Prayer Requests - August 2018

Maranatha Workshops Follow Up

As Maranatha Workshops are held throughout each of our communities across Africa for our Care Workers, Primary Caregivers and children, God is transforming the lives of the most vulnerable. They are the poorest of the poor, but they are meeting Jesus, who became poor for our sake. As the revelation of His sacrifice and love becomes real to our Care Workers, they are experiencing a completely new reality and a completely new Saviour.

As the Hands at Work local office teams across Africa continue to meet with the Care Workers, Primary Caregivers and children to deepen their understanding of what they learned in the Maranatha Workshops, please stand with us in prayer.

-       Pray the Care Workers, Primary Caregivers and children would further come to know the truth of Jesus Christ and that this will set them free from their inner wounds and trauma. The reality is that many of our communities across Africa do not know the truth of the gospel.

-       Pray the Care Workers will know ‘The Jesus We Know’ and experience the unconditional love that He has for them.

-       Ask God that the outworking of the Maranatha Workshops would be a renewed and fresh passion for our Care Workers to care even further for the most vulnerable children in their community through the love of Jesus.

-       Pray for Primary Caregivers as they continue to meet in Relationship Groups where they can share their challenges and encourage one another. Pray they will be open and honest, allowing one another to speak into the broken areas of their lives.

-       As our Primary Caregivers experience healing and the love of Jesus, pray that they will be able to help bring that healing and restoration to the children they are caring for.

-       Many of the most vulnerable children have experienced trauma and pain in their young lives. At the workshop, the children learned about Jesus, His love and the Holy Spirit. Pray they will be healed from their inner wounds and truly be able to grasp and accept the truth of Jesus’ presence in their lives.

-       As the children experience healing in their lives, pray they will be able to help bring that same healing to other children at the Care Point and in the surrounding communities.

-       Pray for wisdom and guidance for the Hands at Work local office teams as they support, encourage and challenge the Care Workers, Primary Caregivers and children to take what they learned at the workshop and live it out.

40 Days of Prayer - Day 40

Day 40 - EASTER SUNDAY

‘Surely I am coming soon.’ Amen. Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus, come! – Revelation 22:20

When Jesus arose from the dead, He showed us that there is no wound too deep, no scar too unbearable that He cannot heal. As we await His triumphant return, challenge yourself to give your heart completely to God. Ask our Father what it means to fight for justice and act in faith on behalf of those who are broken. Pray for the last 40 Days to have brought about a renewed sense of God’s Kingdom to all of us who have prayed together. He who testifies to these things says, 

40 Days of Prayer - Holy Saturday

“He was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised to life to make us right with God.” –  Romans 4:25

The day after Jesus died His friends and family and followers were alone and did not know if He would really rise again. Imagine how they felt, and how others feel who do not have Jesus in their lives. Jesus combined endless love with epic suffering, standing in solidarity with those who also suffered. Pray that we too will stand in love for those who suffer the unimaginable. Ask God to give us the grace and compassion to stand in the gap on behalf of the most vulnerable. 

40 Days of Prayer - Day 39

“…knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin.” – Romans 6:6

The Crucifixion is the most scandalous event in history. This is how the world meant to put a stop to Jesus and all that He was about. He came to proclaim good news to the poor, set the captives free, to bring sight to the blind, give liberty to the oppressed. Thank Jesus for His sacrifice and for showing us an excellent way. As we remember the weight of what Jesus did for us on the cross, pray for God to transform our hearts; compelling us to lay down our lives as living sacrifices. Let us begin our prayer in two minutes of silence as we remember the one who gave everything for our freedom. 

40 Days of Prayer - Day 38

He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you are healed.  – 1 Peter 2:24  

‘Abba Father, everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.’ Jesus prayed these words in absolute agony to his Father because He knew the weight that these words of obedience would mean as He sacrificed his own life for the sins of the world. Today, reflect on the depth of these words. Though nothing can compare with the sacrifice Jesus paid for each of us on the cross, pray these words over your own life. Ask God to help you be obedient to whatever he calls you to.  

40 Days of Prayer - Day 37

And walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. - Ephesians 5:2

When Mary anointed Jesus’ feet, Mary honoured Jesus by giving the object which was likely the most valuable thing she would ever have. Those who watched could not believe what they were seeing. This perfume of great value, a year’s wages, being poured out onto Jesus’ feet! When we visit others, let us give our whole selves in the way that Jesus did for us. Pray for the same heart Mary had, to be in each one of us as sons and daughter of our Father.