2 4 - 7 P R A Y E R W E E K D E V O T I O N A L

J U N E 1 4 - J U N E 2 1 2 0 2 0

TAKE TAKE YOUR

STAND YOUR

STAND Vineyard Kids

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mightypower. Put on the full armor of God, so thatyou can take your stand against the devil’sschemes. For our struggle is not against fleshand blood, but against the rulers, against theauthorities, against the powers of this darkworld and against the spiritual forces of evilin the heavenly realms. Therefore put on thefull armor of God, so that when the day ofevil comes, you may be able to stand yourground, and after you have done everything,to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truthbuckled around your waist, with thebreastplate of righteousness in place, andwith your feet fitted with the readiness thatcomes from the gospel of peace. In additionto all this, take up the shield of faith, withwhich you can extinguish all the flamingarrows of the evil one. Take the helmet ofsalvation and the sword of the Spirit, whichis the word of God. EPHESIANS 6:10-17

To get the most out of these daily devotionals, we suggest

you…

1. Find a quiet space where you won’t be interrupted, like your

bedroom, under a table etc

2. Say out loud or in your head ‘Holy Spirit come and sit with

me’

3. Say thank you to God for things that are good

4. Tell him if there’s anything you’re worried about

5. Read the devotional

6. Ask God if he wants to say anything to you

7. Pause and listen

8. Say “I love you God” and off you go!

HOW TO USE THIS BOOKLET

In Wales you know that when it comes to the weather, you’ve got to be

prepared! A proper coat, wellies, an umbrella. You need the right gear!

In Ephesians, Paul tells us to:

Put on the full armour of God, so that you can take your stand against

the devil’s plans.

(Ephesians 6:11)

God gives us the right clothes to be prepared to follow him - a belt of

truth, a breastplate of righteousness (which means our heart is right

before God), shoes so we’re ready to go and spread peace, a shield

made of faith so we know what we believe, a helmet which was given

to us when Jesus saved us, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the

word of God.

Stand up and pretend you’re putting them on. When you’re done say

“God, I’m ready to do your work!”

For the rest of the day, keep your eyes open and if you see something

that God wants you to do, which might be helping someone or praying

for someone, do it –you’re ready!

THE ARMOUR OF GODBE PREPARED

JUNE 14

No-one likes being ill, and God doesn’t like it when we’re ill either. He

created us to be healthy! Read this:

“Suddenly, a man with leprosy approached Jesus and knelt before him.

“Lord,” the man said, “if you are willing, you can heal me and make me

clean.” Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am willing,” he said. “Be

healed!” And instantly the leprosy disappeared.” *(Matthew 8:2-3)

Jesus heals! Don’t take our word for it. Go and read the gospels to see

story after story of him healing people. When Jesus went back to

heaven, he sent the Holy Spirit to fill us and be God’s

power in us, so now we can pray for people to be healed too.

Quickly think if there’s anyone you know who needs healing – got them

in your mind? Great! Now say: “Jesus, [put their name in here] needs

healing because [say why they need healing].

In your name I command that they be made better now!”

And that’s it. It’s that simple. Now do that whenever you meet someone

who needs to be healed. If they’re in front of you and they don’t mind,

put a hand on them. If they’re a long way away it doesn’t matter, God is

there with them.

TAKE YOUR STANDFOR THE SICK

JUNE 15

Can you imagine what it would be like to be in charge of a whole

country? To be in charge of all the money, the army, the NHS, all the

roads and schools. Everything. What a stressful job!

In 1 Kings 3 v7-9 Solomon prays that God would make him wise so that

he can be a good leader. This is a good thing for us to pray for our

leaders too.

So we’re going to pray for our leaders. Lots of people lead you in

different ways, and you can pray for any of them, but we’re going to

help you pray here for our church leaders and our government leaders.

Church – “Jesus, I pray for James and Jen, and for the team they lead

with. Give them wisdom so they know the right decisions to make, and

speak to them clearly.”

