>> Good evening, everyone. For those of you who are near the back entryway, please at this time, go ahead and take your seats. We will start in just a moment. >> As we gather again to have another praise and prayer time, we are excited. It's a sweet time for us to come together and spend just that extended time practicing the spiritual exercise of prayer, lifting up our request and just also lifting up our song to the Lord.

So we are going to open our minds and hearts to pray together. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we are so grateful to you, constantly remembering, God, that it is an absolute privilege for us to be able to come to you, Lord, to speak to you, lifting up our request to our Abba Father.

And God, we recognize that it is just a sweet joy for us that we are able to unite our voices and lift up to you our song. Father God, we recognize that from long ago, your children, your saints lifted up holy hands and sacrifices to you just showing how worthy you are.

And we come, Father God, with not necessarily tons of sacrifice, but nevertheless still desiring, God, to render to you our affection, our thoughts. And I pray in so doing that the sacrifice or the offering of our faith and love to you would be something so pleasing in your sight.

And we pray, Father God, that all the more as we do this, that you would grow our faith. Lord, that as we exercise in prayer, as we commune with you, Lord, all the more our minds will be convicted and convinced and so confident in your reality, in your truth.

So again, Lord, we just thank you for tonight. We lift this time to you. It's in Christ's name. Amen. Evening, church family. Evening, church family. Let's all rise together as we sing these praises to our God. Come let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord, our God, our maker.

Come let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord, our God, our maker. For he is our God. And we are the people of his pasture. And the sheep of his hand. Just the sheep of his hand. Sing one more time. Come let us worship. Come let us worship and bow down.

Let us kneel before the Lord, our God, our maker. Come let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord, our God, our maker. For he is our God. And we are the people of his pasture. And the sheep of his hand. Just the sheep of his hand.

One more time. For he, for he is our God. And we are the people of his pasture. And the sheep of his hand. Just the sheep of his hand. And the sheep of his hand. Just the sheep of his hand. Before the throne of God above, I have a strong and perfect plea.

A great high priest whose name is love, Whoever lives and bleeds for me. My name is graven on his hands. My name is written on his heart. I know that while in heaven he stands, No tongue can bid me fence depart. No tongue can bid me fence depart. When Satan, when Satan tempts me to despair, And tells me of the guilt within, Upward I look and see him there, Who made an end to all my because.

Because the sinless Savior died, My sinful soul is counted free. For God the just is satisfied To look on him and pardon me. To look on him and pardon me. Behold, behold him there, the risen lamb, My perfect spotless righteousness, The great unchangeable I am, The king of glory and of grace.

One with himself I cannot die, My soul is purchased by his blood, My life is here with Christ on high. With Christ my Savior and my God, With Christ my Savior and my God. One with himself I cannot die, My soul is purchased by his blood, My life is here with Christ on high.

With Christ my Savior and my God, With Christ my Savior and my God. You may be seated. Amen. So as we do with every praise and prayer that we participate in, we want to just have extended times where we're praying and we're singing. And so I want to give a brief overview of tonight, giving also an encouragement about some of the topics and segments of prayer that we all have.

So after I give the introductory section of the topics, the praise team is going to just lead us down the path of walking through prayer of these segments, and then also leading us in song as well. Now in order to give just an encouragement, the first topic always is to think about our own personal faith.

And for I guess in many ways I see personally these praise and prayers as mini retreats. Time to escape away, come together as a church, and then with the lights dimmed down low, be able to pray. As an encouragement to you, I'm not going to walk through every single point, but underneath the segment of personal faith and thinking about our own relationship with God, I want to put up various things that up on the screen that you can look to to inspire you to pray.

But right now I want to give you this encouragement, that there are actually many things that tempt us not to be expressive of our affections and our emotions to God. But we need to be. We need to be very much showing, evidencing, and revealing to the Lord how we actually feel inside.

What do I mean by this is, I think in some ways when we think about this idea of being expressive in prayer, I think there are times when we find discouragement because there are moments when you might want to say to the Lord, "God, I love you so much and I want to be so obedient to you.

Tell me what you would like me to do. Tell me your will and I will follow you." I think many of us have that kind of conviction and we want to say that to God. However, we look at our past two, three weeks, we were busy. Maybe we look at our past month, we tried and maybe we failed.

A lot of times your own discouragement prevents you from expressing your intent, right? But remember our ability to come to God and say to him those things was not because of our track record, right? And what's more, these opportunities to come to pray is the time to make sure we're overcoming those discouragements, not by, "Well, let me overcome my discouragement by my sheer willpower," but by grace, "Lord, I render to you my heart even in the midst of my failures." But also, truth in point, we are sometimes affected so that we're not really expressive to God because of just the awareness of ourselves in light of this kind of social context, right?

