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5 Ways to Pray this Easter Weekend

On By johneltonpletcherLeave a comment

As we roll into the weekend, there is so much to anticipate!

Gatherings with friends and family (bring on the ham!). 

Scrambling to hunt eggs. 

Reflecting during a Good Friday service. 

And of course celebrating on Resurrection Sunday morning!

As you’re aiming to live in the flow of Jesus’ heart and loving mission, I bet you’re eager to focus your prayers. But how? How do we truly align our prayers with God’s heart on such a wondrous weekend?

I’ll suggest five sure-fire ways to engage in Jesus-like, others-oriented praying:

Pray for happiness.

People everywhere are saturated in grump and gloom. Let’s ask the Lord to supply from his deep well of joy this weekend. After all, we always say, “Merry Christmas!” And we say “Happy Easter!” Let’s give that kind sentiment some extra significance by praying with extra passion and purpose. We can ask Christ, who is the source of true happiness, to supply his abiding joy in lavish doses as we gather with others. Happiness is a wondrous common (or uncommon) grace, too oft in short supply. But it’s a grace Jesus will delight to gush our way from his overflow of joy. Let’s pray it’s truly a Happy Easter!

Pray for hope.

We can readily feel engulfed in negativity and cynicism. Circumstances dump regular doses of hopeless, death-like living. In big contrast, our King Jesus deals out serious hope. And so do we as his faithful followers. Call out for fresh perspective! Pray that we’ll fix our eyes with fresh vision—and for dozens of others to see and sense his transformative hope this Easter! Cry out for souls to be flooded with confident expectation of Jesus’ gracious good coming their way. The renewal of all things really is coming—because of his glorious resurrection. Really! 

Pray for healing.

Our neighbors, coworkers, family, (each and every one of us, if we’re honest) are banged up, scarred, bruised, and broken. We feel broken in our frail bodies; our minds get riddled with anxious thoughts; people everywhere feel overwhelmed. God’s sacred text reminds us in both testaments that the Messiah’s torturous wounds bring genuine healing in all the ways we so desperately need healed (Isaiah 53:5 and 1 Peter 2:24). Pray for healing!

Pray for help.

Too many precious people feel desperately lonely. There’s something extremely empowering when you learn someone’s truly in your corner, got your back, and standing with you in helpful solidarity. All that and more come people’s way when they trust the Risen King—and his helpful followers like you and me. The Holy Spirit, our Holy Helper, can rush in with his immense help. Let’s be praying that folks really sense they have such access to divine help!

Pray for hearts. Jesus’ Gospel is truly good news, through and through, true as true can be. After all, as Resurrected King, he is our wondrous hope, our help incarnate, and our deepest source of lasting happiness.

Let’s pray for hearts that are VERY receptive to the life-transforming good news. Boldly ask the Lord to stir hearts to say YES to Jesus’ merciful forgiveness, his gracious goodness, and his ultimate joy for now and all eternity!

Let’s pray! Let’s rejoice. And have a very Happy Easter!

What Can Anyone Really Do About the Coronavirus?

On By johneltonpletcherLeave a comment

In this past hour, the global death toll passed one thousand.

I am typically a glass half-full kind of person, even to a fault. It’s just how I roll. I lean toward hope-filled optimism.

But sadly, I must confess. In recent days, I have been haunted by anxious thoughts. I find my feelings draped in the shadow of the global epidemic. This morning’s news reported a further increase in cases across China. The weekend’s numbers were a far cry from the decline they had hoped would come with the opening of additional new hospitals.

With cruise ships full of people held at bay and college students recently returned and quarantined, I find myself vacillating. In certain moments, I feel confident the odds are very low that anyone I know, too close to home, will actually be impacted. Then in other moments, I pause and remember: “That’s what everyone thinks until suddenly an illness has become a full-blown pandemic.”

And I am swept into a tsunami of puzzling questions that reach beyond the immediate illness.

What about the psyche and stamina of government leaders who are carrying the burdens of decision-making related to public safety?

How will the researchers who are working on vaccines and treatments hold up under the pressure?

And what must it be like to be one of the masked caregivers, nurses, or doctors to the many thousands affected by the virus?

What will this mean soon for China and the global economy, for thousands upon thousands of workers, corporate executives, and their industries both large and small?

Questions and fears spin, and I wonder. Is there really anything that any one person can do? Then I am struck by the powerful reality that every one of us can pray.

Based on faith in our divine King—whose hands are hands of healing—this one thing can be powerful. We pray to the God who has promised to hear us and answer in response to our faith-filled prayers.

Just today, a global missions leader I highly respect, Craig Kordic, received this list of prayer requests for the Church in Wuhan, China from a pastor serving in the massive city. He shared: Although it’s not one of the strongest Christian provinces in China, it’s estimated that among the 11 million inhabitants of the whole Wuhan Prefecture, @ 470,000 (or 4 percent) are professing Christian believers, including 240,000 house church members and 160,000 members of government-approved Three-Self churches. There are more than 3,000,000 Christians in all of Hubei Province.

* Please pray for the peace of Christ to rule and reign in our hearts, so that we may be a witness to those who are without hope.
* Pray that through this hardship, God’s children will grow nearer to the Almighty and that the Lord will use it to purify our souls and give us many opportunities to proclaim the gospel.
* Please pray for God’s mercy upon Wuhan, and ask Him to bring peace upon our city, province and all of China at this time.
* Please intercede, asking our wonderful Savior to bring peace and healing to those who are afflicted with the illness, to provide supernatural strength and protection for the medical personnel struggling on the front lines, and to bless every official at every level, who are working to help the people of Wuhan!
* Please ask the Lord to use this pestilence for His glory, so that when it is over, there will be many more souls born-again into the kingdom of God than have perished.

Will you join me? Will you commit to incorporating these simple, profound heart cries into your prayers, starting tonight and in the days to come?

We can be confident that King Jesus will hear us and bring his mercy, his hands of healing touch, his great wisdom, breakthroughs, and powerful strength.

What can one person really accomplish? Every one of can pray!