DAY 6: TUESDAY, 18 MAY 2010

FORGIVE! …Forgive us our sins…

To You, our God, belong mercy and forgiveness, for You are merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.

You forgive iniquity, transgression and sin.

The blood of Your Son, Jesus Christ, has been poured out for the forgiveness of sin, and through His blood we are cleansed from all our iniquities.

Let the blood of Jesus speak on our behalf at the Throne of Grace.

Forgive us for our sinful ways.

May the Blood of Jesus sanctify us and cleanse our conscience from acts that lead to death.

Empower us through the Holy Spirit to break the hold of sin over our lives, so that we will abandon patterns of sin and find grace to renounce any allegiance to the powers of darkness.

Let Your Holy Spirit move on the hearts of men and women to convict them of sin and bring them to repentance through godly sorrow.

Soften our hearts to see how lives are destroyed through sins that bring about war, poverty and injustice.

Give us a new spirit and a new heart to obey Your commands and bring joy to Your heart.

Thank You for your patience towards us and for Your desire that all people will come to repentance.

Amen.

DAY 5: MONDAY, 17 MAY 2010

PROVIDE! …Give us this day our daily bread…

Father God, You are YHVH Yireh, the LORD our Provider.

You made a way for us to be reconciled to You through Your Son, Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who is the only sacrifice we will ever need.

You are the Giver of all good things and those who come to you lack nothing.

Jesus promised that when we ask in His Name, You will answer our prayer.

So we ask, please provide in our daily needs.

Enable us through the Holy Spirit to become agents of healing and change in our world. Use us to break patterns of poverty in our communities through our sacrificial giving and sharing.

Have mercy on the poor, the sick, those who are refugees and the children of this world, and provide in their need for food, water and basic health care.

Awaken the hearts of the Church to the spiritual hunger of those who have never heard about You.

Thrust out laborers in the harvest fields of the world to preach the Gospel.

Satisfy those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.

Our eyes are upon you for You are the only one who can supply in both the spiritual and physical needs of the world.

Amen

DAY 4: SUNDAY, 16 MAY 2010

TRANSFORM! …and may Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven…

Praise be to Your Name, O God of the heavens, forever and ever.

Wisdom and power belong to You. You change times and seasons.

You set up kings and depose them.

You give wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning.

You reveal deep and hidden things.

You know what lies in darkness, and light dwells with You.

Your will is that none should perish but all come to the knowledge of salvation through Jesus Christ.

Remove from our hearts all fear of man for wisdom begins with the fear of the Lord.

We pray for all those who are in authority.

Remove wicked council from governments and authorities.

Let righteousness and truth again be the foundation of our justice systems.

Open the doors for believers to influence and bless every aspect of commerce, arts, education and governance in ways that will impact and release the fear of God in our societies.

Let peace prevail in our nations so that the gospel of truth may be preached to every person on this earth.

Transform our hearts through the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit so that the righteousness, peace and joy of Christ’s kingdom will be demonstrated in and through the Church.

Amen

DAY 3: SATURDAY, 15 MAY 2010

RULE! …May your kingdom come…

Lord Jesus Christ, You are the King of the Universe.

The scepter of Your Kingdom is a scepter of righteousness.

Of the increase of Your government and peace there will be no end.

From all the nations we will speak of the glory of Your Kingdom and talk of Your power, to make known to the sons of men Your mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of Your Kingdom.

We pray that many more people will hear the Word of the Gospel of the Kingdom so that there will be a great harvest of souls in our generation.

Let the hearing of Your Word bring faith to many hearts.

Help us, who profess to be followers of Christ, to walk in the fullness of Your Spirit and live in the likeness of Christ so that Your kingdom will be seen in our lives.

As we bow before You in brokenness, come and soften our hearts, so that through the Church the Lordship of Jesus Christ will influence every part of our cities and societies.

We join with every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them to sing:

“To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb, be praise and honor and glory and power, forever and ever!”

DAY 2: FRIDAY, 14 MAY 2010

REVEAL! …sanctify Your name…

Father, Son and Holy Spirit, You are the High and Lofty One who inhabits eternity, and Your Name is Holy.