But actually, a lot of times the scripture talks about even when we pray, you know, a lot of saints in the old, they would actually stand and raise their hands, not in just singing, but in prayer. Scripture talks a lot about men who would raise up their holy hands in prayer.

But a lot of times, actually, we are aware of the fact that if I'm expressive, that people might see. What am I talking about? There have been actually moments when I do even new member interviews and somebody had just kind of jokingly asked, you know, in worship, "Is it okay to raise our hands?

Is it okay to pray out loud?" And then I look at them, said, "How dare you? Don't you?" Of course, it's okay. As a matter of fact, there is no mandate in terms of how you should use your body in expression. The actual admonition is be free. Be free to worship the Lord to express how you genuinely feel if you're in adoration and amazement to do that.

And so that's my encouragement to you. And again, there are some prayer points here. When we go into the segment on your own personal faith, yes, take your time to do all the various things, but remember to be very expressive with our God. Secondly, I want to give you an encouragement about the second segment of our prayer night.

And we're going to be praying about evangelism, about the perspective that the greatest agenda for us is to share the gospel and see people saved. Right? Part of it is because a lot of the Bible study that we've been studying inductively has talked about this. So as a first verse to encourage you, recall that just a couple weeks ago we studied this passage.

In 1 Peter, it says, "This precious value then is for you who believe. But for those who disbelieve, the stone which the builders rejected, this became the very cornerstone and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. For they stumble because they are disobedient to the word and to this doom they were also appointed.

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, and a people for God's own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of him." I want to pause and just remind us what we studied was that God has a plan to cause us to be such a holy people, such a set-apart people, and it is such a merciful, fatherly plan to cause us to resemble him.

But in that plan, he has designed us to proclaim his name. Amen? He has designed us that later on in verse 12, that because of our good deeds they would observe, and that by observing they would glorify God, and therefore, both on the level of your verbal proclamation of who God is, both on the level of what you speak about, do you speak in such a way where you're proclaiming his goodness, or do you speak in such a way where people are looking at you thinking, "My, you have a lot of complaints.

My, you have a lot of grievances. You carry a lot of baggage." Or are they hearing you and realizing, "Man, why are you so thankful? What are you seeing?" Are your actions observable evidences? These are the things we're convicted of. What's more, 2 Corinthians chapter 5 tells us that you have, yes, a verbal ministry, an action ministry, but you also have a reconciliation ministry.

Essentially, you are thinking about the relationship that every man and woman has with God. It says here, "Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them.

And he has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us. We beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God." Notice, he says we have this ministry and we are ambassadors, not because specifically he is a slave, an apostle, and a messenger, but because of the sheer fact that God is already working and has been manifesting his plan to reconcile sinners to himself.

And so the way we should be thinking about every individual when we look at them is, "What's your relationship to God? Are you far? What's your relationship to God? You don't know him? What is your relationship to God? You have no idea that he's going to judge actions like these?" You see, we're not trying to win over anybody just to conservatism.

We're not trying to get people into better places. We're not trying to get them to healthier lifestyles. We are trying to seek their reconciliation relationally with God. And that should be our greatest, greatest ambition and desire. And we hope that we can spend some extra time, especially as we approach Easter, a great opportunity for us to be active and engaged in the work.

Please note that after the service, the team, the outreach team will be stationed in the back, which sign us for the EV outings that will be taking place. Pray for that and more. Amen? Lastly, lastly, in segment three, we're going to be praying for the things that are happening in Ukraine.

We're going to be praying for people that we are aware of who are going through suffering. Even though in many ways the people in Ukraine are very distant from us, as we watch the news and as we look, it is upon us to keep on praying. You know, the scripture says in 1 Timothy that not only are we praying for all mankind, but we are specifically also praying for people in power.

Take a look at this in 1 Timothy chapter 2. He says, "First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions, thanksgivings be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that they may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.

This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." So as we think about those who are currently fleeing, who have lost so much in threat of danger in their lives, but also we are praying.

I mean, individuals who we think are far beyond the reach of human influence because they exert so much power, individuals who are so far off from what we think to be godliness, we are praying for those so that God would have His mercy on them as well. That God would either restrain them, God would guide their thoughts, God would give wisdom so that there would be deterrence of the kind of attack and pain that is happening now.

So what I am going to do is just take a moment to lead us in a brief prayer, and then we will continue down, our next segment is going to be just a continual path of praying and singing together. So let's take a brief moment to pray. Lord, we lift up to You our prayers and our praises.

