Week 3: All Things New in My Global Community
DAY 21, Sunday, January 31: GLOBAL CHRISTIAN MOVEMENT
COOPERATION AND WORLDWIDE OUTREACH
TODAY’S SCRIPTURE READING
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.
—Matt. 28:19-20 (ESV)
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.
—Acts 1:8 (ESV)
PRAYER + REFLECTION
- Ask God to bring unity in the church globally, that movements and denominations would cooperate and serve one another as the body of Christ.
- Pray that the global Christian Church would continue to grow through evangelism, healthy discipleship, church-planting, congregations and missionary vibrancy.
- Pray that the Elbridge Community Church outreach would continue to grow locally and globally, deeply and broadly, that we would reach more people for Jesus Christ, experience the fullness of the Holy Spirit, and would remain rooted in God’s Word.
DAY 20: THE DISABLED
DEFENDING AND SUPPORTING THE NEEDY
TODAY’S SCRIPTURE READING
Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute. Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy.
—Prov. 31:8-9 (ESV)
PRAYER + REFLECTION
- Pray and contend for the disabled in areas that provide few or no amenities for them; and pray for a renewed hope through Jesus Christ for those individuals.
- Join in prayer for people who are disabled and living in cultures that stigmatize disabilities and keep them as shut-ins.
- Pray for the Elbridge Community Church missionaries who provide support to people with special needs and disabilities around the world.
DAY 19: CHILDREN + STUDENTS
PROTECTION AND BLESSING FOR OUR CHILDREN
TODAY’S SCRIPTURE READING
Then children were brought to Him that He might lay His hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked the people, but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” And He laid his hands on them and went away.
—Matt. 19:13-15 (ESV)
PRAYER + REFLECTION
- Ask the Lord to bring revival among children and teens throughout the nations, and in particular those in our families and community.
- Pray for the Holy Spirit to spark new movements of young people, even in the world’s most difficult and darkest places.
- Ask God to provide safety and miraculous protection for children from predators, traffickers, abusers, exploiters or any who would do them harm, and for those who work to rescue them.
DAY 18: THOSE SUFFERING UNDER POVERTY
BLESSING “THE LEAST OF THESE”
TODAY’S SCRIPTURE READING
Then the King will say to those on his right, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.”
Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.”
—Matt. 25:34-40 (ESV)
PRAYER + REFLECTION
- Pray for the 256 million people facing food insecurity (double the amount from 2019), that they will eat daily and receive care.
- Lift up the estimated 736 million people living below global poverty standards, that food, clean water, shelter and jobs will be accessible to them; and pray for our Elbridge Community Church missionaries who serve in these areas.
- Ask the Lord to grant wisdom, resources and compassion to the ministries, agencies and governments working to alleviate and end global poverty.
- Pray that the followers of Jesus Christ would always embrace, advocate and care for the global poor.
DAY 17: LABORERS
WORKING FOR A PLENTIFUL HARVEST
TODAY’S SCRIPTURE READING
When He saw the crowds, He had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then He said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”
—Matt. 9:36-38 (ESV)
PRAYER + REFLECTION
- Pray that more laborers would respond to God’s calling to the nations everywhere; and pray for our Elbridge Community Church missionaries who serve around the globe.
- Lift up missionaries and pastors globally, and in particular our Elbridge Community Church missionaries, who are alone or tired, that their strength would be renewed, and that they would experience strong marriages, families, and good health.
- Ask God to open all nations, calling missionaries to bring the gospel to the least-reached people of the world.
DAY 16: UNREACHED PEOPLE GROUPS
PRAYING FOR THOSE WITH NO ACCESS TO THE GOSPEL
TODAY’S SCRIPTURE READING
And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
—Matt. 24:14 (ESV)
After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands …
—Rev. 7:9 (ESV)
PRAYER + REFLECTION
- Intercede for the 3.2 billion people in 7,400 people groups who are still unreached. Ask the Lord to call and send believers to cross barriers and borders with the gospel message.
- Boldly pray against the spiritual forces that keep people locked in darkness and away from the Good News of Jesus.
- Petition God for breakthrough from the secular, systemic and political forces that keep people away from the light of the gospel.
