Thurs. 8/13: Morning: I Sam. 3, Rom. 3 Eve: Jer. 41, Ps. 17
Q. 79. What is the tenth commandment?
A. The tenth commandment is, “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.”
1. Confess to the Lord any areas in your life (physically, emotionally, or materially) where you are coveting something that belongs to someone else. Pray for true contentment in Christ Jesus.
2. Pray for the Lord to bless our church and to cause us to grow and flourish with spiritual fruit as we reach out to those around us with the Gospel.
3. Thinking of our ministry partners, pray for Cooperative Christian Ministries in their mission to serve the community through meeting the needs of housing, food, and resources. Pray that their ministry would bring people to the saving knowledge of Christ Jesus.
Fri. 8/14: Morning: I Sam. 4, Rom. 4 Eve: Jer. 42, Ps. 18
Q. 80. What is required in the tenth commandment?
A. The tenth commandment requires full contentment with our own condition, with a correct and charitable orientation of our spirit toward our neighbors and all that is theirs.
1. Pray for our city, state, and federal leaders, asking the Lord to give them wisdom and love for the citizens they have been called to serve.
2. Pray for the Holy Spirit to bring revival to our community and nation.
3. Thinking of the churches in our Presbytery, pray for Back Creek Presbyterian Church in Mount Ulla, NC. Pray for them as their search for a senior pastor.
Sat 8/15: Morning: I Sam. 5-6, Rom. 5 Eve: Jer. 43, Ps. 19
Q. 81. What is forbidden in the tenth commandment?
A. The tenth commandment forbids all manner of discontentment with our own state, envying or grieving at the good state of our neighbors, and all excessive feelings and desires for anything that belongs to them.
1. Thinking of our global missions partners, pray for Rick Harper in his call with Serge to oversee church planting and pastoral mentoring over Europe.
2. Pray for the Lord to draw more people to Himself through the war-torn regions of Ukraine, Russian, Iran, and Sudan. Pray, too, for the Lord to work peace in these conflicts.
3. Pray for Mission to the World, The PCA’s world mission agency.
4. Pray for those loved ones in your life that do not know Christ as their Savior.
Sun. 8/16: Morning: I Sam. 7-8, Rom. 6 Eve: Jer. 44, Ps. 20-21
Q. 82. Is anyone able to keep the commandments of God perfectly?
A. Since the fall, no mere human is able to keep the commandments of God perfectly in this life; everyone breaks them daily in thought, word and deed.
1. Pray for those leading worship along with those who will be preaching and teaching
2. Pray for the world-wide church as Christians gather in the midst of persecution and tribulation. Pray too for the Gospel to advance in Iran, Sudan, Nigeria, and other countries experiencing persecution
Mon. 8/17: Morning: I Sam. 9, Rom. 7 Eve: Jer. 46, Ps. 22
Q. 83. Are all transgressions of the law equally evil?
A. Some sins in themselves, and because of various factors that increase their evil, are more evil in the sight of God than others.
1. Using the Preparation for Worship (Heb. 12:18-24), begin this week reflecting on the glorious Kingdom of God and rejoicing that—through Christ Jesus—we are citizens.
2. Ask for an increased passion and love for those around you: those in your family, neighborhood, school/work, and church. Pray for Christ’s power to be at work in you to engage others with the message of reconciliation.
3. Following the command of our passage of the year, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest, both here in Concord and abroad.
Tues. 8/18: Morning: I Sam. 10, Rom. 8 Eve: Jer. 47, Ps. 23-24
Q. 84. What does every sin deserve?
A. Every sin deserves God’s wrath and curse, both in this life and that which is to come.
1. Praise for Katy Kluttz who is healing well from hip replacement surgery. And let us continue to give thanks along with her that this will have been her final procedure!
2. Pray for our children and youth to be growing as disciples, learning what it means to live in the truths of the Gospel. Pray for parents wanting to raise their children in wisdom and grace, especially single parents in our community.
