn’t look handsome they would have avoided having a faulty opinion about the sermon before it was even preached.

Buying products

Often ads show that person buys a fancy looking pen and eventually shows him as a successful businessman after he bought the pen. And people who see such ads get induced to buy such a pen thinking of success that apparently comes with that pen. Months and years later these people are still earning the same thing and some are even out of jobs! Such type of people must realize that a dazzling pen is no guarantee of success.

There are some graphics on food products that show a happy looking person having a bite into the product. While there are similar looking foods in the market that just have the name of the product labelled in the packaging. People again blindly opt to buy the food product that has a happy face without checking on the actual nutritional value of the stuff they are buying. It’s odd to just assume that a happy face always means good food. In truth, the model you see on the graphics is smiling because he/she is paid money to do so for the camera. (Hope that sinks in)

Never buy a product even if they directly or indirectly imply health, wealth and happiness or even better relationships. You never know if they are just lying to get you to buy their stuff. Rather keep an open mind, think objectively and do your research. It’s that simple.

Leaders

In a democracy people often make the mistake of electing their leaders based on their looks. Just throw a pleasant and sober image of a family loving man and you get the majority thinking that he is the right person for the job. Add a well cut suit and his chances of being the supreme leader become even more. Then as years have gone by the same people who elected him into power now are lamenting over how he ruined the economy, increased the debt and got more good laws overturned. How badly do they wish they did their research on his ability to run the nation, before he got elected.

While a dictatorship too has a similar thing it not always the majority that elects the monster into power. Some of the dictator’s stooges are so convinced by the proud and confident looks of their leader that they go to any lengths to make sure they manipulate the rest of the country. So they murder, steal and deceive if they feel that a need arises to get their precious little hero appointed as the main ruler of the entire nation. Grand foolishness indeed.

If and only if the people of the world would use right judgement and check all the facts about their leaders there could be lesser corruption in the ways countries are run. Perhaps that would lead to better governance and what not. However, the unsaved still get beguiled by demons that look like angels of light and choose fools, cowards or sometimes just downright selfish rulers for themselves. No wonder believers in Christ are to not keep quiet but rather pray about these things, so that the leaders of the earth rule their country in truth and justice.

Finally, in general

As you have read on relationships, church, buying things, leaders you will understand that these are just four of the many areas in life where you can apply the principle of judging not by appearances but rather with right judgement. You can apply this in survival, combat, personal decisions, work and business decisions, financial decisions etc. To give you an example, just because there is a beauty in the surroundings in the calm before the storm, it does not mean that the storm will be beautiful. In fact you’d rather use that time of calm to start finding safe shelter from the storm. Use your mind, use knowledge and don’t be dependent only on your emotions that come by observing the beauty and ugliness in what you see around you. Discern well and live well.

Christ be with you!

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