It takes all the praying we can do

This is reposted from March 2012 … 

Dear Racine Bible Church,

Today marks the beginning of our journey through Romans. I am writing you today for the purpose of soliciting your prayers.

Would you pray for the preaching of the Word? Would you commit to pray, throughout this preaching series, that God will bring glory to Himself by causing His Word to bear remarkable fruit at Racine Bible?

The longer I am at this wonderful work, the more convinced I am that I need your prayers.

E.M. Bounds put it like this –

Prayer, to the preacher, is not simply the duty of his profession, a privilege, but it is a necessity. Air is not more necessary to the lungs than prayer is to the preacher. It is absolutely necessary for the preacher to pray. It is an absolute necessity that the preacher be prayed for. These two propositions are wedded into a union which ought never to know any divorce: the preacher must pray; the preacher must be prayed for. It will take all the praying he can do, and all the praying he can get done, to meet the fearful responsibilities and gain the largest, truest success in his great work. The true preacher, next to the cultivation of the spirit and fact of prayer in himself, in their intensest form, covets with a great covetousness the prayers of God’s people.

I need your prayers. And we need God to hear these prayers and answer them according to His power. Unless God fights, the battle will be lost. If God does not take up the work, we labor in vain.

It is possible for my words to do a few things. I can present a sermon which might make someone feel a certain way or want to change this or that behavior. Human words can do these things. But my words cannot do the one thing that must be done: change the heart! When the heart changes, then there is permanent transformation. This is the work of God Himself. Romans calls this “the obedience of faith” (1:6; 16:26). It is called “becoming obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed” in Romans 6:17. Romans 8:4-5 calls it “walking and living according to the Spirit.” This, and nothing less, is what we pray for.

Join together with me in praying earnestly and regularly for God to do this among us. Use these requests to prompt your mind and stir up your heart.

For my part, by God’s grace, I remain eager to preach the gospel to you and to pray for you.

Pastor Spencer DeBurgh

Pray for the Study Leading up to the Sermons

1. That I will understand the meaning of the text through careful interpretation.
2. That I will understand the significance of the text through dynamic application.
3. For the Holy Spirit’s illuminating ministry in my mind.
4. For the Holy Spirit’s convicting ministry in my conscience.
5. That the gospel of God’s grace and love would become more real to me through my study of this text.
6. That my love for Jesus would increase through my study of this text.
7. That God would increase my love for the people who will hear this sermon.
8. For the application of this sermon to be evident in my life as a man of God, a husband, a father and a pastor.

Pray for the Delivery of the Sermons

1. That I will only enter the pulpit after having already submitted my life to this truth.
2. For proper affections in my heart as I preach the sermon.
3. For proper motivation in my heart as I preach the sermon.
4. That the Holy Spirit would provide the power and unction necessary for the ministry of the Word.
5. That God would draw more people into the ministry at Racine Bible Church so they can worship God, learn His truth, and love His people.
6. For clarity in my thinking, speaking and presentation.
7. That the hearers would be granted understanding by the Holy Spirit.
8. That God would be glorified through corporate worship at Racine Bible Church.

Pray for the Response Following from the Sermons

1. That the lost will be saved.
2. That the saved will be filled with faith, hope and love.
3. That the local reputation of Racine Bible Church would be increasingly positive through our obedient, sacrificial living.
4. For Racine Bible Church to become increasingly invested in worldwide missions as a response to the preaching of the Word.
5. That the truths from the sermon will be repeatedly delivered and shared in many ways.
6. That believers would repent of sin earnestly and pursue righteousness zealously.
7. Pray that the experience of worship and the truths of the sermon would not be compartmentalized.
8. That the preaching of the Word would be God’s means of grace by which every member of Racine Bible would remain faithful.