You revealed Your Fatherhood to us, through Jesus Christ, who is exalted, and at His Name every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

We call upon this Name for salvation.

Your Name has been profaned among the nations and many people have forgotten Your Name and have stretched out their hands to other gods.

Please forgive us, and sanctify Your Name so that all nations, even Your adversaries, shall know that You are Lord and fear Your Name.

Unite my heart to fear Your Name so that I will depart from iniquity and will hold fast to Your Name and not deny You.

With all those who know Your Name, we put our trust in You and wait on Your Name.

May Your Word be translated and made available for every person on this earth to hear Your Word and Your Name proclaimed in their own language.

Blessed be Your Name, and let the whole earth be filled with Your Glory!

From the rising of the sun, to its going down, your Name shall be great and in Your Name the nations will trust!

Amen

Global Day of Prayer, Sunday, 23 May 2010

“may we see the earth covered with the knowledge of the Glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea”.

DAY 1: THURSDAY 13 MAY 2010

REVIVE! …Our Father who is in heaven…

Father God, You are the creator and father of all nations.

You sustain us by the power of Your Word.

We acknowledge that You alone are worthy to receive all praise and honor and glory.

As Christians from around the world, we enter into Your presence through the new and living way that Jesus Christ opened for us by His Blood, to kneel at the Throne of Grace.

We pray that You will revive the Church again through Your Holy Spirit.

Answer the prayer of Jesus that we, as Church, will unite and stand as one family before You.

We pray for those believers who have fallen away that You will draw them back to You and bring them to repentance.

You are faithful and true to Your promises.

Please reveal to us Your loving, compassionate and merciful Father’s heart.

Help us to obey your commandments and to trust You completely for our salvation, our sanctification and our daily walk.

Touch the hearts of millions of believers around the world to persist in prayer until we see the fullness of all Your promises.

Release fresh movements of prayer in every nation of the world so that this generation may accomplish the purposes You have for each one of us.

Here am I, Lord, send me.

Words From David May

SEEING GOD
Sermon by David May

A bus driver and a preacher entered heaven together. To the preachers surprise, he was given a little cottage why in the back. But the bus driver was given a beautiful dwelling place up near the front. Puzzled, he preacher asked why he was given such a small place in the back of heaven. This is the answer he received. When you were preaching , everyone was sleeping. But as for the bus driver, when he was driving, all the passengers were praying.

At the end of the morning church service, a young boy was over heard telling his mother "When I grow up I think I want to be a preacher." "Why?" asked the mother. The boy said, "I think it would be more fun standing up front and yelling, instead of setting here in the pews."

Now I hope no one goes to sleep. And I promise not to yell at you.

Before you became a Christian, What was your mental image of God? How did you picture Him in your mind?

As for myself, I grew up always believing that God existed without trying to make a mental image of Him. Yet Throughout history, mankind have made idols and images, to represent their idea and need of having something to worship as god or gods.

There are basically three types of thought about the existence of God.

1. The Atheist who believes there is no God.
2. The agnostic who believes one cannot know if a God exists; maybe He does and maybe not. One can not know.
3. The Christian who believe in the existence of one supreme God. The God of the Bible.

And the Christian believes that God has the following characteristics.

1. He is omniscience. All knowing
2. He is omnipresent. He is everywhere at the same time.
3. He is omnipotent. All powerful.

Now if there is one here who does not believe in the existence of God, then what I am going to say will make no sense. But on the other hand, if there is one here who is searching for God, I pray that what I say will help in that search.

The first verse in the Bible starts with, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Proverbs 1:7 states, "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom….." And the writer of Hebrews puts it, “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.” Heb. 11:6.

Now in the beginning God walked with Adam and Eve face to face in the garden of Eden. But because of their disobedience their fellowship with God was broken. And from that time on mankind was not able to see God face to face. In fact from that time on mankind has been hiding from God. Genesis 3:8-10.

In the Old Testament, there are several occasions where God has appeared to certain people. One such person was Moses. The interesting story of his encounter with God is found in Exodus 33:18….34:29.

