Hearing God’s Voice from His Word
James 4:8 says, “Come near to God and he will come near to you.”
Take a moment and turn your attention to God. Tell God that you desire to trust and obey Him. Ask God to speak to you from His word.
Scripture Reading
Psalm 67:1-2
1 May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face shine on us—
2 so that your ways may be known on earth,
your salvation among all nations.
1 Kings 8:57-60
57 May the Lord our God be with us as he was with our ancestors; may he never leave us nor forsake us. 58 May he turn our hearts to him, to walk in obedience to him and keep the commands, decrees and laws he gave our ancestors. 59 And may these words of mine, which I have prayed before the Lord, be near to the Lord our God day and night, that he may uphold the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel according to each day’s need, 60 so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God and that there is no other.
Isaiah 49:6
“It is too small a thing for you to be my servant
to restore the tribes of Jacob
and bring back those of Israel I have kept.
I will also make you a light for the Gentiles,
that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”
Having God’s Ear through Prayer
- This week we will focus on praying for our overseas partners as well as an unreached people group.
Pray for Rick & Amelia They are heavily involved in a new but growing local church in their city. They have been working hard lately to model for these new believers how to live intentionally and share the gospel boldly. As they host parties where both believers and non-believers are present, pray for God to open doors for the gospel to be proclaimed and for many to respond to the power of the gospel!
Pray specifically for the new believer “Diana” as she shares with her teenage son and other family. Pray they respond to the gospel message.
Rick is reading the Bible, specifically the book of John, with his local friend “Justin.” Pray God fuels a desire in “Justin” to read more. Pray God opens Justin’s eyes to truth in an undeniable way.
Pray by name for Amelia’s friends who are in various stages of hungering for the things of God—Irene, Susan, Melina, Anna, Alyssa. Pray for God to make himself known to them.
- Pray for the Phu Thai (foo tye) people living in the United States. 1% of this group adheres to Christianity. Their primary religion is Buddhism.
Find out more
Living as God’s People by applying the Bible
Scripture Reflection from the Sermon
According to the International Mission Board (IMB) there are 7,396 living languages in the world. Of those living languages, only 50% have access to the Bible in their language. There are some languages that have just a few scriptures translated, and there are some languages that have a shortage of Bibles. In some places of the world, owning a Bible may be illegal. How many Bibles do you own? You can quickly access the scriptures on your phone even if you have misplaced your paper copy. David wrote that God’s law is perfect, reviving the soul (Psalm 19:7). We are privileged to have access to the scriptures. There are many who long to have a Bible but do not. There are others who have Bibles only at great risk to themselves. As we have gone through John’s gospel as a church, we have been reminded that John wrote his gospel so that we might believe and have life in Jesus’ name. People come to know God through his word. His word is the revelation of himself. It tells his story. It reveals his character. It communicates his plan. It sheds light on a world that can be confusing. Give thanks for God’s written word. Ask God to teach you to treasure his word. Pray that his word would be translated into these living languages that do not have access to the gospel.