3:24 (Colossians) “knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.”

‭‭Colossians‬ ‭3‬:‭24‬ 

Lord God, we lift up every functioning members of Your Body here on earth. All the pastors and teachers, the shepherds and evangelists, the apostles and prophets, the fathers and mothers, the big brothers and big sisters need You. Serving Your people is serving You. Pray for faith increasing as a shield against the accusations of the enemy. May we lay hold of the blood of our Lord Christ and continue to testify that You are Lord over all. Pray for steadfastness even when outwardly, the sowing and the watering have not produced the harvest expected. You alone cause to grow. So please Lord, cause to grow. And Lord, free us from looking to man for applause, we seek for Your smiling face alone. You are our reward. Encourage the workers. Strengthen the hands that are weak, and the knees that are feeble, and make straight paths for the feet, so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed.* 

Have mercy on Your people. And cause each member to come into their full function in Your Body here on earth. We are here for Your own good pleasure. In Jesus’ strengthening name. 

*Hebrews‬ ‭12‬:‭12‬-‭13‬

3:23 (Romans) “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭3‬:‭23‬ 

Lord God, I pray that You would shine light on all the hearts of the people to see this. No one is exempt, especially the people we know who are exceptionally moral and seemingly good in themselves. The ones that don’t seem to need a physician still need a Savior. So, Lord God, we pray that as You expose the darkness within, we the people will cry out, Jesus, I need You. Let’s not be deceived, everyone needs the Lord. Today, I still need the Lord. No matter who we are, in ourselves, whether a little or a lot doesn’t make a difference, we all have sinned. But we don’t have to live out this life falling short of the glory of God.

Lord Jesus, thank You for embodying Grace and Truth to us all. You alone lived without sin as a Man and You alone are the radiance of God’s glory as a Man. So we confess Jesus as our Lord and Savior, and take Him as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, all included. Thank You, Lord God for taking away our sins and even dealing with our sin nature. Much more, You have given us grace to give God glory. Oh what Treasure we contain in these earthen vessels in Christ. What greatest honor and privilege is ours, Lord God that we may give You glory and honor. We take the grace given. In Jesus’ most glorious name. 

3:20 (Revelation) “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.”

‭‭Revelation‬ ‭3‬:‭20‬

Lord God, thank You for seeking us all out. How we are amazed that You should be shut out of our hearts when You created us for Your own good pleasure and our Lord Jesus paid the redemption price for us all with His own blood on Calvary’s cross. Lord God, we understand that here You are speaking to Your own people, we should not be keeping You out from our lives. And we also see that You desire to dine with us. And it will always be amaze us that when we feast with You, You are our feast. And when we eat, You get satisfied. So we pray for Your church on earth today. Grant us all the grace to hear what you are saying on the earth today. Grant us the grace to notice Your knocking on our hearts today. Grant us grace to open the door of our hearts and let You in. You want to satisfy us with Yourself as the living bread from heaven, as the true Passover lamb, the new wine, and the living water of life. We dine with You and you dine with us. Grant us grace to respond each day to feast on You. For man shall not live by bread alone. 

We love You Lord Jesus, our true manna, the living bread from heaven. 

In Jesus’ life-giving name. 

3:20 (Philippians) ““For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ;”

‭‭Philippians‬ ‭3‬:‭20‬ 

Lord God, because our citizenship is in Heaven itself, we await for our Lord Jesus in glad anticipation. We see that none merit citizenship, and yet, because we have a perfect sponsor and guarantor, we are granted asylum as a refugee only to find that we receive a birthright citizenship after all. Thank You that there is no mistake in the paperwork and no rescinding of our citizenship. Help us all to come into the good of this magnificent offer. On the Cross of Calvary, Jesus extended this offer to whosoever will come to Him, that God the Father will transfer us out of the Kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of His Beloved Son. We who have taken this glorious exchange lift up in prayer our yet-to-be-transferred family members. Touch their eyes, Lord, just as You have touched ours. Give them the grace to believe and be saved each an everyone of them. In Jesus’ mighty name. 

3:20 (Ephesians) “Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us,”

‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭3‬:‭20‬

Lord God, You have strengthened us with power through Your Spirit in our innermost being. You are far greater than the one who is in the world. Your Spirit gives life, death-conquering Life. What can possibly be more formidable than death so what have we to fear. We want to glorify You even in our asking and in our thinking. 

We ask that Your heart of desiring none to perish be fulfilled amongst the people of Japan. We ask that Your higher thoughts for the people of Japan, thoughts for good, for life, for purpose, for love, be joined by our thinking the same way. And according to Your word, You go beyond that, for You are a God of abundance, of overflowing without measure. And You are the Good Father that rejoices in delighting Your own. Cause the people of the rising sun be the people of the Risen Son. To You, Lord God, be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever, Amen!

