April Prayer Intention
"May we respect and love one another as brothers and sisters," "May we learn to understand the suffering of others! May no one abuse the name of God through violence!" (Pope Francis)
· Lord God we pray in faith and confidence that you will hear us and will move powerfully in answer to our prayers of love and compassion (John 14:12-14).
· Lord God give us a heart filled with love and compassion towards all non-believers.
· Lord God we pray that non-believers, will have a full revelation of you and Your loving character (Hebrews 8:8-9).
· Lord God we pray that non-believers will also understand that God desires for everyone to know Him as children and not as slaves (Galatians 4:7, Matthew 18:3).
· Lord God we pray for non-believers that they will be convicted of sin and know true repentance, that they would experience God's total forgiveness and thus be able to forgive others. And, we are pray that they would know the assurance of salvation through Jesus. (Ephesians 2:8-9, 1 Peter 5:6, Matthew 6:14-15).
· Lord God send the power of your Holy Spirit upon all non-believers.
· Lord God we pray for ISIS to be stopped.
· Lord God we pray for the hearts of those in ISIS to be redeemed by our Saviour
· Lord God we pray for our western leaders and Arab leaders that they have wisdom and courage to act against ISIS with justice and mercy in equal measure.
· Lord God we pray for those martyred by ISIS and those who are displaced and threatened by ISIS.
· Lord God we pray for all those working in and among all those displaced and threatened by ISIS to bring them aid and comfort.
Amen
43 'You have heard how it was said, You will love your neighbour and hate your enemy.
44 But I say this to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you;
45 so that you may be children of your Father in heaven, for he causes his sun to rise on the bad as well as the good, and sends down rain to fall on the upright and the wicked alike.
46 For if you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Do not even the tax collectors do as much?
47 And if you save your greetings for your brothers, are you doing anything exceptional?
48 Do not even the gentiles do as much? You must therefore be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.'
Matthew 18 v 20
20 For where two or three meet in my name, I am there among them.'
John 20 v 1 -23
1 It was very early on the first day of the week and still dark, when Mary of Magdala came to the tomb. She saw that the stone had been moved away from the tomb
2 and came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. 'They have taken the Lord out of the tomb,' she said, 'and we don't know where they have put him.'
3 So Peter set out with the other disciple to go to the tomb.
4 They ran together, but the other disciple, running faster than Peter, reached the tomb first;
5 he bent down and saw the linen cloths lying on the ground, but did not go in.
6 Simon Peter, following him, also came up, went into the tomb, saw the linen cloths lying on the ground
7 and also the cloth that had been over his head; this was not with the linen cloths but rolled up in a place by itself.
8 Then the other disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in; he saw and he believed.
9 Till this moment they had still not understood the scripture, that he must rise from the dead.
10 The disciples then went back home.
11 But Mary was standing outside near the tomb, weeping. Then, as she wept, she stooped to look inside,
12 and saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had been, one at the head, the other at the feet.
13 They said, 'Woman, why are you weeping?' 'They have taken my Lord away,' she replied, 'and I don't know where they have put him.'
14 As she said this she turned round and saw Jesus standing there, though she did not realise that it was Jesus.
15 Jesus said to her, 'Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?' Supposing him to be the gardener, she said, 'Sir, if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and remove him.'
16 Jesus said, 'Mary!' She turned round then and said to him in Hebrew, 'Rabbuni!' -- which means Master.
17 Jesus said to her, 'Do not cling to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to the brothers, and tell them: I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'
18 So Mary of Magdala told the disciples, 'I have seen the Lord,' and that he had said these things to her.
19 In the evening of that same day, the first day of the week, the doors were closed in the room where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews. Jesus came and stood among them. He said to them, 'Peace be with you,'
20 and, after saying this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were filled with joy at seeing the Lord,
21 and he said to them again, 'Peace be with you. 'As the Father sent me, so am I sending you.'
22 After saying this he breathed on them and said: Receive the Holy Spirit.
23 If you forgive anyone's sins, they are forgiven; if you retain anyone's sins, they are retained.
1 Corinthians 1 v 22 - 31
22 While the Jews demand miracles and the Greeks look for wisdom,
23 we are preaching a crucified Christ: to the Jews an obstacle they cannot get over, to the gentiles foolishness,
24 but to those who have been called, whether they are Jews or Greeks, a Christ who is both the power of God and the wisdom of God.
25 God's folly is wiser than human wisdom, and God's weakness is stronger than human strength.
26 Consider, brothers, how you were called; not many of you are wise by human standards, not many influential, not many from noble families.
27 No, God chose those who by human standards are fools to shame the wise; he chose those who by human standards are weak to shame the strong,
28 those who by human standards are common and contemptible -- indeed those who count for nothing -- to reduce to nothing all those that do count for something,
29 so that no human being might feel boastful before God.
30 It is by him that you exist in Christ Jesus, who for us was made wisdom from God, and saving justice and holiness and redemption.
31 As scripture says: If anyone wants to boast, let him boast of the Lord.
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