For Father God, this is what You have called Your children to do. We pray for great faith as we do so, and we pray Lord that in Your mercies You would hear our prayers. We thank You Lord in Christ's name, amen. (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) >> Father, we thank you for your loving kindness towards us.

We are undeserving of your love. And yet you sent your son to die on our behalf. As we see Lord God Easter approaching, as we celebrate and think through what you have done for us, we pray, Lord God, that you humble us. We pray, Lord God, help us to yearn for you.

Lord God, help us to realize that we can't do it on our own. Help us to see our limitations, Lord God. We ask, Lord God, that your spirit may empower us, Lord. For we need you daily. And oftentimes, Lord God, we think that we can handle things on our own.

But what arrogance. We need you daily. We need you daily. We need you daily. We need you daily. We need you daily. We need you daily. We need you daily. We need you daily. We need you daily. So we ask, Lord God, for your continued grace to help us, to sober us up, to not be entangled, Lord God, in the affairs of this world.

But Lord God, we realize that our spiritual state is contingent upon our trust in you. And how we behave day to day, Lord God, filling our minds with either the world or things of you. So we ask, Lord God, for your strength, Lord God, to see the filthiness of this world and its pending destruction.

That we may turn to Christ and the calling that you've given to us, Lord God, to live a life of holiness, of virtue, of steadfastness, steadfastness of the fruit of the Spirit. So we ask, Lord God, that you be glorified through our lives, that you be pleased with the sacrifices, the offerings that we give of ourselves.

So we thank you, Lord God, for this time to come and pray. Soften our hearts, Lord God. Break us. Humble us, Lord God, to see the urgency and the need for prayer in our own lives. So we entrust this time to you, Lord God, as we spend time praising and singing and praying, Lord God, to you.

Draw us close to yourself. It's in Christ's name we pray. Amen. Come thou fount of every blessing Tune my heart to sing thy praise Streams of mercy never ceasing Calls for songs of loudest praise Teach me some melodious sonnet Sung by flaming tongues above Praise the mountain fixed upon it Mount of thy redeeming love Here I raise Here I raise my Ebenezer Hither by thy help I've come And I hope by thy good pleasure Safely to arrive at home Jesus sought me when a stranger Wandering from the fold of God He to rescue me from danger Interposed his precious blood Oh to grace how great a debtor Daily I'm constrained to be Left thy goodness like a fetter By my wandering heart, too prone to wander Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it Prone to leave the God I love Here's my heart, Lord, take and seal it Seal it for thy courts above Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it Prone to leave the God I love Here's my heart, Lord, take and seal it Seal it for thy courts above Here's my heart, Lord, take and seal it Seal it for thy courts above When the music fades All is stripped away And I simply come Longing just to bring Something that's of worth That will bless your heart I'll bring you more than a song For a song in itself Is not what you have required You search much deeper within Through the way things appear You're looking into my heart I'm coming back to the heart of worship When it's all about you It's all about you, Jesus I'm sorry, Lord, for the thing I've made When it's all about you It's all about you, Jesus King of endless worth No one could express How much you deserve Though I'm weak and poor All I have is yours Every single breath I'll bring you more than a song For a song in itself Is not what you have required You search much deeper within Through the way things appear You're looking into my heart I'm coming back to the heart of worship When it's all about you It's all about you, Jesus I'm sorry, Lord, for the thing I've made When it's all about you It's all about you, Jesus I'm coming back to the heart of worship When it's all about you It's all about you, Jesus I'm sorry, Lord, for the thing I've made When it's all about you It's all about you, Jesus Let's go ahead and take some time to pray for this topic of evangelism.

>> Let's pray together over this topic. Our God, we do recognize that it is both a command, it is both your design and also your calling for every single one of us that we would truly be lights to the world. We would be the light of the world, the light of the people, the love of Christ, the holiness of Christ and more.

And I pray, Father God, that then that would become to us such a vision for our lives, such an ambition. That would be to us the agenda of the day as a church and as an individual. And that would be to us the sharing of the gospel. But Father, I pray that it would be to us where we want to gain wisdom, insight, by knowing people, Lord, gain the discretion of winsome words to say.

To practice our faith in the light of the people. And I pray, Father God, that you grant to us boldness and courage. That we would not be afraid of anything. That we would not be afraid of anything. There is fear in my heart, fear, Father God, of loss, of relationship, putting risk, reputation and sometimes just simply looking stupid.

But I pray, Father God, that we would care for nothing else but that you would be honored. That we would be able to speak of you. That God, there's so many causes to get behind, so many agendas that the world wants from us. But God, help us to be focused.