3:19 (Acts) “Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord;”

Acts‬ ‭3‬:‭19‬ ‭

Lord God, we worship You! How this word given to Your servant Peter encouraged the ones who rejected Jesus and called for the crucifixion of Jesus to believe in the name of Jesus and be saved! So Lord God, even as the people of Japan have thus rejected Your offer of salvation, to have their sins wiped away, we pray for them to be given a heart to repent and turn to You. In Your presence, we enjoy times of refreshing. I want to lift up in particular today M, his wife and his children to You. Thank You for sending his dear friend to share with him the good news in his hour of need. Thank You for bringing him faith and a desire to live empowered by the Son’s life. As he gets baptized may he experience for himself this glorious “no longer I, but Christ.” Transform his life with Your presence so that times of refreshing fill his heart and home. In Your presence, draw his wife and children to follow him in following You. We thank You for all You are doing and for using his friend to lead him to You. We lift up the Body in Japan to knit him and his family in and for You to cause to grow. It is all because of Your kind intentions and great mercy. Would You heal what needs healing and fill with hope the seemingly hopeless circumstances. You are God and You make all things beautiful in Your time. In Jesus’ gracious name we pray. 

3:18 (2 Peter) “but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.”

‭‭2 Peter‬ ‭3‬:‭18‬ 

Lord God, we come and give praise to You for all your patience and better promises. We want to grow in the grace and knowledge of Your Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus. Forgive us for being often distracted and immature, we turn back to You. We want to be sensitive to the leading of the Spirit of the Son in us. How grateful we are of experiencing the Spirit’s leading and empowering in our interactions with friends and family, especially ones who are yet to return to You. Cause us to grow in His grace which is also Your grace so as to express Your grace to a world desperately needing to know Christ as grace. We pray for ourselves and our Japanese brothers and sisters who are the first member of their families to live out Christ’s life. We ask to know Christ more and more so that all the yet-to-be-saved family members can witness the transformation. Christ alone is grace personified. And we desire whole households to believe just as You have promised, you and your household. So Lord God, we present ourselves to You as a living sacrifice. We choose Christ to live for us and to be expressed in us. Bring our yet-to-be-saved family and friends to repentance as well to live Christ and give You the glory today and all our days through to eternity.

In Jesus’ most gracious name. 

3:17 (Ecclesiastes) “I said to myself, “God will judge both the righteous man and the wicked man,” for a time for every matter and for every deed is there.”

‭‭Ecclesiastes‬ ‭3‬:‭17‬ ‭

Lord God, no matter how we see ourselves or how others see us, whether we appear to be righteous or wicked, only Your judgement stands. And even what is hidden to others, you see every matter, every deed, and even every thought. Under Your standard for righteousness, no one can stand, for the only way to meet Your standard is to be sinless. And there is no one under the sun that qualifies, except Your Son, Jesus Christ, the only Man who ever lived a sinless life. And for the sake of reconciling all humanity to Yourself, You sent Jesus to live out His sinless life and then die substitutionally for fallen mankind, and then conquer death in resurrection because death had nothing on Jesus to hold Him. Today, we are amazed that we who believe in Jesus, could have His resurrection life as our own life. And when it is time for judgement, we stand in the life of Jesus who meets all God’s righteous demands. What we do with Jesus’ life, though, we will need to give an answer to Jesus Himself. So give Your people grace to speak as He speaks through us and walk as He walks in us, and share His life freely as You’ve shared His life with us. And give us Your heart of compassion for those who have been hindered from coming to the realization of Your great love for them. May You removed every hindrance. Breakthrough in us all. In Jesus’ mighty name. 

3:16 (John) “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

‭‭John‬ ‭3‬:‭16‬ 

Lord God, we give ourselves to you. When we consider how much You love us and how impartial and generous You are with humanity, we respond to Your love and say, we love You, too. 

The people of Japan are included here. So are all the people who have heard the good news, even the sharing of this verse, and have thus far rejected Your gift of eternal life in Christ Jesus, they are included, too. We pray for grace to not harden the hearts and simply respond with “I receive” and “I believe.”

In Jesus’ saving name. 

We didn’t earn this, it wasn’t because we have done anything to merit this incredible gift, but it is the Gift that fulfills mankind’s purpose for existing. We were created to have the eternal life of Jesus, not just in that day in heaven, but all our days, in our minutiae and significant moments, and God has made us one with the others who have His life to be a united expression here on earth. Is there a more reasonable response than to receive this gracious Gift of God with thankful and open hearts?

3:15 (Colossians)

“And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.”

‭‭Colossians‬ ‭3‬:‭15‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Dear Lord God, we want to especially lift up the people of the Hawaiian Islands. Whenever we see the rains come down without letting up, we are reminded that You told us the end days are like the days of Noah. And we know how full of mercy You are that You create circumstances to remind us that when this life will come to an end, and then judgment.  We must all give an account for how we lived this life we’re been given. 

And faced with destruction and turmoil, we confess how worry and fear fill our hearts. So Lord God, we want to get right with You today. We accept Jesus’ substitutionary sacrifice for our sins and His life as a promise for all who believe and put our trust in Him. I am so thankful that You have called me in this one body. We love our brothers and sisters in Hawaii. You know them all and You care for them as many are suffering without power. Grant them all the promised peace that passes understanding. And restore what needs restoring and encourage their hearts in You. Send relief. And in the midst of the chaos, save some eternally. In Jesus’ saving name.