As our three-year IMAGINE campaign draws to a close we rejoice that we have received more than 100% of the amount pledged. Now we only have 10% of the mortgage left to pay, just over $600,000. We as a congregation can now begin to IMAGINE ZERO debt. Our goal is to have the remaining mortgage completely paid by our 60th anniversary as a church in September 2018.
As we prayerfully consider what part God wants us to play in this endeavor, we want to think carefully about our participation in this campaign. The Imagine Zero (debt) campaign will culminate in September 2018. To help us as we commit this goal, a prayer guide has been written based on the most perfect prayer ever prayed:
THE LORD’S PRAYER
This prayer was given by Christ to us “to teach us the manner and method of how to pray and the matters for which to pray.” The first three petitions are requests on behalf of God’s glory for the triumph of His Kingdom and the last four are requests and intercession for our own needs and others.
Please check back each week between April 1 – May 20 for daily prayer ideas and periodic devotional videos from our equipping staff.
Download the Imagine Prayer talk guide Mar 2017
Week 7: For Thine is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.” (Matt 6:13)
Sunday 5/14: This is an expression of holy and joyful praise. Pray “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ” (Eph. 1:3). This is also an expression of confidence that our prayers will be heard.
Monday 5/15: Prayer and praise are continually joined together. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (Phil 4:6).
Tuesday 5/16: The more God’s perfections are before our hearts, the more spiritual our worship will be and our requests will be more fervent and reverent. Pray “May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you. Then the land will yield its harvest, and God, our God, will bless us” (Psa. 67:5-6).
Wednesday 5/17: God’s glory is the grand goal of all His works and ways. To Him belongs the exclusive glory of being the answerer of prayer. “For my own sake, for my own sake, I do this. How can I let myself be defamed? I will not yield my glory to another” (Isa. 48:11).
Thursday 5/18: This final sentence of the Lord’s prayer is an acknowledgement of God’s perfections and a powerful plea as to why our prayers should be heard. He is able to grant our requests because it is His kingdom and He is all-powerful.
Friday 5/19: God is willing and He is able to answer our prayers. We raise our petitions by drawing from His perfections, we are to join in petition and praise together, we are to pray with reverence, we are to fully surrender and subject ourselves to Him, and we are to make His glory our chief goal.
Saturday 5/20: “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or IMAGINE, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen” (Eph. 3:20-21, NIV 1984).
Week 6: “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors” (Matt. 6:12)
Sunday 5/7: This comes right after asking for our daily bread and is a reminder that our sins are so many that we do not deserve a mouthful of food but God forgives our sins. As often as we pray “Give us” we must also pray “Forgive us.”
Monday 5/8: Our debts are our failures to give God His lawful due. We owe Him perfect worship and obedience and we fail to do this so we need to request God’s mercy in forgiveness.
Tuesday 5/9: To be forgiven we must realize that God extends us mercy and if God extends us mercy we can extend mercy and forgiveness to others. To pray correctly to God for pardon we must pardon those who wrong us. (See Joseph in Gen. 50:14-21 & Stephen in Acts 7:60)
“And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil” (Matt. 6:13)
Wednesday 5/10: With our sins pardoned we pray for grace to abstain from sin and avoid repeating them. It is also a prayer to detect Satan’s devices. “…in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes” (2 Cor. 2:11).
Thursday 5/11: God gives us trials to reveal to us our weaknesses and He tests us to teach us the need of watchfulness and prayer. Pray for continued attention to weaknesses and ask for strength to meet the challenges.
Friday 5/12: God puts us to the test to show us the importance and value of the armor He has provided for us in Eph. 6:11-18. If we forget to put the armor on and go out in our own strength we won’t do well.
Saturday 5/13: We are to go to God for grace “For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose” (Phil. 2:13). Pray that he will work in us according to His purpose.
Week 5: Give us this day our daily bread (Matt. 6:11)
Sunday 4/30: When we are willing in prayer to promote God’s glory, advance His kingdom, and do His will then we are permitted to ask Him about our own needs. God gives us the physical needs in this life that we may do our spiritual work. Pray “…give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread” (Prov. 30:8b).
Monday 5/1: Even though many of us have more “bread” than we need we understand that it is only by God’s grace that we have it. We must acknowledge our complete dependency on Him.
Tuesday 5/2: As we ask for our own needs we should ask for the needs of others. “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers” (Gal: 6:10).
Wednesday 5/3: When we are humbly requesting “our daily bread” we are reminded of our frailty. We cannot remain healthy for 24 hours unless God allows it. “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth” (Prov. 27:1).
Thursday 5/4: In this petition we are taught not to be anxious about tomorrow but live one day at a time. “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Matt 6:34).
Friday 5/5: This also includes a lesson in moderation. We need to pray for just enough strength for the day and not worry about tomorrow’s strength.
Saturday 5/6: Our confidence is in God alone. He supplies all our needs. Thank Him for His loving care
Week 4: “Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven” (Matt 6:10)
Sunday 4/23: Thy will be done on earth…Our first concern should be for God’s glory, which requires our personal obedience. We pray for acceptance of God’s will not our will in our lives.
Monday 4/24: Thy will be done on earth…We understand that there is much within us that is in conflict with God. We cannot do His will on earth without the assistance of the Holy Spirit. Pray that His will be revealed to us through the Scripture and that we carry out His will.
Tuesday 4/25: Thy will be done on earth…Pray “Let me understand the teaching of your precepts; then I will meditate on your wonders…Teach me, O Lord, to follow your decrees; then I will keep them to the end” (Psa. 119:27 & 33).
