As part of our Summer Worship Gathering in July we spent time praying. What a moving experience to be in a room full of women, pouring their hearts out to the Lord.
We prayed for prodigals in our life, for our city, our church, our world, and each other. We covered some territory! That is the powerful gift God has given us in prayer. No matter where we are—in a cubicle, a hospital bed, a corner office, on a walk, in a public school or in prison, we can communicate with the God of the Universe, who has the ability to affect people and situations anywhere.
In the days ahead, we’ll be sending out specific ways to pray which are in keeping with how we prayed at the Summer Worship Gathering. Today, our focus is on our city.
God has placed those of us who live on the southwestern outskirts of Houston in an extremely unique situation. It is not an exaggeration to say that God has brought the world to us. For several years, Fort Bend County has been considered the most ethnically diverse county in the nation. Sugar Land’s city website can be translated into 103 different languages, with over 80 countries represented. The county’s population is more than 800,000 and if trends continue, some researches say that the population could increase by 368 percent by 2050.
My rough calculations show that just along the FM 1464 Corridor, there are over 50,000 residents. Every single one of them will spend eternity separated from God, apart from a soul-saving relationship with Him through Jesus Christ. If you have ever wondered about the positioning of Grand Parkway Baptist Church, wonder no longer. God strategically placed us in the midst of teaming humanity and He has given us everything we need for the task. Prayer is where we must start.
“When we rely upon organization, we get what organization can do; when we rely upon education, we get what education can do; when we rely upon eloquence, we get what eloquence can do. But when we rely upon prayer, we get what God can do.”
Dr. A. C. Dixon
HERE ARE SOME OF THE WAYS GOD’S WORD INSTRUCTS US TO LIVE AND PRAY:
Pray that we, as Christians, will be sanctified by God’s Word and will live as men and women who are sent by God into our jobs, our neighborhoods and our city. (John 17:15–18)
Pray that, as believers, we will contend for the good of our county and the cities in which we live. Though we are citizens of heaven (Philippians 3:20), in many ways we live as exiles in a foreign land. God’s Word tells us exactly how to live in that situation. (Jeremiah 29:1–14)
Pray for the governing leaders of the city in which we live (1 Timothy 2:1–2).
Pray that God’s will be done in our city and county as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10).
As you drive toward church this Sunday, pray specifically for the people in the subdivisions you pass along FM 1464. They are Grand Parkway’s neighbors and some of the first ones to whom God has entrusted us to reach with His love and truth (Acts 1:8).
Ask God to give you practical ways to do good where you live and work (1 Peter 2:12).
Pray for the schools we are near, that we would let our light shine in practical ways so that explanation is required (Matthew 5:16).
Pray for revival to happen among the followers of Jesus in our area. Pray that Christians would live such repentant, winsome, joy-soaked, God-trusting lives that our assimilation into the culture would cease and that people around us would become curious about the difference (Habakkuk 3:2).
Pray that God would begin to break our hearts for the thousands upon thousands in our city who do not know and follow Jesus (Romans 9:1–3).
Pray that God would begin to reveal Himself and pour out salvation on our county (Isaiah 45:8).
You’re the God of this city You’re the King of these people You’re the Lord of this nation You are You’re the Light in this darkness You’re the Hope to the hopeless You’re the Peace to the restless You are There is no one like our God There is no one like our God For greater things have yet to come And greater things are still to be done in this city Greater thing have yet to come And greater things are still to be done in this city
