First Friday Fast 2020 December 4: So That Praying
So That… Two Words That Will Revolutionize Your Praying
As we come to our final First Friday Fast of 2020, a fair question: Why have we been fasting and praying in 2020? We know by now what, our five prayer prompts for the year:
- Denominee Process and Future Team — Seeking His future for Ohio Baptists
- Church Revitalization — Seeking His plan for the church
- Church Planting — Seeking His places for church plants
- Pastors and Leaders — Seeking His favor for pastors, leaders, and their families
- Awakening — Seeking supernatural gospel impact in Ohio and beyond
Today, we remind ourselves of the why. In his longest recorded prayer (John 17) Jesus uses “so that” or variations of it at least nine times. You can find the phrase frequently in Paul’s prayers. So that causes us to ask, why am I asking for this in prayer? We pause to examine the desires and motivations for our requests. Phil Miglioratti states, “The “so that” of prayer must eventually get to bring God glory, or I have no right to ask for it in prayer.”
Does that mean that any personal prayer request is selfish and shouldn’t be asked? Certainly not, we are taught to ask, “for our daily bread.” However, so that praying expresses our motivation.
When you ask that you, your child, or grandchild do well, is it so that everything I/he/she does will glorify Jesus… so that however it goes, well or poorly in my sight, I/he/she may become all He made me/him/her to be?
When you ask for a person to be healed, is it so that he/she might continue to walk with Jesus, so that he/she might continue to share the gospel for His name’s sake, so that the doctors, nurses, and caregivers would see Jesus’ hand at work, so that He will receive all the glory?
So that is not a trick to get Jesus to answer our prayer, but a desire to see Jesus move in such a way that His kingdom, power, and glory are made known, from our neighbors to the nations. It is a Biblical way to make my prayer and focus on Jesus and His purposes. As you pray today, try adding so that to every request and see how it revolutionizes your prayer!
Prayer Guide is available below to download. You can find this and past prayer guides for First Friday Fast 2020 in our Dropbox Showcase (https://shwca.se/FirstFridayFast2020). Please note, all the resources in the Showcase will be available for download until January 31, 2021.
Go HERE to read about our Challenge ’21 prayer initiative, praying 21 minutes more daily in 2021.
Watch the SCBO website and social media for more information.
You also may contact Steve Hopkins
SteveHopkins@scbo.org or 614.601.6820
Because our First Friday Fast for December comes during the Week of Prayer for International Missions and the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering, our focus will be on the IMB vision statement, Revelation 7:9-10, we pray so that there will be:
…a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, which no one could number, standing before the throne and before the Lamb.
For more information about the Week of Prayer for International Missions go to
imb.org/lottie-moon-christmas-offering-week-prayer/
