Christian Reflection and Prayer

77 Days of Prayer for our New President

Day Fifty-Eight: January 1, 2009 19 days,

For faithfulness as we pray for President-Elect
Barack Obama, the Vice President-Elect and
other leaders For this reason, since the day
we heard about you, we have not stopped
praying for you and asking God to fill you
with the knowledge of His will through all
spiritual wisdom and understanding.
—Colossians 1:9

As the only sovereign God, the one to
whom all our allegiance is due, we bow
before You now. We ask, Lord, that
You will enable us now to set aside
all distractions and cares and focus
our prayers on all of our governmental
leaders, especially our new President
and Vice President.

Lord, make us faithful in prayer, even
when we may not agree with those
You have placed into authority over
us. You have told us to remain steadfast
in intercession, asking for our leaders to
be flooded with all knowledge of Your will.
Holy God, enable us to become true and
consistent intercessors, praying for our
new President and his administration,
today and every day. In the name of
Jesus, amen.

Scripture:

O God, you will keep in perfect peace
those whose minds are fixed
on you; for in returning and rest we
shall be saved; in quietness and
trust shall be our strength.
(Isaiah 26:3; 30:15)


Prayer for Peace

Heal my wounded heart.
Grant me the courage to change my heart.
Let Peace live in my heart.

Fill me with compassion for those suffering in war.
Help me care for those in war.
Help me bring Peace to those in war.

Help me stop wars.
Help soldiers stop wars.
Help leaders stop wars.

Fill me with Peace and Justice.
Help me to work for Peace with Justice.
Let there be Peace with Justice among all peoples.
In the name of the one who is Peace, In Jesus
Name Amen.

HAVE A BLESSED AND PEACE FILLED NEW YEAR

Scripture:

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Don’t judge
by his appearance or height, for I have
rejected him. The Lord doesn’t see things
the way you see them. People judge by
outward appearance, but the Lord looks
at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7) NLT


Little Woman, Long Shadow

"Two weeks before Christmas, on
December 12, 1840, a baby girl was
born into an aristocratic plantation
family in Albemarle County, Virginia.
Her name was Charlotte Diggs Moon,
but everyone called her "Lottie."
She grew to just four feet three
inches, yet her intellect and force
of personality were enormous. Lottie
spoke six languages and earned a
master's degree in education in 1861.

Lottie came from a family of dedicated
Southern Baptists, but she became a
staunch skeptic. Yet, it would be her
intellect and skepticism that would
bring her to faith one sleepless night
in December 1858 as she pondered
a message by Dr. John Broadus.

At age thirty-three, Lottie heard a call
to missions "as clear as a bell." In
July 1873 the foreign mission board
of the Southern Baptist Convention
appointed her its first unmarried
missionary to China. She tirelessly
advocated for the needs of the people
of China. In 1888 she persuaded SBC
women to take an annual missions
offering on Christmas Eve. By 1912,
despite such gifts, thousands of people
were dying every day in famine-ravaged
Shantung Province.

At seventy-two, Lottie Moon was coming
home. But that same night, aboard a ship
off Japan, she died—of complications from
starvation. A few months before she had
written, "If I had a thousand lives, I would
give them all for the women of China.""
The Lottie Moon Christmas Offering continues
to this day. The 2005 goal was $150 million.

adapted from The One Year® Book of Christian
History by E. Michael and Sharon Rusten
(Tyndale) pp 694-95 "