Help us to be centered on this goal. To exalt you in our day. That if we would die doing that, then we would be satisfied and content. And I pray, Lord, that you would use us to that end. We know, Father God, that we have deficiencies and limitations. But Lord, beyond what is in our own capacity, would you use us for the people that are around us.

For all the family members who don't know you. To the co-workers, to the neighbors, classmates and more. Help us, Father God, to be lights to your glory. We thank you, it's in Christ's name. Amen. As we transition into this topic of Ukraine, I want to encourage us that as we see the suffering, as we follow the news, that many unbelievers obviously are suffering.

The Bible talks about praying and taking care of the household of God. So I encourage you, as we take this time to sing, as we take this time to pray, that we remember our brothers and sisters, that God may empower them, embolden them, that through the suffering that they are going through, that the gospel may be spread.

That they may endure that suffering and bring glory to God. We're going to sing this song, "Lord, Most High." From the ends of the earth, the depths of the sea, that God is good and He is in control. Amen. From the ends of the earth, from the depths of the sea, from the heights of the heavens, your name be praised.

From the hearts of the weak, from the shouts of the strong, from the lips of all people, this song we raise, Lord. Throughout the endless ages, you will be crowned with praises, Lord, most high. Exalted in every nation, your sovereign of all creation, Lord, most high, be magnified. From the ends of the earth, from the depths of the sea, from the heights of the heavens, your name be praised.

From the hearts of the weak, from the shouts of the strong, from the lips of all people, this song we raise, Lord. Throughout the endless ages, you will be crowned with praises, Lord, most high. Exalted, Lord, exalted in every nation, your sovereign of all creation, Lord, most high, be magnified.

One more time, throughout. Throughout the endless ages, you will be crowned with praises, Lord, most high. Exalted in every nation, your sovereign of all creation, Lord, most high, be magnified. Exalted in every nation, your sovereign of all creation, Lord, most high, be magnified. When I fear my faith will fail, Christ will hold me fast.

When the tempter would prevail, He will hold me fast. I could never keep my hope 'til I fear full path. For my love is often cold, He must hold me fast. He will hold me fast. He will hold me fast. For my Savior loves me so, He will hold me fast.

Those he saves are his delight, Christ will hold me fast. Precious in His holy sight, He will hold me fast. He'll not let my soul be lost, His promises shall last. But by Him at such a cost, He will hold me fast. He will hold me fast. He will hold me fast.

For my Savior loves me so, He will hold me fast. For my life He bled and died, Christ will hold me fast. Justice has been satisfied, He will hold me fast. Raised with Him to endless life, He will hold me fast. 'Til our faith is turned to sight, When He comes at last.

He will hold me fast. He will hold me fast. For my Savior loves me so, He will hold me fast. He will hold me fast. He will hold me fast. For my Savior loves me so, He will hold me fast. Father, with what is going on in the world, it's a little difficult for us to know exactly how to pray.

Lord, we are hearing of wars and rumors of wars and famines and earthquakes and different crises that are all around us. But because of the increase of wickedness, we are also sensing our love growing cold. We are reminded, Lord God, in Your truth, that You are sovereign, You are in control, that the hearts of kings, You turn like channels of water wherever You wish.

So we acknowledge at this moment, Lord God, that there is nothing going on in this world that is outside of Your control, that You have not ordained. And Lord, though we don't understand how things are working, we trust, Lord God, that You are good. People are praying for peace on this earth, but we also understand that outside of Christ there is no peace.

So Lord, at this time, we want to pray, Lord, for just the leaders that are involved. Lord, we pray for Putin, knowing, Lord God, that so many in the world hate this man. But we acknowledge, Lord God, that our struggle is not against flesh and blood, that there are dark forces at work.

And we pray, Father, as much as we understand that You harden hearts, that You would change this man, not so that there will be an end to war, but, Lord God, that You would be glorified through this great conversion. And, Lord, we pray also, as people are tempted to idolize the president of Ukraine, to treat this man as a hero, but we acknowledge, Lord God, that he too is just a man.

But we pray that You would give him wisdom, that You would give him boldness, and that this man too would know, Lord God, that there is no other name under heaven by which he can be saved outside of Christ. So we pray, Father God, that as there are many people dying, as there are many people being displaced, as orphans and widows are being formed as we speak, that the churches of Europe, Lord, will mobilize, will receive, and, Lord God, that they would love those that are coming out of the horrors of this war.

And I pray, Father God, for those of us that are oceans away, that You would cause our hearts to be anguished, though we trust and are confident that You are sovereign, that You would cause us to grieve, that You would cause us to pray. Lord, it is our confession that there are more churches and Christians in America complaining about the food shortages, complaining about the gas prices, and not beseeching the Lord of the harvest to send out more workers into the harvest field.

