Praying for the church in divisive times

​Last week we looked at three prayers for the church to pray during these divisive times.
1.Division overcome by our unity
2. Seeking the wisdom from above
3. Becoming James 1:19 Christians
Here are two more ways to effectively pray for the church during divisive and unsteady times.
 Pray for the calming of our hearts through growing confidence in God
God is supreme. There is nothing greater or more powerful than God.
“Is anything too hard for the Lord”? (Genesis 18:14; see also Luke 1:37) The answer is NO! Our confidence is based upon God’s nature, not circumstances.  May our hearts find calm in the powerful hand of God, knowing that nothing can overpower God.
God is in control. He is the Alpha and Omega. God is not trying to wrangle in a world out of control; He controls all things. Ephesians 1:11: “In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will.”
God is near. Philippians 4:5-6 “The Lord is near. Do not be anxious for anything but in everything with prayer and petition make your requests known to God”. God walks with you right now, never departing, even in the valley of the shadow of death. Our great confidence in uncertain times is the reliability of our great God whose presence is constantly with us so that we are never alone.
Pray for growing confidence of the hope we have in Christ.
In Christ, we are delivered from God’s wrath and judgement and transferred into eternal life in the holy presence of God. The greatest danger one can face is not death- its death uncovered, naked, in one’s own righteousness. For the Christian, we stand covered in the righteousness of Christ. His wrath has been removed; His Son judged in our place so we can stand before God as righteous. The worst we can face in life was taken up by Christ in our place on the cross and in the tomb. Because He lives, we have life!!
Christ shattered the fear of death in His own death (Heb 2:14-15). We fear God, not death. We are never more alive than when we face death courageously in Christ, knowing He has conquered it.
Now is the time for steady confidence in God. News reports, social media and sorts play on our fears and divide. The Word of God gives us assurance in the uncertain, steadiness in unsteady times, solid rock among sinking sand of world’s philosophies.