DAY 15: THE PERSECUTED FOLLOWERS OF JESUS
STRENGTH IN WEAKNESS
TODAY’S SCRIPTURE READING
But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
—2 Cor. 12:9-10 (ESV)
PRAYER + REFLECTION
- Pray that persecuted Christians would encounter the sufficiency of God’s grace like never before.
- Pray that persecutors would stop and would come to accept Jesus Christ, as Saul of Tarsus did.
- Ask God to transform the systems, regimes, empires and beliefs that support or allow persecution.
Week 2: All Things New in My Church & Community
DAY 14, Sunday, January 24: NEW HOPE
A NEW HEAVEN AND A NEW EARTH
TODAY’S SCRIPTURE READING
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
—Rev. 21:1-5 (ESV)
PRAYER + REFLECTION
- Repent for the areas in your life where you have lost hope personally.
- Pray that your church would be people of hope in your community.
- Let’s pray: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name; may Your kingdom come; may Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
DAY 13: NEW ACTION
FASTING + PRAYER
TODAY’S SCRIPTURE READING
“Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. And the LORD will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in. “If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the LORD honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly; then you shall take delight in the LORD, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
—Isa. 58:6-14 (ESV)
PRAYER + REFLECTION
- As we are fasting, let us evaluate our fasting practice in light of the reading.
- Pray for insight into ways you and your church can fulfill Isaiah 58 in your community.
- Ask God to inspire partnerships among the body of Christ in every community.
DAY 12: NEW WORK
OPEN HEARTS + READY HANDS
TODAY’S SCRIPTURE READING
So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, 35 but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. 36 As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all), 37 you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.
–Acts 10:34-38 (ESV)
Read the full passage: Acts 10:9-16, 34-47 (ESV)
PRAYER + REFLECTION
- Pray for an open heart to see new things God is doing in His church and in the world.
- Ask God to reveal where He is already at work in people and situations before you join Him in it.
- Pray for the Holy Spirit’s presence to be evident to you.
DAY 11: NEW STORIES
LIVING WATER
TODAY’S SCRIPTURE READING
Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”
Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.”
The woman answered him, “I have no husband.”
Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.”
The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.”
Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.”
Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”
Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.”
—John 4:13-26, 39 (ESV)
Read the full passage: John 4:4-42 (ESV)
PRAYER + REFLECTION
- Ask the Lord how you can engage others, even out of your own need, in such a way that opens them to conversations about Jesus.
- Pray that you would have discernment into the lives of those you engage.
- Ask the Spirit to plant you into the ways he is working in the hearts of people whom Jesus loves so much.
DAY 10: NEW SUPPORT
TAKING THE INITIATIVE TO HELP
TODAY’S SCRIPTURE READING
And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?”
And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”
And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”
But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’
Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?”
He said, “The one who showed him mercy.”
And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”
—Luke 10:25-37 (ESV)
PRAYER + REFLECTION
- Ask God to make you attuned to the needs you encounter “on the way.”
- Pray that you would invite “interruptions” in your life.
- Pray that you would never avoid or pass by someone clearly in need.
DAY 9: NEW AWARENESS
LAMENT + REBUILD
TODAY’S SCRIPTURE READING
As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven.
And I said, “O LORD God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even I and my father’s house have sinned. We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses.
Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples, but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen, to make my name dwell there.’
They are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand. O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.
“Now I was cupbearer to the king.”
—Neh. 1:4-11 (ESV)
PRAYER + REFLECTION
- Pray that your heart will be broken through God’s Word for the plight of your community.
- Allow your new awareness to move you to lament, and let this lament from Scripture guide your prayers and actions.
- Pray to “have a mind to work,” to get involved in rebuilding.
DAY 8, Monday, January 18: NEW RELATIONSHIPS
WELCOMING ALL TO CHRIST’S TABLE
TODAY’S SCRIPTURE READING
He entered Jericho and was passing through. And there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small of stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all grumbled, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham.
—Luke 19:1-9 (ESV)
PRAYER + REFLECTION
- Ask God: Please open my eyes to new opportunities for new relationships in my life.
- Pray to be undeterred, as Jesus was when ridiculed for reaching out to people that others didn’t understand.
- Spend time meditating on how your church can demonstrate Christlike hospitality.
Week 1: All Things New in My Life
DAY 7, Sunday: IN MY LIFE NEW FUTURE
PROMISE OF PEACE + HOPE
TODAY’S SCRIPTURE READING
“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. 13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you, declares the LORD, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the LORD, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.”
