PRAYER FOR TODAY SUNDAY 7TH APRIL 2024 – A PRAYER FOR SIMPLE DISCIPLESHIP

DAILY PRAYER AND SCRIPTURE FOR TODAY.

Prayer points and Bible References for today. Remember, prayer is an act of  worship & submission to God. It is a way you ask God to step in, take charge and continue to lead you on the right path. As you worship the Almighty God using this daily prayer point, believe in your heart that your victories for today are already established and no power or principalities can stop you in Jesus precious name, Amen

Today’s prayer focus: A Prayer for Simple Discipleship

“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…” – Matthew 28:19, ESV

Discipleship can seem complicated, can’t it? We often overthink mentoring others by spending too much time considering our method. We dwell on things like:

What program should I follow?
What Bible Study will resonate with them?
What time will work best so that we get the greatest participation?
Don’t get me wrong, we do have to consider the details and make a plan. But if you are like me and you get hung up on the logistics, I wonder if it may be helpful to simplify the way you think about discipleship. A disciple is simply a student. John Mark Comer says in his book Practing the Way that a disciple does three things.

Be with Jesus.
Become like Jesus.
Do what Jesus did.
So, to fulfill Jesus’ command, the call is to teach others to do these three things. Obviously, for each of us, the way we choose to do this will vary significantly from person to person. When I felt convicted to begin discipling others beyond my children, I reflected on the ways I was discipled.

I became a Christian in college. The Lord began placing people in my life who each taught me how to be with Jesus, become like Jesus, and do what Jesus did in different ways. I interned at an Animal Clinic where the vet held a daily devotion and time of prayer before the work day began. I worked at a restaurant where one of my coworkers prayed for me and invited me to church. Once I began attending church with her, her mom and dad regularly invited us to their home for Sunday lunch and games. They also took my then-boyfriend, now husband, through a book study.

The point is that there wasn’t a single method that was more effective than another. The book was transformational, but another book would have proved just as valuable. The time and places we met were significant, but other places and times would have been effective too. I learned to follow Jesus because His people took the time to intentionally teach me what they were taught and to invest in me in the ways they were invested in by others. They didn’t get hung up on how they were going to fulfill God’s command to go and make disciples. They took a chance, made plans, and spent time with me by inviting me into their lives so I could develop a stronger relationship with Christ.

Now as I think about discipling others, I remind myself to simply show up for others the ways those individuals, families, and employers showed up for me. Discipleship does not have to be complicated. May we keep it simple by replicating how others taught us to be with Jesus, become like Jesus, and do what Jesus did.

PRAYER FOR TODAY 7TH APRIL 2023.

Let’s pray:

Jesus,
We thank you for the ways others have obeyed the call to make disciples. Thank you for the big and small ways people have taught us to practice what it looks like to follow you, love you, and love your people. Jesus, forgive us for the ways we let the enemy discourage us from making disciples or allow our own overcomplicated thoughts to distract us from pouring into others.

Lord, will you help each of us reading today, or listening today, reflect on the most impactful and meaningful ways we were taught to be with you, be like you, and do what you did? And will you encourage us to examine how we might reproduce that in our own lives, in our own ways, for the people you placed right around us? In Your name, we pray, amen.

This Is the Assurance of Answers to Your Prayers – Matthew 7:7-11

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.

Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will YOUR FATHER WHO IS IN HEAVEN GIVE GOOD THINGS TO THOSE WHO ASK HIM!