God of all times

The Psalmist wrote “My future (time) is in your hands. Rescue me from those who hunt me down relentlessly”. Psalm 31:15 The Psalmist recognised that God was in control of time and he was also aware that because he had aligned himself with God then he had made enemies of the forces of darkness and these forces are relentless in their desire to steal, kill and destroy God’s plans for his life and also sabotage all of his efforts to walk righteously with God.

The writer of Ecclesiastes in writing about times states that “Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end. Ecclesiastes 3:11 

As we begin the journey into autumn we are aware that the season belongs to God and we want to walk in God’s timing. So as we journey through this day of prayer and fasting let us be aware that God is outside of time. A day to God is like a thousand years and a thousand years like a day because God can see the whole scope of His work. 

May we continue to have to have the grace to trust Him with our lives and plans.

6am – 9am

Session One – Every Praise to our God

You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honour and power. For you created all things, and they exist because you created what you pleased Revelation 4:11

The whole of creation bears the hallmark of the creator. When you break down every molecule and analyse every formula and discover how everything works, you are literally seeing part of God’s creative power at work. As human beings we have been imbued with the power to discover but not with the power to create. We manipulate what is already created for our own means.

QUOTES

God wants worshippers before workers; indeed the only acceptable workers are those who have learned the art of worship – A.W.Tozer

PRAYER

Jesus said if we do not praise God the stones that bear God’s signature will sing out in praise to their creator. In this session pray

• That our hearts will be intune with the praises of heaven 
• That our minds and thoughts will be God centred rather than self or worldly centred 

MEDITATE

Worship changes the worshipper into the image of the one worshipped – Jack Hayford. 

Who or what do you worship and whose image are you becoming?

9am – 12 noon

Session Two – The Gospel Truth

And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:32

We live at a time when objective truth is disputed and people talk about ‘my truth against your truth’. Truth really matters and it is the foundation that life is meant to be built upon. At the absence of truth foundations are shaky and life becomes unstable

QUOTES

“It doesn’t matter who we are or where we’ve been, God sent His Son for us – that’s the beauty of the Gospel.” – Heather Hart, 21 Teen Devotionals…For Girls!

PRAYER

Jesus defined himself as the embodiment of truth when he said “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Irrespective of what our community thinks of the truth this statement of Jesus is vitally important today.  In this session pray

• That through the Holy Spirit we’ll grasp afresh the truth of God’s love for us and our world
• That all of us will see and understand the truth that leads to us living in the freedom that Jesus won for us on the cross
• That the truth we learned from the gospel of Mark will become truth that bears fruit in our lives

MEDITATE

As a preacher who is fully human, and clearly not divine, I can’t speak as Jesus did. But I do seek to speak truth that carries weight and authority. All of us who preach the gospel aspire to speak under the authority of Jesus. John Ortberg

How sure are you of the truth of the gospel? Does Jesus really make a difference?

12 noon – 3pm

Session Three – The Resurrected Life

The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you. Romans 8:11

So many adverts today promise life but in reality most advertisers just want to make money and get us to become dependent on their product. God on the other hand promises life as a gift that is given.

QUOTES

“Let the resurrection joy lift us from loneliness and weakness and despair to strength and beauty and happiness.” Josh McDowell

PRAYER

The resurrected Jesus acted differently to the pre-crucified Jesus. His character remained the same but in essence his nature had changed. The bible says when a person is in Christ they become a new creation. In this session pray

• That the church in our nation will rise in resurrection power and reflect the risen Christ
• That the body of Christ will live a resurrected life reflecting the love, joy and peace of the kingdom
• That at elimworthing as we study the resurrected life it would become a lived experience for all of us

MEDITATE

“A dead Christ I must do everything for; a living Christ does everything for me.”

C.S. Lewis

Reflect on this statement, what lessons can you learn from it?

3pm – 6pm

Session Four – When Love Came

“For this is how God loved the world: He gave  his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

Love makes the world go round, sang Deon Jackson and that is in fact a true statement. It is the love of God that makes the world spin perfectly on its axis. It is that love that made God launch a rescue mission for earth.

QUOTES

“Best of all, Christmas means a spirit of love, a time when the love of God and the love of our fellow men should prevail over all hatred and bitterness, a time when our thoughts and deeds and the spirit of our lives manifest the presence of God.” George F McDougall

PRAYER

The scriptures urges us to make the most of every opportunity. The Christmas season offers us the opportunity to reflect on God’s gift of love, talk about this love and also show that love in a tangible way. In this session pray

• That the love of God that brought Jesus into the world will gatecrash 2023’s Christmas season in our nation, towns and communities and also the church
• That our hearts will be willing and ready to let God’s love flow through our lives to others
• That the spirit of creativity will enable us to communicate God’s love in a better and reachable way

MEDITATE

How did the LOVE of heaven come into your heart?

How are you still experiencing that LOVE?

What difference has that LOVE made to you?

Share the LOVE