Today, I would like to talk about another person in the O.T. who saw God. The passage of Scripture that describes the scene is found in Isaiah 6:1-13.

I. Isaiah saw God 6:1

After reading this passage, I think it is interesting that Isaiah didn’t try to describe what God looked like. He only noted that God was high and lifted up and had on a robe whose train filled the temple. The long train of His robe signifies royalty and also that He is ready to judge.
How big is God? Remember what happened when Solomon was dedicating the temple? “A cloud filled the temple so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord.” And Solomon said,” But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, the heavens, even the highest heavens cannot contain You, how much less this temple I have built!” 1Kings 8:10-11, 27.

So what was Isaiah’s response when he saw God?

II. Isaiah saw himself. Verse 5

The nearer one approaches God, the more one realizes his Own sin and corruption. And Isaiah saw himself a sinful man when he compared himself to a Holy God. This too should be our response. Now in our present state, we will not see God Like Moses or Isaiah. But with our spiritual eyes, as we read the Bible, we will see God as a Holy God high and lifted up, and ourselves as a sinful person. As it is written, "….all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23

But God has made a provision to correct this problem. In Isaiah’s case, a Seraphs touched his lips with a live coal taken from the altar to purify him. Every time I read this passage I can feel the pain that a hot coal would bring to my lips.

I believe that everyone here has experienced the sensation of being burned at least one in your life. The first time I can remember of being burn was when I was about 5 years old. My parents had bought a new electric stove. The first thing they told me was not to touch the heating element when it was hot because it would burn me. So you can guess what I did when my parents were not looking. That’s right. When they weren’t looking I touched the element. And yes I got burned. Now here is an important point: Jesus took the burn for us by the pain of His death on the cross. "God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God." 2 Corin. 5:21

“But now He has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in His sight, without blemish and free from accusation…” Col. 1:21

And as we walk the Christian life, because we are not perfect, we do sin. And when we do sin, God tells us, "If we confess our sins He is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9

Take my case. I realized that my life style was not pleasing to God. For about 10 years, I walked with my back toward God. I quit attending church. I did thinks that I won’t talk about. I am very thankful that God was patient with me during that time. He didn’t have to use a painful experience to draw me back to Him. He, thru the Spirit, gently drew me back to Him. I am glad that when we error in our ways God has proved a way back to Him as stated in 1 John 1:9
When we are right with God, then comes the next step, like Isaiah, to be concerned with the people around us.

III. Isaiah saw the people.

He heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I sent? And who will go for Us?” Isaiah answered, "Here I am. Send me." Verse 8

But in my case it took me awhile to be concerned with people in other lands. At this point in life I didn’t want to be a missionary in a foreign land. I had entered Bible school and was studying to be a pastor. It was after attending Bible school for a year, that I begin to think about foreign missions.

To make a long story short, after graduating from Bible school, I was invited to join a summer short term program called Scum Dendo; program sponsored by LIFE Ministries which is now Asian Access. That summer minister turned into 28 years. Like Isaiah, I heard the call and said, "Here am I send me."

Isaiah lived at a crucial time. A civil war had split the Israelites into North (Israel) and South(Judah). He was to tell God’s message, a message of glum and judgment, to a specific people, for a specific length of time(the Babylonian captivity), to a calloused people.
Like Isaiah, we live at a crucial time. Like Isaiah, we the New Testament Christians, have been given a commission. But our commission is different. We are to take God’s message to every one, every where, until all nations have heard. And right here in Saitama is the best place to start. There is 1 church for every 18,207 people.

And the message we are to tell is not gloomy, but

Of Love: John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that who so ever believes in Him shall not perish but have ever lasting life.

Of Joy:1 Peter 1:8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Of Peace: John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”

Of Hope: Titus 2:13 “….while we wait for the blessed hope-the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ….”

Friend, if you don’t know were you are going, you got to be careful because you might not get there.

Friend, if you are tired of hiding from God, tired of running from Him, make today the day you turn to Him. Listen! Jesus is tenderly calling, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Matt. 11:28-30

Christian, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field.”

Ask how you can be involved in this harvest.