Wednesday 4/26: Thy will be done on earth…Pray “Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain” (Psa. 119:36).
Thursday 4/27: as it is in heaven…How is God’s will done in heaven? Think about it. It certainly isn’t done reluctantly, sullenly, or hypocritically. It is performed gladly and joyfully. In heaven God is praised continually. Pray for joy as we do God’s will on earth.
Friday 4/28: as it is in heaven…”Praise the Lord, you angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, who obey his word” (Psa. 103:20). Can God require less of us than he does of the angels? Paul wrote of Epaphras “He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured” (Col. 4:12b). Pray that we may stand firm in the will of God on earth, as we will in heaven.
Saturday 4/29: as it is in heaven…This standard is given to us to teach us what to do and how to do it. We are to imitate the angels in their obedience even though we cannot attain their perfection in this present world. Pray that we become more mindful of as it is in heaven. “
Week 3: “Thy Kingdom Come” (Matt. 6:10)
Sunday 4/16: God cannot be honored unless we submit to His rule. Pray that we will set up His kingdom to rule in our hearts.
Monday 4/17: Our Father’s Kingdom is His universal rule and absolute dominion over all creatures and things. Pray as David prayed, “Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the majesty and the splendor: for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O Lord, is the kingdom; and you are exalted as head over all” (1 Chron. 29:11, NIV).
Tuesday 4/18: The kingdom of God is in the future a sense that God’s reign of grace is to be consummated in the eternal glory of His kingdom in the new heavens and new earth. In the present sense a person experiencing the reign of grace is characterized by the righteousness imputed by Christ to those of us who believe in His name. “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men” (Rom. 14:17). Pray for God’s kingdom to come and that we as Christians will display his kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy in our lives.
Wednesday 4/19: Pray that the gospel be preached in our church and by our daily communication with others to advance the kingdom of God.
Thursday 4/20: Pray for God’s spiritual reign of grace within our hearts and that His name be magnified by the way we interact with others.
Friday 4/21: In praying, “Thy Kingdom come” we ask for the blessing and the power of the Holy Spirit to attend us as we live in the world and that God’s grace be extended until all who are to be saved will be saved and then God will establish His kingdom.
Saturday 4/22: In the Westminster Shorter Catechism it is phrased “we pray, that Satan’s kingdom may be destroyed; and that the Kingdom of grace may be advanced, ourselves and others brought into it, and kept in it; and that the Kingdom of glory be advanced.”
Week 2: “Hallowed be Thy name” (Matt. 6:9)
Sunday 4/9: Our primary purpose in prayer is to disregard ourselves and to give God the preeminence in our thoughts, desires, and supplications. We must pray for a longing to honor God. We cannot ask for anything that would contradict His holiness.
Monday 4:10: Hallowed is a term, which means to set apart for sacred use. Our desire should be to elevate God’s name so that it might be reverenced, adored, and glorified. His name needs to be held in the utmost respect and honor and His fame be magnified.
Tuesday 4/11: “The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe” (Prov. 18:10). “And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, ‘The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God…’” (Ex. 34:6a, NIV, 1984). God’s divine name sets before us all that God has revealed to us concerning Himself. He is the Almighty, the Lord of Hosts, Jehovah, the God of peace, and our Father.
Wednesday 4/12: We are exhorted to “Ascribe to the Lord the Glory due unto His name” (Psa. 96:8). God’s name is to be “hallowed” among His people and on this earth. The only way to accomplish this is through God Himself and through prayer we receive the empowering of the Holy Spirit to hallow and glorify God in our own thoughts, words, and deeds.
Thursday 4/13: Prayer is preaching to ourselves in God’s hearing. We give God the supreme place in our thoughts, affections, and lives. Peter commands us, “But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord” (1 Pet. 3:15). Prayer also voices our longing that others may know, adore, and glorify Him.
Friday 4/14: Hallowing or making God’s name Holy in our lives provides the only legitimate basis for all our other requests. “Whatever comes to me, however low I may sink, no matter how deep the waters through which I may be called to pass, Lord, magnify Thyself in and through me.”
Saturday 4/15: The Father’s glory was Christ’s great concern. “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31).
Week 1: “Our Father which art in heaven” (Matt. 6:9, KJV)
Sunday 4/2: “Our Father” We are directed to address Him as our Father. Meditate on the assurance He gives us of His love and power. The object of our prayer is God our Father and not our circumstances.
Monday 4/3: “Our Father” As we pray we need to have intensity, reverence, and confidence in our Father. Ask that God will give us the awe and humility we need as we come into His heavenly presence.
Tuesday 4/4: “Our Father” Remember as we come to God in worship that we must “believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek Him” (Heb. 11:6).
Wednesday 4/5: “which art in heaven” Concentrate on the fact that God is infinitely above us. Think about God’s goodness and grace, His greatness and majesty, and the nearness and dearness of His relationship to us.
Thursday 4/6: “which art in heaven” Contemplate the mercy and might of God, His unfathomable love and His immeasurable loftiness.
Friday 4/7: “which art in heaven” God is not confined to heaven or earth “But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. Yet you give attention to your servant’s prayer and his plea for mercy, O Lord my God. Hear the cry and prayer that your servant is praying in your presence this day” (1 Kings 8:27).
Saturday 4/8: “which art in heaven” He is directing all from on high. These words proclaim His ability to undertake for us “Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him.” (Ps. 115:3). These words remind us that we are journeying to heaven for that is our home.
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or IMAGINE, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen” (Eph. 3:20-21, NIV 1984).
Stonebridge Church
