Praying Together
Pastor Eugene shares the prayer requests from last week’s monthly prayer meeting and invites us to unite our hearts to ask God to grow the gospel.
Last Friday’s prayer meeting was particularly special. We met in person to pray together for the first time since April, when the “circuit breaker” started. Personally, I was encouraged by the presence of fellow brothers and sisters. What a blessing it was to be able to physically gather again for prayer, as well as to hear about how God is growing the gospel within and beyond our local church!
I have also been heartened by the steady rise in attendance at our monthly prayer meetings. This time more than more than 60 people joined us online, besides those who attended in person. This made it our first-ever “hybrid” prayer meeting, with a combination of “live” and virtual participation.
Joshua Lowe, one of our interns, shared an encouraging devotion from Matthew 6:25-34. He exhorted us to pray “kingdom-minded” prayers, focusing on the exalting Jesus Christ and making Him known through the gospel. To further press this point on our hearts, Joshua quoted this excerpt from John Piper’s book, Let the Nations Be Glad: “Prayer is primarily a wartime walkie-talkie for the mission of the church as it advances against the powers of darkness and unbelief. It is not surprising that prayer malfunctions when we try to make it a domestic intercom to call upstairs for more comforts in the den. God has given us prayer as a wartime walkie-talkie so that we can call headquarters for everything we need as the kingdom of Christ advances in the world.”
Here is a summary of what we prayed for last Friday. May we continue to unite our hearts in praying for these matters!
Pray for the world, which faces growing political unrest amid elections, protests and demonstrations. Using the words of 1 Timothy 2, let’s ask that Christians worldwide be allowed to “lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way”. May believers remain steadfast in the faith, pleasing God and also sharing Christ with others.
Pray also for God’s mercy, as many nations continue to grapple with rising numbers of infections from the pandemic. There is much we can be thankful for in Singapore. But even while we are grateful for the improved situation here, let’s not forget to seek God’s mercy for others globally who are facing a worsening health crisis.
Closer to home, do pray for the gospel to continue to go forth from us as a church. Specifically, Nathaniel Tan asked for prayer for the Youth Ministry, which will be conducting a youth camp from December 9-12. Do pray for fruit from the camp, and for spiritual stamina for the leaders. May the Lord open the hearts of our youth to the gospel!
Please also pray for the various outreach opportunities that GBC’s members are involved in. Thomas Hamilton and Hannah Yeo shared about how they and several others have been doing street evangelism in the Geylang Serai/Eunos area. They requested prayer for continued wisdom, faithfulness and boldness to share Christ with the people they meet.
Steven Ngiam shared an encouraging update about our outreach to guest workers. The team has been able to establish relationships with a number of workers, many of whom are grateful for how GBC has helped them through a difficult time. Some of our volunteers have even had opportunities to share meals with these workers. In God’s providence, the pandemic has presented us with gospel opportunities among several large unreached people groups here in Singapore. This has opened the door for missions right here in our backyard. Do pray for the gospel to go forth clearly, for more relational connections with the workers, and for the fruit of conversion.
Pray as well for the family of Vit Sotphen, a 12-year old Cambodian student who died last week in a landmine accident. Vit was one of the children at the centre in Trang, Cambodia where our supported worker, Deborah Teo, serves.
We had an opportunity to hear from Tzi Ping and Heidi, who joined the prayer meeting virtually from Switzerland. They are our supported missions workers, who are engaged in work among the Saluan people in Indonesia. They have moved to Switzerland (where Heidi is from) for their children’s education. Ping and Heidi asked for prayer that they will remain faithful and committed to the Bible translation work among the Saluan, which they will continue to carry out remotely.
In addition to these requests, do also pray for:
The preaching and teaching of God’s word;
The faithfulness of our elders, deacons, ministry leaders, care group leaders;
Wisdom to raise up new leaders in the church, as well as for the pastoral leadership succession;
GBC members to grow in love for one another, and to reach out to the visitors God is bringing to us;
Spiritual encouragement for the parents in GBC, and for children to come to know the Lord;
GBC members who are expecting children;
Single GBC members, to persevere in joy and contentment;
Faithfulness in our workplaces, as we face greater economic uncertainty.
Remember, too, to pray for our service this Sunday. We will be hearing from Luke 14:12-24 about how the God of sovereign grace calls sinners to come to Him through His Son, Jesus Christ. I encourage you to gather with other believers for worship. Please register here to attend the service at the church building.