Government – “Jesus, I pray for our leaders in government. I pray that

they wouldn’t be too tired and could get some rest, and I pray for

wisdom as they make decisions that affect us all.”

Amazing! Now think about whether there’s anyone else who leads you

that you want to pray for and go for it.

TAKE YOUR STANDFOR OUR LEADERS

JUNE 16

Have you ever been told off for something you didn’t do? How did it

make you feel? Often it makes you cross because it’s unfair. When

things aren’t fair in the world, we call it injustice.

Lots of people have really hard lives simply because of where they were

born, or because other people make choices which hurt them and they

can’t do anything about it. This is injustice, and God does not like it.

Read this command God gives us:

‘Defend the weak and the fatherless, speak up for the poor and the

oppressed. Rescue the weak and the needy, save them from the hand

of the wicked.’

(Psalm 82 v 3-4)

Ask God who he wants you to pray for. Who is being treated badly?

What do you see in life that is unfair? Maybe it’s that some people don’t

have a home, and have to live on the street. Maybe it’s that some

children have to work in factories in other parts of the world to try and

earn enough money to eat? It could be anything.

Pray for God to make their lives better, and then think whether there’s

anything you could do to help.‘

TAKE YOUR STANDFOR THE OPPRESSED

JUNE 17

Do you remember when Alice talked about The Great Commission? She

called it your Number 1 Mission and you can read about it here:

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising 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. (Matthew 28:19-20)

If you follow Jesus you are a disciple, and your Number 1 mission is to

introduce more people to God, because he is their father, he made

them, he loves them and he wants to save them!

There are three really good ways to do this:

1. Tell them all about Jesus

2. Show them what it means to follow Jesus with the way you live your

life

3. Pray for them

We’re going to do the last one right now. Think of someone you know

who doesn’t follow Jesus yet. Pray that they would see God, fall in love

with him and start following him. Amen!

TAKE YOUR STANDFOR  SALVATION

JUNE 18

Do you like being on your own? Some people like it for a bit, but it’s

horrible being on your own for ages and ages. Did you know that in

2018 the government thought we have such a big problem with

loneliness that they made someone the Minister against loneliness –

that’s a proper job!

When we read the Psalms, which are poems all about what God is like,

they say this: God puts the lonely in families (Psalm 68:5)

God doesn’t want anyone to be lonely. Is there anyone you know who

might be lonely? It might be someone who lives on their own, or a kid at

your school who doesn’t have any good friends. Pray that God would

surround them with people who love them.

Do you have any family or friends who live on their own? Give them a

call and ask how they are, tell them what you’ve been doing – they’ll

love to hear from you and you’ll be showing them God’s heart!

TAKE YOUR STANDFOR THE LONELY

JUNE 19

Since the lockdown started churches all over the country have had

people getting in touch who don’t normally go to church, asking about

what they believe and about God. One pastor said that he hadn’t seen

anything like it in 40 years of working for the church!

Sometimes thousands of people all become Christians at one time.

When that happens, we call it revival – a country coming back to life.

Every time there is a revival, it is started by people praying for lots of

new people to start following Jesus.

Pray that people all over the UK would turn back to God and that we

would see an amazing revival this year!

TAKE YOUR STANDFOR THE UK

JUNE 20

The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work

it and take care of it. (Genesis 1 v 15)

Isn’t it amazing that he made the whole world, and gave it to us to look

after – clearly he thinks we can do a great job! When we start seeing

the planet as a gift from God our father, we realise that we should try

really hard to look after it.

But we know that people don’t always look after the world very well.

There is loads of waste and pollution, and it’s damaging the planet.

Pray that people would stop treating this gift from God so badly, and

start finding really clever ways to look after it.

Ask yourself if there’s anything you could do to look after it better?

Could you waste less, or reuse things?

Ask God if there’s anything he wants you to do.

TAKE YOUR STANDFOR THE ENVIRONMENT

JUNE 21

'LET US RUN WITH PERSEVERANCE THE RACE

MARKED OUT FOR US, FIXING OUR EYES

ON JESUS'

HEBREWS 12:1-2