The following are the Diocesan prayer items for the week beginning Sunday 31st May 2020:

1. Thanksgiving

“If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.” (John 14:15-18)

• We thank the Lord that He will not leave us as orphans, and He has given us His Holy Spirit to be our Helper and Counsellor.
• Thank God for healing many from this Covid-19 virus infection especially in this nation. We thank the Lord for His protection over us against Covid-19 as we see the spread of it is largely contained in our nation.
• We praise the Lord that as the nation is moving into re-opening of economic and social activities, most citizens are conscious of their social responsibilities towards each other in maintaining good hygiene
• We thank and praise God that He is our Faithful Father, who takes care of His children, all those who believe in Jesus and acknowledge Him as Lord of their lives.

2. Repentance

Personal and corporate repentance

“Now, therefore,” says the Lord,
“Turn to Me with all your heart,
With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.”
So rend your heart, and not your garments;
Return to the Lord your God,
For He is gracious and merciful,
Slow to anger, and of great kindness;
And He relents from doing harm.
Who knows if He will turn and relent,
And leave a blessing behind Him—
A grain offering and a drink offering
For the Lord your God? (Joel 2:12-14)

• Let us spend sometime asking the Lord to reveal any ungodly ways and works of the flesh in us. Let us not only confess and repent of our sinful deeds (our garments) but repent of our sinful ways and patterns of living, thinking, decision making (our heart) that often led us into sinful deeds and fruitless works.
◦ Ask the Lord to reveal to us if there is any wicked way in us, any thought pattern, emotional responses, anything that is not honouring to the Lord. Confess and repent as the Lord reveals.
◦ Confess and ask the Lord to forgive us that because of our self-centeredness, prejudices and devouring one another, that we have failed or neglected to seek God’s Kingdom first.
◦ Confess and repent of any actions, attitudes, lifestyle choices, personally or corporately that have bore bad witness to Christ, and even become stumbling block to others from knowing Christ and His Resurrection Power.
◦ Confess and repent of how easily we are at times led astray by our flesh and the world.
◦ Confess and repent of our lack of desire to pray.
◦ Confess and repent of prayers that focus selfishly on our own needs, and not on seeking God’s glory and God’s Kingdom.
◦ Confess and repent of praying in an ad hoc manner for our nation. Ask the Lord to forgive us that we only pray for the nation when we see things go wrong, and often we failed to see.
◦ Ask the Lord to reveal to us if the Church has focused too much on program rather than seeking the presence of God, on non-essential building projects rather than building people, on teaching knowledge rather than discipling God’s people, on our own needs rather than the needs of a lost and dying world around us without Christ.
• Ask the Lord to forgive us, our nation and the nations of the world for fighting and competing against each other when situations call for co-operation and tolerance for the greater and common good.

3. Praying for the Church

• Pray for the Holy Spirit to guide, direct and empower God’s people and leaders to strategize for post pandemic life, worship and witness
• Pray for God to re-order relationships and re-center them on Christ in the Church.
• Ask the Lord to stir up His Church in fervent prayers for the Church, our nation and nations of the world.
• Ask the Lord to prepare the Church as His Bride in anticipation of His 2nd coming. (Ephesians 5:26-27)
• Pray to the Lord to show us the way He is bringing revival to the world and pray for God’s people to have a paradigm shift in His direction.
• Pray for the Church that we will be guided into new strategies to reach the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Pray for the coming harvest of souls as we celebrate Harvest Festival.
◦ Pray for the Church we will fix our hope on the Resurrected Christ. Pray for leadership of God’s Church, for divine wisdom to make godly decisions and provide godly leadership over those under their charge. Pray that the Lord will continue to speak to them concerning His Church in the midst of this pandemic. Remember especially our Archbishop and all Bishops.
• Pray for all Christians in politics in the nations, that they will humble themselves before God in the fear of the Lord and make godly choices and responsible decisions for the welfare of the people and the nations.
• Pray that the people of God will find the comfort in the presence of the Risen Christ daily in our lives. As we experience His presence and love, we will find strength to overcome the challenges in life.
• Pray for the Church to be sensitive to the needs of those around them, that we may share God’s love, the message of hope and the gospel of salvation with them, especially the Church in Malaysia and the Province of South East Asia.
• Pray for the Church that during this time we will express practical love and acts of kindness to our neighbors, especially those outside the Church, to testify to the love of God.
• Pray for the Church as we move into re-opening, that the Lord will lead us into this new normal in our fellowship, witness and evangelism, discipleship and ministry.
• Pray for God’s favour, grace and wisdom on all God’s people, that their livelihood will be restored. Pray for those who have lost their jobs or income will experience God’s favour and miracles in their lives in the months to come.
• Pray for Anglican Training Institute (ATI) as we move into online learning. Pray for both tutors and students that they will innovate and continue with effective training of equipping the saints for ministry and the harvest field.

4. Praying for the nations

• Pray that we shall raise a level of repentance before the Lord that will cause His mercy to triumph against the Covid-19 pandemic in the nation.

• Pray for God’s mercy over nations affected by Covid-19 virus and ask God to save the nations. Pray against the destructive work of the enemy against the purposes of God in the nations. (see latest list of nations affected by coronavirus)
◦ Pray against fear, anxiety and hopelessness.
◦ Pray for all those who are or will be affected by the ongoing spread of the coronavirus and pray for healing. Pray for those whose livelihood is adversely affected, and students whose schooling is interrupted.
◦ Pray for our government and other governments around the world, that they would have wisdom to minimize, control and combat this pandemic.
◦ Pray for an availability of resources to help in the fight against this virus, particularly in poor nations.
◦ Pray for protection for medical staff and personnel, and those who are on the frontline including the police, the military, marine, essential service providers, the elderly, those who have underlying health problems, etc.
◦ Pray for the healing and recovery of the economy of the nation and the finances of the people in this nation in the coming months.
◦ Pray for humility for all national and political leaders.

• Pray for our nation, that
◦ our leaders will act in the best interest for the nation, looking out not only for their own interests, but also the interests of the people and the future generations
◦ God will have mercy upon this nation, and protect the people from the effects of any misdeed of the leaders, past and present
◦ God’s timing and manner to execute justice, establish righteousness in the system of government
◦ Decisive and selfless leadership with integrity is evident at all levels.

• Pray against the plague of the heart (1 Kings 8:38-39) in the nations and ask the Lord to open the eyes of the nations through this pandemic of our own folly and waywardness.
• Bring repentance for all the darkness that has filled our land and given the enemy opportunity to afflict us. Many of the behaviors and social activities we call normal are an abomination before the Lord. Spend time seeking the Lord and let Him convict our hearts to repentance.
• Focus on the Cross of Jesus, appropriate the Power of the Name of Jesus against all viruses, all works of the Kingdom of Satan. Begin to resist the enemy from oppressing and intimidating God’s people or anyone who seeks to live, speak and act in righteousness and integrity.

◦ Raise up spiritual warfare against forces of darkness seeking to subject this nation to bondages.
◦ Resist any witchcraft prayers against the government of this nation
◦ Resist the robber, thief and destroyer from ravaging this nation
◦ Raise up spiritual warfare to dethrone the enemy over the economy, education and the administration of this nation.
◦ Spend time praising and worshipping God to enthrone Him