SeedOffering

I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. ⁷ So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. ⁸ The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. ⁹ For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building. (1 Corinthians 3:6–9)

Paul is addressing the church regarding his concerns about their lack of spiritual maturity. Paul brings clarity regarding both his role and the church’s. Paul and Apollos had two different roles; each were equipped and empowered by God for His increase. It’s not a matter of who fills what role if our hearts are unified with the Spirit and desirous of God’s work to be accomplished. Paul wanted the church to not live in comparison with one another but to work with one another for God.

Praise God for choosing you and using you for His purpose. Ask Him to clarify your purpose. Ask Him to give you the courage to believe that you do have a role for His glory, and ask Him to guide you and lead you to respond to Him alone. Surrender your desires for approval and affirmation from others, confessing that Jesus is enough. Pray that because of who He is in you, you will trust that not a moment today will pass in vain. Today—in traffic, in meetings, in doing laundry and other tasks that may appear to be mundane—ask God to bring you contentment to fill His role through you, right where you are, in each moment.

Prayer Focus: Care Team

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But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. (Romans 6:22)

Paul teaches that we are free from sin because we are slaves to God. We are at once freed, healed, whole, and holy, and we are being healed, being made whole, and growing in holiness. We are belonging and becoming. As we present ourselves to God voluntarily, we can anticipate the beauty of progressive sanctification (holiness) and the fullness of eternal life. Scripture speaks of eternal life as both the immediate and the ultimate product of progressive sanctification.

This is the heartbeat of transformation: being conformed to the image and character of Jesus, living in the fullness of His love in the here and now with great expectation of participating in everlasting life.

Ask God how He desires for you to live freely as a bondservant of Christ. Trust Him for His Spirit to lead you and love you. Right here, Jesus. Right now, Jesus.

Prayer Focus: Bolivia

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“My sons, do not be negligent now, for the Lord has chosen you to stand before him and serve him, to minister before him and to burn incense.”¹² Then these Levites set to work:
from the Kohathites,
Mahath son of Amasai and Joel son of Azariah;
from the Merarites,
Kish son of Abdi and Azariah son of Jehallelel;
from the Gershonites,
Joah son of Zimmah and Eden son of Joah.” (2 Chronicles 29:11–12)

Hezekiah becomes king of Judah, bringing restoration to the temple and hope to God’s people, who were formerly under the rule of King Ahaz. Hezekiah was a devout man of God. He was eager to empower God’s people to appropriate their talents and gifts to the service of His temple.

As God’s chosen people, we have the privilege to serve our God and to lead His people to greater understanding of who He is. Pray for a boldness to rise to the duty, the life, the call that God has placed on your life. Pray for a spirit of humility. Pray to live in the present, willingly receiving the duties to which God has called you in this season. Pray for a generous heart that seeks to recognize that your day is ordered—time is God’s, and resources are His gifts to you for Him. Praise Him for the outcome, unknown to you and entrusted to Him.

Prayer Focus: Prayer Team

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Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. ⁷ Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. (2 Corinthians 9:6) 

Paul is addressing the church of Corinth regarding the posture in which they give. He speaks to the truths of giving back the resources that originate with God, reminding them to give not from guilt or pressure but from a response to the direction of God’s leading in their hearts.

Seek God for a heart willing to give. Ask Him to place His will as the desire of your heart. He already knows what your capacity is in giving; He’s calling you into a deeper heart surrender, a deeper trust in Him. The measure by which we sow is the measure by which we reap. Pray for a heart that’s free to sow abundantly for the outcome of His abundance.

Prayer Focus: Stephen Ministry

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