By Brad Phillips of PPF
Dear LORD,
You alone are LORD. There is none other besides You. The nations of the world are a drop in the bucket to You. Nevertheless, You are mindful of the nations. You raise some up, and You tear others down — for Your Own glory and divine purpose.
Oh God, we consider all You have done for our brethren in South Sudan. We consider the long road on which You have taken them. We are mindful of the tender condition of Your Church in that nation — a people once steeped in darkness and rebellion and ignorance towards You. And yet, You planted a seed of faith that has grown into a tender sapling amidst horrid persecution and oppression.
You have preserved Your Faith — Your Truth — in this wilderness of the world, and now You have established South Sudan as a separate nation among men. After a long war, in which Your enemies sought to snuff out the Light of Your Gospel, You gave the victory to the weak and humbled the strong.
Now, oh LORD, we beseech You, in Your mercy, to firmly establish the Republic of South Sudan upon a Firm Foundation. A Foundation, not built by human hands or wisdom, but on a Rock of Faith — Your Faith.
There is no other Name under heaven by which men and nations can be saved besides the precious Name of Jesus. We pray that King Jesus will reign in South Sudan and bring all things into subjection under His feet.
We ask that You strengthen the Church and empower Your ministers, through Your Holy Spirit, to preach the Word with power and conviction. We pray that You would protect Your people from enemies abroad and from spiritual enemies within.
We pray that You would empower your Church in America and in the world to pray and to seek ways to bless our younger siblings in the Faith. As they grow into full maturity, show us the ways You want us to continue to grow in our own walk with You. We acknowledge our own weaknesses — our own rebellion and sin — and we ask for Your forgiveness and restoration.
You know our frame. You know we are dust. But You are the Great Creator, Who takes dust and makes it breathe. Give us life, LORD, to serve You. Give us breath, Father, to breathe into others.
We give you all the praise and glory for all we have and for all we are and for all we desire to do.
We approach You humbly and ask for these things because of Jesus and in His precious Name.
Amen.
Mission Statement
In classical sacrifices, the people get the good bits, and the gods get the refuse, the bits that would get thrown out otherwise.
Not our God. Leviticus (particularly Leviticus 3) describes the sacrifices that our LORD demanded from His people of Israel. God gets the kidneys, the tail, and all the fat. He gets the prime steak, He gets the best.
Today we do not literally give sacrifices of animals. For us the ultimate sacrifice has been made through our Lord, Christ Jesus. But should always be our ambition to do the same thing - to offer God the best of what we have, to offer Him the fat, and not the smoke and bones.
Not our God. Leviticus (particularly Leviticus 3) describes the sacrifices that our LORD demanded from His people of Israel. God gets the kidneys, the tail, and all the fat. He gets the prime steak, He gets the best.
Today we do not literally give sacrifices of animals. For us the ultimate sacrifice has been made through our Lord, Christ Jesus. But should always be our ambition to do the same thing - to offer God the best of what we have, to offer Him the fat, and not the smoke and bones.
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