December 2011 Prayer Focus: For Lives of Grace and Truth

Decem­ber Mes­sage from David Wells, Gen­eral Superintendent

This Decem­ber, fam­i­lies and friends will be com­ing together to cel­e­brate Christ­mas, and many of us will do so as an impor­tant com­mem­o­ra­tion of Christ’s birth and why He came. In John 1:14 we are reminded that He came to us full of grace and truth. We desire to be a Pen­te­costal fam­ily that is marked by these characteristics.

Dur­ing this month, let us pray together that our lives may be a tes­ti­mony of the grace shown to us through Christ’s birth, death and res­ur­rec­tion. When it comes to our rela­tion­ships, the core of the gospel is the mes­sage of rec­on­cil­i­a­tion (2 Corinthi­ans 5:18–21). Let us seek har­mony and con­tinue pray­ing for res­o­lu­tion among those bear­ing the pain of bro­ken fam­i­lies or rela­tion­ships. And let us remem­ber those in need of love, of hope, and of the gospel’s trans­form­ing power in their lives.

Pray Every Day 2012 will fol­low a sim­i­lar for­mat to our jour­ney together in 2011, so please be sure to hang on to your resources and watch for infor­ma­tion on how to order more for your con­gre­ga­tion. I look for­ward to shar­ing by video with you each month as together we empha­size the need for us to pray every day.

May you expe­ri­ence His grace and truth this Christ­mas season,

David Wells,

Gen­eral Superintendent

Please read on for a review of December’s prayer focus. You can also e-mail prayer@paoc.org or visit www.paoc.org if you have addi­tional ques­tions.

 Do you have a story to share about this month’s or any other pre­vi­ous prayer focus? Please e-mail us at prayer@paoc.org. Visit www.paoc.org to read other tes­ti­monies of God’s faithfulness.

Decem­ber 2011 Prayer Focus: For Lives of Grace and Truth

Pray that we, empow­ered by the Spirit, will live lives marked by grace and truth as our Lord did.

Pray that we will love our neigh­bours as ourselves.

Pray that we will live with such integrity in the work­place that peo­ple will see our good works and glo­rify our Father in heaven.

Pray that we will boldly pro­claim the good news of our Sav­iour who saves peo­ple from their sins.

Pray that we will be good stew­ards and gen­er­ously meet the needs of others.

Pray that God will place the soli­tary in fam­i­lies, pro­vid­ing them a place to belong, not just at Christ­mas but through­out the year.

Theme Scrip­tures

John 1:14, NIV

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

1 John 2:3–6, NIV

We know that we have come to know him if we obey his com­mands. The man who says, “I know him,” but does not do what he com­mands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if any­one obeys his word, God’s loveis truly made com­plete in him. This is how we know we are in him: Who­ever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.

Matthew 22:35–40, NIV

One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this ques­tion: “Teacher, which is the great­est com­mand­ment in the Law?”

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’This is the first and great­est com­mand­ment. And the sec­ond is like it: ‘Love your neigh­bor as your­self.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Matthew 5:14–16, NIV

“You are the light of the world. A city on a hill can­not be hid­den. Nei­ther do peo­ple light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to every­one in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”

Luke 6:30–35, NLT

“Give to any­one who asks; and when things are taken away from you, don’t try to get them back. Do to oth­ers as you would like them to do to you.

 “If you love only those who love you, why should you get credit for that? Even sin­ners love those who love them! And if you do good only to those who do good to you, why should you get credit? Even sin­ners do that much! And if you lend money only to those who can repay you, why should you get credit? Even sin­ners will lend to other sin­ners for a full return.

“Love your ene­mies! Do good to them. Lend to them with­out expect­ing to be repaid. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be act­ing as chil­dren of the Most High, for he is kind to those who are unthank­ful and wicked. You must be com­pas­sion­ate, just as your Father is compassionate.”

Psalm 68:5–6, NLT

Father to the father­less, defender of widows—this is God, whose dwelling is holy. God places the lonely in fam­i­lies; he sets the pris­on­ers free and gives them joy. But he makes the rebel­lious live in a sun-scorched land.

Related posts:

1. Novem­ber 2011 Prayer Focus: Against Poverty, Dis­ease and Injustice
2. May Pray Every Day Focus | Emphase de prière pour mai 2011
3. Pray Every Day — Sep­tem­ber Focus
4. Pray Every Day April Focus | Prier Chaque Jours Emphase Avril