Pray for the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Eurasia and the Slavic Reformation Society from May-June 2016
L stands for liturgist, which is any leader you choose, and C stands for congregation, the rest of those praying with you. If you are alone, feel free to pray the whole thing out loud.
This prayer liturgy is based on the seven requests Rev. Rob Rayburn wrote for the new Eurasia presbytery before it was formed.
L: Lord Jesus, we pray that the pastors and churches represented in the former Soviet Union will be inspired to ever greater labor on behalf of the gospel and the salvation of souls by the realization of what the Lord has already done.
C: We remember Malachi 3: 16, Then those who feared the Lord spoke with one another; the Lord heeded and heard them. We are small and weak, but we come before you now, and are speaking with one another in your presence, so we believe you are hearing and heeding our requests.
L: O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his steadfast love endures for ever! Let Israel say, “His steadfast love endures forever.” Let the house of Aaron say, “His steadfast love endures forever.” Let those who fear the Lord say, “His steadfast love endures for ever.”
C: It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to put confidence in man. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to put confidence in princes.
L: The stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner. This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. his is the day which the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Save us, we beseech thee, O Lord! O Lord, we beseech thee, give us success!
C: Thou art my God, and I will give thanks to thee; thou art my God, I will extol thee. O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures for ever! (Psalm 118)
L: O Lord, we remember that just 35 years ago in the Russian speaking world the authorities were still arresting those who preached the Gospel. And before that hundreds of thousands of believers were killed there for simply believing in You. Now in the Russian speaking world a church movement has been planted that seeks true Christ-likeness in every area of life. On behalf of those countless martyrs of Czarist Russia and the Soviet Union, we praise you that we are able to see a day of religious freedom they longed to see.
C: This is the Lord’s doing: it is marvelous in our eyes!
L: We remember how Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to accomplish his work. Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see how the fields are already white for harvest. (John 4)
C: Oh Lord, help pastors Yuri, Evgeni, Kiril, Ruslan, and Timur burn for a zeal for your glory in Eurasia, that their food would be to do the will of Him who sent them and to accomplish His will, and although with our eyes of flesh we do not see the fields there white for harvest, we pray you make them so, and we see how many of them already are.
L: Lord God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we beseech you that true Christian unity will unite the congregations already in the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Eurasia, with those with whom they have labored in the past, and those that are considering joining them now such as pastor Sergei’s, in a sense of common purpose and Christian affection;
C: May we all see our common life in Christ as scripture declares it to be:
L: So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any incentive of love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, we want to complete our joy Lord, by making us of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.
C: Cause all the churches of Eurasia to remember that Christ being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
L: Father we beseech you that we the supporters and churches of North America, and those of Eurasia would truly enter into working out our own salvation together with fear and trembling; for God is at work in us, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
C: Lord of heaven and earth, we ask that structures and customs will be formed in Eurasia that will simplify and make more efficient the work of the Church in months and years to come;
L: For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.
C: Help the elders of Eurasia to reign by your wisdom, and decree what is just;
L: Give the church leaders of Russia, Latvia, Central Asia, and all the republics of the former Soviet Union wisdom to rule, and nobles to govern the earth according to the Law of Christ.
C: And Lord, cause these men, and the men, women, and children they are teaching and discipling to hear instruction and be wise, and do not neglect it.
L: Oh God, that the necessary financial support for this fledgling Gospel enterprise will not only continue to be received, but will greatly increase and flourish both from churches and friends abroad and from the believers and churches in Eurasia;
C: Lord, maker of heaven and earth, c your people in America and Eurasia to bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in your house; and let your people thereby put you to the test, O Lord of hosts, to see if you will not open the windows of heaven for us and pour down for us an overflowing blessing.
L: You promise us that you will rebuke the devourer for us, so that it will not destroy the fruits of our soil; and our vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the Lord of hosts. Then all nations will call us blessed, for we will be a land of delight, says the Lord of hosts. (Malachi 3)
C: Lord, give the Eurasian ministers and believers grace in the sight of honest, hardworking men there who will be able to tithe to their churches. Cause them to be financially stronger every year so that in 5 years all of the current churches can pay their own pastors, and pay for places of public worship, whether they buy or build their own places, or whether they rent them.
L: Lord, you have promised your people through the prophet Isaiah: Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.
C: For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples;
L: Then you shall see and be radiant, your heart shall thrill and rejoice; because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you, the wealth of the nations shall come to you.
C: Lord, cause the abundance of the sea and wealth of the nations to come into the Slavic Reformation Society so that SRS can continue to not only support these church plants across nine time zones, but can help to plant new churches in all the republics of the former Soviet Union and even send missionaries to surrounding nations, especially those of Islam.
L: We pray that all the financial goals of #RenewRussia2016 are pleasing to you, and will be reached by the end of May, 2016.
C: We pray that each church plant in Eurasia would have the support it needs to allow the ministers to let the light of Christ shine in their communities through their good works, and to sow the word of God broadly in the market places of their culture, and to tend their growing flock. And we pray for the support, normally at least $1,000 per month for each pastor, and $1,000 for each building rental, so that the community sees a public place of worship that reflects the dignity that belongs to such an activity.
L: We pray you would bind evil people from being able to hinder public worship in quality places of all these churches.
C: Lord, we ask you that all the men of the RPCE will continue to grow into positions of spiritual leadership.
L: Give the men the grace to model Christ by being living sacrifices, in the full richness of what it means to be a living sacrifice. Raise up men in these churches whose love is genuine;
C: Lord, hear our prayer.
L: God, we implore you that those in the churches of Eurasia will grow as men and women, husbands and wives, sons and daughters, grandchildren and great grandchildren are added to the faith, and, in particular, that the churches will be furnished with godly, able ruling elders, and leaders of your missions in the USA;
C: Help the husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the Church.
L: Help mothers and fathers to believe your promise “And as for me, this is my covenant with them, say the Lord: my spirit which is upon you, and my words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, or out of the mouth of your children, or out of the mouth of your children’s children, says the Lord, from this time forth and for evermore.” (Isaiah 59)
C: and help them to understand what it means to raise their children in the nurture and admonition, discipline and instruction of the Lord.
L: Lord, hear our prayer.
C: And God, again we say, raise up ruling elders for our churches, as Moses commanded for usto choose able men from all the people, such as fear God, men who are trustworthy and who hate a bribe; and place such men over the people as rulers of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens, give the Eurasian churches such men, that in turn transform the culture and cause Christ to take dominion inand among the 275 million Russian speakers of the world, and of every institution of that culture. (Exodus 18)
L: Lord raise up leaders for your missions in the USA, and for the Slavic Reformation Society, men who understand that your church is to send preachers of the Gospel to the ends of the earth, and that pastors and elders are to do the work of evangelists, which are missionaries.
C: Lord raise up men for SRS who can and will network to raise monies needed and represent your work in Eurasia to the American church, so that we can enlarge the place of our tent, and let the curtains of our habitations be stretched out; and not hold not back, but are able to lengthen your cords because you have strengthened our stakes. (Isaiah 54)
L: God, we implore you to do all this so years from now we will have reason to look back with thanksgiving on a moment that will have proved to be an epoch in the life of Protestant evangelical Christianity in the Russian speaking world, that becomes a model for the whole body of Christ there and around the world.
C: Give us the faith of Habakkuk, to Look among the nations, and see; wonder and be astounded. For you are doing a work in your days that we would not believe if told.
L: So that Isaiah 2 is more and more fulfilled in us and in them and us,
C: It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it, and many peoples shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
This is and will be the Lord’s doing. It is marvelous in our eyes.
In Jesus Christ’s name we pray.
Amen