Today we pray for Attendees: Lynnette, Linnette, Lisa
Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:13)
Dear Father,
Singleness comes in many forms. Our church culture often does not support singleness and sometimes seems to exalt marriage. Many of our retreat attendees and some of our volunteers are singles. Some are widows who have lost their life companion and others have never married. While at the retreat, we pray they will find special friendships and community. And when they return to their place of service, please provide special friendships for them where they faithfully serve You.
Our single friends have taught us much about loving You and following You where You lead them. You know the joys and burdens of their singleness and the questions they wrestle with and the answers they’ve found that have been helpful. Please build their trust in You and help their identity as Your beloved daughters to be firm unshakeable. If any of them are unsure of their worth as a single, please assure them of Your delight in them and that they really are enough just as they are.
When it is time for our single attendees to return to their place of service, please help their teams and the people they serve to warmly welcome them to their homes and into their circle of friendships.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
©2017 Thrive
Attendee Country of Service Prayer Focus Nation: India
Challenges for Prayer:
Training Christian workers is an important need that is immediately urgent and essential in the long term. The life and health of the Church depend on the proper development of pastors, teachers, evangelists and missionaries. In churches, poor discipling and lack of teaching and modelling of biblical life and leadership are problems. India’s strong philosophical tradition and religious, cultural and ethnic diversity make adequate training crucial, but most workers are sent out with very little specific preparation for their ministry context. There are over 100,000 full-time workers in India; about half are pastoring local churches. There is, on average, one trained pastor for every six congregations. Pray for:
a) Degree-level seminaries, which now number over 100; praise God for the multiplication of these! There are three accrediting agencies – Senate of Serampore College, Asia Theological Association and Indian Institute of Missiology. Many of these seminaries are theologically evangelical. The number of seminary graduates opting for missionary service, however, is decreasing. Pray for an increasing stream of well-trained, spiritually passionate workers with a burden for effective ministry in their nation.
Excerpts taken from Operation World