Matthew 16:18 would be among my many favorite verses. I like to think of it as Jesus' "Speech from the Throne" where He defines His agenda, goals and the terms by which it will be fulfilled.
I love the part where He says "I will give you the keys and what you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and what you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. While He is committed to building the Church, He empowers the Church to be the instrument through which He accomplishes His goals.
Our great opportunity is to use the keys He has given us to affect the world around us through the power of prayer. I remain captivated with the possibilities of what could happen as 10,000 people a day touch heaven to change earth on behalf of a single MLA and his/her riding.
As this legislative session gets started, there are some specific themes that I'd like to ask you to pray about.
1. Our MLA's. These are hard working people who make some tremendous sacrifices to serve as decision makers and advocates for their particular ridings. It's largely a thankless job that requires travel, time away from home, long hours and endless criticism. They do it because they believe that public service is a noble undertaking. They need protection as they travel, wisdom as they debate and make decisions, grace to deal with the pressure that comes along with the job and courage to make the right choices. Pray that God would bless them and grant them strength as they serve our province in this way.
2. MLA Staff. Every MLA has at least one office with a group of people who are there to serve the MLA and their constituents. They too need grace and strength as they serve in their roles.
3. Provincial Ridings. Every riding has a unique set of challenges and opportunities. As time goes on, we anticipate providing as much information as possible on our prayer calender. In the meantime, please pray that the Lord would begin to work very powerfully in each riding and that His grace, presence and Spirit would flow to every resident, decision maker and leader there.
Let's ask for God's blessing, outpouring and favor on our leaders and their ridings and watch what God will do.
I'd love to hear from you on this!
Have a MIGHTY week!!
Tim
5 comments:
Thanks Tim, I was really wanting some direction on this, I was thinking of emailing you but you just answered my questions.
I add my thanks to Lana's. I wouldn't have thought to pray for the staff. I am finding it a bit of a challenge to pray for just a picture. I look forward to having more information about the MLA and specific issues. Enjoy your week. It is exciting to know that you are where God wants you to be. I will also pray for your family as I know from experience that it is hard to have Dad working away from home.
PS How about adding a link to the prayer calendar in the Links section of your blog.
You both make an excellent point. It's something I've thought of doing on the actual page, but didn't have the space to make it happen. As time goes on, we'll add specific themes to the email blast. If you want to be added, send an email to prayer@leadinginfluence.com and I'll put you on the list. BTW, we'll go over 100 people this week for sure and may go as high as 300. Last week was incredible!
Here's what happened to me yesterday:
I went downtown and bumped (literally) into Wally Oppal at a Starbucks in Pacific Centre. I felt this wierd compulsion to just tell him that I appreciate anyone who tries to make life better. So I did. Didn't tell him I was a pastor or anything. I finished by saying "I really think what you do matters". I think that really got to him.
Keep up the good work Tim.
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