—Jeremiah 29:11-14 (ESV)
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
—Romans 5:1-5 (NIV)
PRAYER + REFLECTION
- With new intention, seek the Lord for His plan for you—and let hope arise in your heart.
- Ask God to give you the opportunity to encourage others in the midst of personal suffering.
- Pray for perseverance, and stand firm in the hope of God’s promised future for you.
DAY 6: IN MY LIFE NEW FRUIT
REVIVAL + RENEWAL
TODAY’S SCRIPTURE READING
For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.
—Is. 57:15 (ESV)
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.
—Acts 1:8 (ESV)
PRAYER + REFLECTION
- Pray for a contrite and lowly spirit.
- Ask God to revive and renew your heart.
- Pray that the church, and you personally, would bear fruitful witness, and for revival to be brought to our communities, states, nation and world.
DAY 5: IN MY LIFE NEW BIRTH + RECONCILIATION
BORN INTO A NEW FAMILY
TODAY’S SCRIPTURE READING
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
—1 Pet. 1:3-5 (ESV)
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
—2 Cor. 5:17-21 (ESV)
PRAYER + REFLECTION
- Give thanks to God for redemption and a new life that is hidden in Christ (Col. 3:3).
- Pray for greater understanding of your birth into the family of God, and for an uprooting of anything not planted by Him.
- Ask God for spiritual eyes and ears to see and hear beyond the physical and the audible.
- Pray for selfless, emboldened faith to speak truth in love and to pursue reconciliation of people to God and to one another.
DAY 4: IN MY LIFE A NEW STRENGTH
PATIENCE + ENDURANCE
TODAY’S SCRIPTURE READING
But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; They will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
—Isa. 40:31 (NIV)
PRAYER + REFLECTION
- Ask God for patience in the waiting.
- Pray for renewed strength, elevated perspective and courage to rise above present circumstances.
- Pray for discernment of whether to run or walk in each given situation, and believe for His promise of endurance.
DAY 3: IN MY LIFE NEW MERCIES
GOD’S FAITHFULNESS
TODAY’S SCRIPTURE READING
The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”
—Lam. 3:22-24 (ESV)
PRAYER + REFLECTION
- Say a prayer of gratitude for God’s faithfulness and endless mercies.
- Pray the verses from Lamentations aloud in declaration over your life.
- How will you receive His loving mercy that awaits you each day?
DAY 2: IN MY LIFE A NEW THINKING
RENEWED MINDS, HIGHER THOUGHTS
TODAY’S SCRIPTURE READING
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will.
—Romans 12:1-2 (NIV)
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.
“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; The mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. Instead of the thornbush will grow the juniper, and instead of briers the myrtle will grow. This will be for the Lord’s renown, for an everlasting sign, that will endure forever.”
—Isaiah 55:8-13 (NIV)
PRAYER + REFLECTION
- Ask God to illuminate to you any limiting beliefs, areas of bias or internal narratives that do not align with the Word of God.
- Pray for the Holy Spirit’s transformation through the renewal of your mind.
- Ask the Lord to grant you understanding, and for increased measures of faith that His word will not return void.
DAY 1: IN MY LIFE A NEW HEART
CONFESSION, REPENTANCE + RESTORATION
TODAY’S SCRIPTURE READING
1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. 4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge. 5 Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. 6 Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb; you taught me wisdom in that secret place. 7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. 9 Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. 10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. 11 Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. 13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, so that sinners will turn back to you. 14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, you who are God my Savior, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness. 15 Open my lips, Lord, and my mouth will declare your praise. 16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. 17 My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise. 18 May it please you to prosper Zion, to build up the walls of Jerusalem. 19 Then you will delight in the sacrifices of the righteous, in burnt offerings offered whole; then bulls will be offered on your altar.
—Psalm 51 (ESV)
19 I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. 20 Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God.
—Ezekiel 11:19-20 (ESV)
PRAYER + REFLECTION
- As we commence these 21 days, pray Psalm 51, personalizing it from a posture of contrition, confession and repentance.
- Ask God to give you a tender, responsive heart, and walk in the grace, joy and deliverance He has for you.
- Pray for a willing spirit, and ask the Lord for perpetual praise to be demonstrated in greater ways through your life.