3. Pray for those in your family who are not walking with the Lord and who are grieving His heart. Pray for His Holy Spirit to pursue them and call them to Himself.
4. Pray for our elders and deacons in their calling to shepherd the Lord’s people at Providence, and that the Spirit would give them wisdom and discernment in their loving oversight of the church (especially as we go through transitions and leadership changes).
Wed. 8/19: Morning: I Sam. 11, Rom. 9 Eve: Jer. 48, Ps. 25
Q. 85. What does God require of us that we may escape His wrath and curse due to us for sin?
A. To escape the wrath and curse of God due to us for sin, God requires of us faith in Jesus Christ, repentance that leads to life, and the diligent use of all the outward means by which Christ communicates the benefits of redemption to us.
1. Take time to praise the Lord for the gift of faith which He freely gives and thereby enables us to escape His wrath (as it’s expressed above in Q 85).
2. Pray for Liam Weathers who is moving this week to Boise, ID, to begin his RUF internship. Pray for all the logistics in moving across the country and getting settled.
3. Remember Elizabeth Evans and her siblings as they provide care for their mother, Becky Pritchard, who has had some recent complications but is recovering.
Thurs. 8/20: Morning: I Sam. 12, Rom. 10 Eve: Jer. 49, Ps. 26-27
Q. 86. What is faith in Jesus Christ?
A. Faith in Jesus Christ is a saving grace by which we receive and rest on Him alone for salvation, as He is offered to us in the Gospel.
1. Pray for an increase of faith in Christ Jesus — the kind of faith that enables us to rest secure in Him.
2. Pray for the Lord to bless our church and to cause us to grow and flourish with spiritual fruit as we reach out to those around us with the Gospel.
3. Thinking of our ministry partners, pray for Gate Pregnancy Resource Center and their Gospel service to the unborn in Cabarrus County. Pray for Kathy Bridge and Donna Oliver in their day to day work with mothers, fathers, and volunteers.
Fri. 8/21: Morning: I Sam. 13, Rom. 11 Eve: Jer. 50, Ps. 28-29
Q. 87. What is repentance that leads to life?
A. Repentance that leads to life is a saving grace by which a sinner, out of a true sense of his sin and awareness of the mercy of God in Christ, turns from it to God with grief and hatred of his sin, purposing and working constantly for a new obedience.
1. Reflect on the Q & A above and use this as a prayer for your own life, and also as a prayer for our city, state, and federal leaders.
2. Pray for the Holy Spirit to bring revival to our community and nation.
3. Thinking of the churches in our Presbytery, pray for Grace Covenant Church in Hickory, NC, and for their pastor, Mike Gordon.
Sat 8/22: Morning: I Sam. 14, Rom. 12 Eve: Jer. 51, Ps. 30
Q. 88. What are the outward and ordinary means by which Christ imparts to us the benefits of redemption?
A. The outward and ordinary means by which Christ imparts to us the benefits of redemption are His ordinances, especially the Word, the sacraments, and prayer; all of these are made effectual to His chosen ones for salvation.
1. Thinking of our global missions partners, pray for Bob & Keren Heppe with Serge in London, England, in their ministry to Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs with the Gospel.
2. Pray for the Lord to draw more people to Himself through the war-torn regions of Ukraine, Russian, Iran, and Sudan. Pray, too, for the Lord to work peace in these conflicts.
3. Pray for Mission to the World, The PCA’s world mission agency.
4. Pray for those loved ones in your life that do not know Christ as their Savior.
Sun. 8/23: Morning: I Sam.15, Rom. 13 Eve: Jer. 52, Ps. 31
Q. 89. How is the Word made effectual to salvation?
A. The Spirit of God makes the reading of the Word, but especially the preaching of it, an effectual means of convincing and converting sinners and of building them up in holiness and comfort, through faith, to salvation.
1. Pray for those leading worship along with those who will be preaching and teaching
2. Pray for the world-wide church as Christians gather in the midst of persecution and tribulation. Pray too for the Gospel to advance in Iran, Sudan, Nigeria, and other countries experiencing persecution.