Cahaba Springs members and friends, join us in person or online for worship on Sunday, September 10 at 11 led by liturgist Haley Crew and pastor deNay Kirkpatrick. Our Bible readings are from Romans 13 and 14 and Matthew 18 and our choral anthem is They Shall Soar Like Eagles. Click here for our worship bulletin, hymns and readings, prayer list, and coming events: CSPC-Bulletin-8-10-23.
From the Pastor's Corner,
Below, find the prayer prompts for the first week of our 40 days of prayer. There are also printed copies available in the narthex. Peace, deNay
40 Days of Prayer*
Week One September 11–17, 2023
Day One Scripture: Jeremiah 29:1–14
Focus Text: “When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart, I will let you find me, says the Lord” (vv. 13–14).
Listening to God: When was the last time you really searched for me? Your days are full of other things that compete for your time and attention, but I am the only one who loves you unconditionally and forever. I hold everything in my hands. So much of what you worry about I have already taken care of for you. It will work out. Today, set aside some time to let me bless you with a deeper sense of my presence.
My Prayer:
Day Two Scripture: Lamentation 3:22–33
Focus Text: “It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord” (v. 26). Listening to God: I am a God who loves to save. I like nothing more than bringing my Spirit and my healing into your life. Please give me more room to operate! When you thrash around in complaint and impatience you block my blessings. Take a deep breath and give me time to complete the growth I am trying to bring about in your soul.
My Prayer:
Day Three Scripture: Psalm 42:1–11
Focus Text: “As the deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God” (v. 1). Listening to God: The desire you feel for me is put into your heart by the Holy Spirit. Rejoice in this desire! Hold onto it like a lifeline. Your yearning for me is a sign that my love has been poured into your heart by faith. Your thirst for me draws you closer and closer to me so that I can claim more and more of you. I am using your desire, as unfulfilled and frustrating as it may feel, to transform you into the person I want you to be.
My Prayer:
Day Four Scripture: Acts 17:16–33
Focus Text: “Indeed he is not far from each one of us. For ‘In him we live and move and have our being’” (vv. 27–28).
Listening to God: Know that right at this moment, I am very close to you. The air that you are breathing is a gift from me. The ability to turn a page or read a sentence comes to you right now from my loving hands. It grieves me when you act as though I am far away. You give me great joy when you recognize our intimacy and live like a son or daughter of God. I desire your good as a mother desires good for her infant. Trust me and don’t be afraid!
My Prayer:
Day Five Scripture: Matthew 5:1–16
Focus Text: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (v. 3).
Listening to God: I desire fellowship with you more than anything else in the universe. You often expect me to bless you most in your abundance. This is not the way I work. When I bless you in your abundance, you tend to forget me in fascination with my gifts. The gifts become an idol, and our relationship suffers. It is my way to bless you in your lack, failure, and emptiness. This way you don’t forget me, and I can work my will through you in amazing ways. Look for my hand moving in your life when you are feeling lonely, incompetent, and out of control. Blessed are you when you don’t run away from the means I use to draw you to me.
My Prayer:
Day Six Scripture: Psalm 34
Focus Text: The LORD is near to the brokenhearted, and saves the crushed in spirit” (v. 18). Listening to God: It is sad that you often feel my presence least when you are in the most need. It should be just the opposite. Like any good parent, my love reaches its peak when my child needs help. I have everything you need and want to give it to you. All you have to do is ask. Repent your lack of trust and come to me in prayer. I will bring good out of anything that is tormenting you.
My Prayer:
Day Seven Scripture: Mark 1:14–20
Focus Text: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news” (v. 15).
Listening to God: I want to do something new in you and in your church. This new thing is of a piece with what I have been doing with you, but it is also fresh and different. I want you to turn away from your contentment with the way things are and ask me what I want you to be doing. I want you to partner with me now, not next week or next year. There are people all around you who need what only I can give. Let me use you to be good news to them.
My Prayer:
*Gray, Joan S.; Gray, Joan S. Sailboat Church (p. 118). Presbyterian Publishing Corporation. Kindle Edition.
"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:13
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