Guided Prayers by Grace CMA Church Grace CMA Church

Welcome to the 2024 GO Week Prayer Experience.

As you enter this space, we hope that you sense the Lord drawing you deeper into His heart for the world. When Jesus was about to ascend into heaven after His resurrection, He left His disciples with what we know as the Great Commission found in Matthew 28:18-20, which says: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”. It is our joy and privilege to join with Christians around the world and throughout the centuries in making known to all people the good news of God’s plan of redemption through Jesus!  One of the ways we step into the authority He’s given us is by praying. As we pray for God’s Kingdom to come and His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven, He works through the prayers of His people. 

We invite you to step into prayer for what God is doing here and around the world. These prayer prompts will provide an opportunity for you to intercede, or pray for others, in some fresh ways, and we pray that the Lord will meet you powerfully as you enter this time. 

When you’re ready, find a place at the dining room table or in front of one of the four large windows in the room. Feel free to interact with as many placemats and prayer stations as you have time for. The following podcast episodes will give you instructions on how to interact with the various prayer stations throughout the room. As you move about the room, push play on the podcast episode that corresponds to what is in front of you.

We pray that you encounter God’s heart for the world as you take this time to pray.

As you come to the dining room table, choose a seat, and sit down. Each placemat focuses on a different international worker, or missionary, who has been sent from Grace Church. Take time to read and imagine yourself sitting at the table with these missionaries. Pray for their needs, their relationships, and the effectiveness of their ministries. Feel free to move around the table and to sit at several spots. After you pray for the missionaries at those place settings, you can also move on to the next prayer prompt, which will include other elements at the table.

As you sit at the table, pick up the different spices that represent spices from around the world. In 2nd Corinthians 2:15, the Apostle Paul says that, “We are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.” Ask the Lord to show you if you have been the sweet aroma of Christ to those around you. If not, ask Him what needs to shift in your life so that everything you do is pleasing to Him. Spend time praying for family and friends who are close to you but far from Jesus.

If someone else is at the table with you, we invite you to pick up the cup of blessing from the center of the table and hand it to another person, praying a blessing over them. Try saying something like, “May the Lord fill your cup to overflowing so that you can fill those around you,” or “May the Lord provide for all your needs according to the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:19).

In the center of the table, you can see diverse fruit from around the world. Just as God uniquely created every fruit differently, He creates people who are a beautiful tapestry of His creativity, and He loves the diverse peoples He has made. In fact, Jesus said that His second coming won’t happen until all peoples have had a chance to hear the good news of Jesus. In Matthew 24:14, Jesus said, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” In fact, one day, when we stand before the throne of God in heaven, we read in Revelation 7:9 that “a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, [will be] standing before the throne and before the Lamb.” Take some time to thank God for His creativity and for His great love for all people. Ask the Lord to increase your love so that you love people the way He does.

The salt shaker on the table is to remind us that Jesus called us “the salt of the earth.” Just as salt adds flavor to food, and preserves its nutritional value, God has surrounded each of us with people He wants us to impact. Ask the Lord to show you new ways that you can be salt and light to those around you.