So we beseech You this evening that You would, Lord, send people to love the people that are broken and hurting. And I pray, Father God, that You would cause us to be a church that doesn't just talk, but that You would cause us to be a church that doesn't just give.

Lord, that we would pray, knowing, Lord God, that the struggle is against the dark forces of evil and the principalities, and we know, Lord, that the only weapon against that is not the weapons of this world, but that the weapons that we wield have divine power to demolish strongholds.

So I pray that You would help us not to just pray tonight, but that as we go home that we would be reminded that we would look up the new sources just to be in the know, that You would break our hearts enough that we would not be able to contain intercession.

So would You raise us up at this time to know how to pray? Give us wisdom, give us insight into Your heart, and Lord, fill our hearts with great expectation that one day You will come and You will restore all things to Yourself. So right now, as we are in a time of crisis, Lord, we pray You are the King of kings, Lord of lords, Prince of peace, so we pray that You would glorify Yourself through all of these pieces that are in place, that all of these pieces that are moving in influx, that You would be magnified in this nation and in the nations around Europe, and we pray that You would cause us at the end of the day just to trust You, to obey You, and to intercede.

So we entrust all of these things into Your hands in the name of Your mighty Son, Jesus Christ. We want to take a brief moment to look to our neighbors and pray for each other. So at this time, if you would just pair up into twos and exchange prayer requests, especially those where you want to grow in faith, and then after about 10 minutes of praying together, I'll come back to wrap this up.

So again, if you would just take initiative to look to your neighbor, get into pairs, and exchange prayer requests, and after a short time, I'll come back up. Amen. If we can bring our attention back up here, I apologize if I'm cutting your prayer time short. As you do pray, or as you close off your prayer time, just a quick announcement that for our BAM singles ministry, we're over on the other side after this for an extended time of sharing and praying.

And so if you're able to join us on the other side, please join us to pray. And then as a reminder, as you exit today, there's going to be an opportunity to sign up for the many outings for evangelisms that will take place. And I want to encourage you to sign up for that, for those a lot of times that they've scheduled.

Okay? So at this time, I'm going to close us off to pray. And then after I pray, we're going to just close off the service with a final song together. Let's join our hearts in prayer. Lord, God, we thank you so much again and again, and we don't ever want to grow tired or weary of giving thanks to you.

For Lord, we recognize that this life, it is filled with various struggles, difficulties, but there's also threat, there's spiritual warfare, and more. And we recognize, Father God, that if we're not praying to you, then we're living in absolute risk. We're living in weakness. We're living by sight and not by faith.

And so it is truly our desire, God, to walk humbly with you, with great dependency, regularly praying to you. I ask, Father God, that for our church, you would continue to grow our individual faith, where the convictions that we have over everything we learn in Bible study, that that would be to us the greatest thing, the greatest news, the greatest stories.

Father, what we're being convicted of each Sunday as we're receiving challenge after challenge from your word, I pray, Father God, that those would have its pressing implications on our lives. And I ask, Lord, that in that way, we would be ever-growing, statute to statute, precept to precept. I also pray, Father God, that truly we are engaged in a battle in how we see the world.

And it is our prayer that, especially through times like this, Father, we would refocus our attention to see the things that are of greatest priority and of greatest importance, that, God, we would give ourselves to these things, which amount to loving you and declaring you to the world. Father, we thank you for tonight.

It's in Christ's name we pray. Amen. Church family, let's all stand together. I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene And wonder how he could love me, a sinner condemned unclean I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene And wonder how he could love me, a sinner condemned unclean How marvelous, how wonderful, and my song shall ever be How marvelous, how wonderful is my Savior's love for me He took my sin and my sorrows, he made them his very own He bore the burden to Calvary and suffered and died alone Singing out how, how marvelous, how wonderful And my song shall ever be How marvelous, how wonderful is my Savior's love for me And with the ransomed in glory, his face I at last shall see 'Twill be my joy through the ages to sing of his love for me How marvelous, how wonderful, and my song shall ever be How marvelous, how wonderful is my Savior's love One more time, how marvelous How marvelous, how wonderful, and my song shall ever be How marvelous, how wonderful is my Savior's love for me I love you Lord, and I lift my voice To worship you, O my soul Rejoice, take joy my King In what you hear May it be a sweet, sweet sound in your ear One more time, I love you Lord I love you Lord, and I lift my voice To worship you, O my soul Rejoice, take joy my King In what you hear May it be a sweet, sweet sound in your ear Amen.

Have a good night.