PRAYER FOR THE NATION – APRIL 2024

Possessing the Gate of the Church: The Prevailing Church

The church was born when Peter, filled and empowered by the Holy Spirit, shared the Gospel boldly and three thousand believed and were baptized in one day.

Acts 2:41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.

And the church grew…

Acts 2:47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

The first church, the ekklesia, was boldly vibrant in sharing the Good News, with signs and wonders following them. Though the church went through much sufferings and great persecutions, yet the church prevailed.

God wants His church to also prevail in this era.

WHY was the early church able to prevail against all odds?  

The early church had great Synergy, Energy of the Holy Spirit and solid Theology. 

S Synergy

E Energy (Holy Spirit Power)

T Theology

The dictionary meaning of synergy:

the interaction or cooperation of two or more organizations, or other agents to produce a combined effect greater than the sum of their separate effects

Acts 2:42-44 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common.

  • E = Energy (Holy Spirit Power)

Acts 4:31-34a NIV

After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly. 32 All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. 33 With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all 34 that there were no needy persons among them.

Acts 5:12-16 

The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people……

  • T =Theology

They believed in the Resurrected Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour! The Lord became their bed-rock and they experienced His reality daily.

Matthew 16:16-18 NKJV

16 Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

17 Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.

PRAYERS

  1. Synergy

O Lord, we praise your Name for You are the head of the church and the church is Your body who is filled with all the fullness of Christ (Eph 1:23).

May You now fill us with holy awe to work together once again for this is the hour of synergy for the churches in Malaysia.

  • Awaken us to see that we have been brought together to fulfill Your purpose to Possess the Gates.  Align all of us to this common vision, to sink all our differences and work together, so that the church in our town (and state) will prevail.
  • May You pour out a new anointing so that we can receive renewed strength as we work together. 
  • In Your Name, we pray and expose all the lies and deceptions of the enemy that hinders this work of togetherness so that every work of collaboration will bear fruit a hundred-fold.
  • Holy Spirit Energy 

O Lord, energize us by Your Holy Spirit so that we can become like the early church, which was filled with great power and experienced great grace.

  • We ask, O Lord, for a manifestation of the work of the Holy Spirit through the way we share our resources and reach out to impact our communities with unity, wisdom, gladness and joy.
  • Fill us, O Lord, with Holy Spirit boldness to share the gospel as the early church did even in the presence of threats. Help us to prevail against our own fears.
  • May Your church prevail in prayer like the early church, and may we see an outpouring of your grace with the manifestations of signs and wonders, healing of the sick and casting out of demonic spirits from our cities.
  • Theology 

We praise you, O Lord, that the church rests on the power of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. We praise the Lord that as we stand on this foundation, You will build Your church and the gates of hell will not be able to prevail against the church in Malaysia.

  • We pray for the RESURRECTED LIFE of CHRIST to be evident in our church as we build our prayer altars and keep a constant connection and communion with You. You are the Vine and we are the branches. Now may we bear fruit and carry a life- giving spirit wherever we are planted.
  • We pray for the LIGHT of CHRIST to shine in all our churches, so that darkness will be dispelled from every city and village. We pray for the church of Christ to become a city on a hill that cannot be hidden.
  • And now we pray for Your LOVE to compel us because we are convinced that One died for all and therefore all died. We ask that the church of God in Malaysia will no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died for them and was raised again (2 Cor 5:14-15). This is what it means to believe in a Resurrected Christ.

Prayer

O Lord Jesus, come and build Your church!

Come and give us a fresh Pentecost experience.

May we all become Your worthy witnesses bearing fruit in every good work.

Let us be compelled by love for Love will always prevail!

In Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.