“O You who hear prayer..(Ps 65:2)” May we be encouraged to draw near to the throne of grace this week to bring our concerns before God; He is One who hears and answers prayer.
I. CHURCH CONCERNS
1. Let us praise God for the word we heard last Sunday.
In our Sunday School we were reminded of the sin of being ungrateful in the midst of plenty–plenty that we do not deserve even one bit. May we instead be people marked with a thankful spirit for after all, what have we that we have not received from God? In our First Service, we were reminded that even in the worst of times and situations, good can be found. May the eight realities we saw in the message encourage us to know that God is really working all things together for our good, even we who are called according to His purpose. In our Second Service, we were shown that before we could have a sight of God’s glory in Christ, our spiritual blindness must be removed. Let us give thanks and be humbled that if we see His glory by faith today, it is only because He has removed the spiritual darkness that has long beclouded our hearts and has let His illuminating light shine within us.
2. Let us pray for our preachers this Sunday.
- Pas Mike will take the Sunday School;
- Pas Rolly will take the first service;
- Pas Alex will take the second service.
Pray for help in preparation and power in preaching. Pray for good internet speed and minimal distractions. Pray that even in this extraordinary time, there would be a delighting in the Lord and in His day. Pray also for wisdom as to how the elders can minister to those who are unable to follow the worship services because they do not have internet access.
3. Let us give thanks and pray for our continued relief efforts.
We have engaged in a fourth wave of relief to members and attenders whose sources of income have been greatly affected by the lockdown. Pray for wisdom and guidance with respect to continued planning and implementation of relief operations.
4. Let us give thanks for the resumption of our Children’s Sunday School and Youth Bible Study last Sunday.
Except for the unusual mode of streamed instruction at this time which takes some adjustment, I believe the children were still eager to listen to and learn the lessons taught by their teachers last Sunday. Please pray again for this week’s Sunday School (3pm) and Youth BS (2pm) teachers: Sisters Gerda, Rosanna and Melba for Levels 1, 2 and 3 respectively and brother Simon for the Youth Bible Study.
II. PERSONAL CONCERNS
1. Let us give thanks to God for life and breath and all things (Acts 17:25). May He continue to shower us with His with His love, care and compassion during these difficult times.
2. Let us continue praying for our frontliners. As of April 27, a total of 1,245 health-care workers have been infected with covid19–out of this, 21 doctors and 6 nurses have died. Let’s pray that God would protect our vulnerable frontliners from this deadly disease (please see our list). Some updates:
- Bang Crisostomo LPN (MD, USA, sister of Dr. Bing; recovering after testing positive for covid19; presently home quarantined). Also for Ogi and Dana (brother and niece of Bing) who are both working in COVID wards; Lexi (son of Bang), tested negative but recovering from respiratory symptoms.
- Julie (Cortez) and Alex (NY, USA, still in the hospital recovering). Also Jessie Cortez and Alexa (daughter of Julie)(both are manifesting symptoms of covid19; they still have to be tested.)
3. Let us not grow weary praying for the sick among us, especially our members and friends who have critical illnesses, to name a few: Annie, Acel, Johnny, Louie, Delia, Mel, Tina, Conrad, Joven, Jun, Randy, and others. Also, for Nanay Belen, member of our sister church in Makati (Pas Tony), she has recently tested positive for covid19 but after blood transfusion (probably plasma therapy) her situation seems to be improving.
4. Let us pray that our members would not be laid off from employment due to the negative economic effect of the extended lockdown. Let us also pray for those who are presently called to work as part of skeleton labor forces in essential businesses that they would be kept from sickness. Please also pray for those who are presently out of work (Gian, Jayson) that the Lord would provide gainful employment for them after quarantine. Thanks be to God as well for answering prayer with respect to Choy-the case filed against him by his previous employer was dismissed.
5. Let us give thanks to God for the birthdays of Pastor Alex, Deacon Jerry and sisters Paula, Annie, Liza R, Leila.
- For Pas Alex: Magamit pa sa kaharian ng Dios at salvation ng mga minamahal sa buhay, especially anak.
- For Deacon Jerry: God’s continued preservation of His saving grace in me; preservation of His people from COVID-19; and to be of greater service to Him.
- For Paula: Perseverance in the faith and protection.
- For Annie: Pasasalamat sa buhay at kalakasan sa araw-araw at lalo pang lumago sa pagtitiwala sa Panginoong Hesus sa daan ng pananampalataya.
- For Liza R: Birthdays remind me of God’s faithfulness and that growing older means growing nearer to Him that no matter what worries and concerns we have like this covid19, I can say that He is sufficient. As always, I pray for the salvation of my loved ones, perseverance, and to strive for spiritual maturity.
- For Leila: It is really a blessing to have Christ in our lives. My prayer is for good health and with God’s preservation, continue to look to Jesus all the days of my life.
6. Let us give thanks to the Lord for answering our prayers with respect to sister Deniece. She gave birth by normal delivery without any complications last April 24 to Keira Isobel. Mommy, daddy, and baby are now at home safe and sound. Please pray for the baby’s good health and for post-delivery healing for Deniece. Please also pray for KC Vitalez (wife of JR) as she is 5 months pregnant.
7. Pray for the comfort of sister Jenny Fernandez’s family, especially her grandfather as they mourn the passing away of her grandmother (Mrs. Carreon).
8. From Pas Boy (Davao): Thanksgiving for feeding received every Lord’s day from MCBC streaming; pray for application of messages; pray too that we may be kept from sickness; may the Lord be glorified even in this time of quarantine.
9. Let us continue to pray for wisdom for our president and his advisers as they decide on what will happen after May 15. Let us pray for our nation that we would be able to recover gradually from the debilitating effects on our economy by the pandemic. Let us pray that the virus would die down soon and there would be no second wave of infections in the future. Let us also pray for great restraint both from the authorities and from the people as the frustration at what is taking place has resulted in unwanted violent incidents.
10. Let us pray for conversions in our homes and even among our front line health workers. May they see in this covid19 pandemic that life is frail and uncertain and our only true hope for security in this life and for eternity is none other than Jesus Christ.
III. KINGDOM CONCERNS
- From Pas Jepson (Digos City)
- God’s protection from the pandemic in general;
- Lord’s day through live-streaming and brethren for their respective concerns and guidance;
- Salvation sa dalawang anak namin-Joshua and Dave, may God open their hearts.
- From Bro Jonard (Tagum City)
- God’s protection and provision to all TCBF brethren;
- Growing and increasing in the knowledge of Jesus Christ in the midst of ECQ and after it;
- God’s purposes of this pandemic disease will be accomplished so that His church will return to her ordained activities;
- God’s protection to LGU Tagum frontliners.
