As our week of prayer comes to an end, we want to celebrate together and demonstrate what it means to be a people who belong.
Jesus spent much of his time sharing a meal with people from all walks of life.
Lk 19: 1-10 Jesus invited himself to Zacchaeus’ house, a tax collector
Lk 10: 38-42 A woman named Martha opened her home to Jesus
Lk 7: 36-50 A Pharisee invited Jesus to have dinner with him
There are many more stories in gospels like this.
Sharing meals creates a space for people to feel loved and accepted, heard and connected. We can encounter God and one another and demonstrate hospitality in a tangible way.
As we begin our journey together, creating a community of people who belong, let’s celebrate the end of our prayer journey around a table and share a meal together.
My Prayer Response:
Ask God to show you who you can invite to the table
Ask God to show you who to pray with
Ask God to make you a listening presence for someone
Paul the Apostle, writing to the church at Phillipi, encouraged them to continue growing in Christlikeness through every season of their lives. He uses the image of an athlete in a race:
Philippians 3:13-15 (NIV)
But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
We are all running our own spiritual long-distance race and it’s important that we regularly reflect on where we’ve been and where we are going.
First, reflect on your own personal journey of following Jesus. Our stories are all unique because each one of us is unique, bearing the image of God.
His Goodness
His Faithfulness
My Gratitude
My Worship
My Service
And then transition to this past week and the themes of our devotions and prayers.
What do they mean for our personal lives and the race we are running?
What do they mean for us individual as we find ourselves in a community of people – His church?
What do they mean for us as a community as we live out our lives together?
What’s your next step? Bring your brick.
Identify distractions. Don’t stop walking.
Clarify your focus. Build a people who belong.
Participate with people. Live your legacy through a Kingdom community.
Pray to the promise keeper. Surrender your life to God’s sovereignty.
Consider Nehemiah’s first response to the news of the ruined walls of Jerusalem.
Nehemiah writes in Nehemiah 1:4 (NLT);
“In fact, for days I mourned, fasted, and prayed to the God of heaven.”
Nehemiah was stirred with a vision to rebuild the walls when he heard about their condition and prayed.
In his prayer Nehemiah:
Confessed the sins of Israel, including his own. (Nehemiah.1:6-7).
He asked God to show favor to His people (Nehemiah 1:8-10).
He prayed for success as he planned to approach King Artaxerxes for permission to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem (Nehemiah 1:11).
Following Nehemiah’s prayer as a guide, you can come before God in prayer for our vision to build a people who belong. Start with the serenity prayer on page…… and then follow the guide below.
A Prayer Guide:
Confession and repentance:
1 John 1:9 (NIV) – If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
Mercy:
Psalm 51: 1 (NIV) – Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love
Gods’ mercy is an active, faithful commitment to love, forgive and restore His people.
Pray for Gods mercy to cover our church.
His favour upon our leadership and our journey building a people who belong.
Pray His protection over our unity and His wisdom in our decision making as we navigate the vision.
Surrendered plans:
Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV) – Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.
Nehemiah prayed for success as he planned to approach King Artaxerxes for permission to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. He was surrendering his plan to God and asking God to make the path straight by giving him favor with the king.
Submit our vision to God in prayer and ask Him to go before us, making the path straight.
Ask God for His favor upon us with the people involved in resourcing our vision.
Confess your trust in God over everything else and share with God the specific things in your life that you are surrendering to Him in this season.
What we prioritise in our lives is expressed through our practical living.
This means our vision needs to move from our hearts and toward our hands where we can work toward achieving measurable goals.
Nehemiah’s vision of a secure and thriving community was expressed through his practical act of rebuilding the city walls together with God’s people. So, how can we express the priority of building a people who belong in a practical way?
By building a space in which God can work with us so that we become a more connected community of people who belong, just as the restored walls of Jerusalem created a safe space in which the Israelites could belong and thrive for generations.
This is our wall of Jerusalem to rebuild in this season of our journey together, and it will involve partnering in the work together with our time, talents and treasure.
In Philippians 1:3-8 (AMP) Paul the apostle thanks the church for their “participation and partnership [both your comforting fellowship and gracious contributions] in [advancing] the good news”
The word partnership here is a Greek word, koinonia, often translated ‘fellowship’. It means a sharing in something, participating in something divine and eternal.
This partnership could be seen through the way the Israelites rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem together.
Nehemiah 3:1-4 (NIV) describes people partnering when,
Eliashib the high priest and his fellow priests went to work and rebuilt the Sheep Gate.
The men of Jericho built the adjoining section,
Zakkur son of Imri built next to them.
The Fish Gate was rebuilt by the sons of Hassenaah.
Meremoth, repaired the next section.
Next to him Meshullam, made repairs, and next to him
Zadok also made repairs.
If you and I were to partner in building together, what next step could I take? The answer is: bring your brick! That’s how the Israelites did it in alignment with their vision.
Like Eliashib, Hananel and Zadok each contributed to rebuilding the walls as we read earlier in Nehemiah 3, so too you and I bring our brick to contribute to building the space God has given us a vision for. And that brick is represented by your financial contribution over and above your tithe toward achieving the total sum of R300 000 to complete the work.
My prayer response:
Ask God to guide you in preparing your contribution toward building the walls as a partner in Southside Church.
Pray for our miracle offering services on Sunday the 4th of May and Gods provision of more than we could ask or imagine in resources.
Acknowledge that all provision comes from God and surrender your trust to Him for the areas in your life in which you need provision.
My daily practice:
Adopt an attitude of gratitude.
As you go through your day recognize the many blessings Gods given you that you may usually overlook. Think about your job, or your health.
As you come to the end of your day pray back to God with gratitude for the many blessings you recognized he bestows upon your life.
Gratitude makes what we have enough and helps us see Gods provision in our personal lives. “I am blessed to be a blessing.” (Genesis.12:2)
Because I am blessed, I can bring my brick in being a blessing to others.
