All prayer meetings this week in Los Angeles will be by internet or telephone. Each district will announce their plan.
The Building and the Battle
“Those who built the wall and those who carried burdens took the loads with one hand doing the work and with the other holding a weapon.” (Neh. 4:17)
Whenever we enjoy Christ to a certain extent, there is always an issue—the building and the battle. These two always go together. If you would have the building of God, you must prepare to fight. For the building of God we need the materials, and for the fighting of the battle we need the weapons. All of these depend on the stones, the mountains, the iron, and the copper.
These minerals signify that there is something in the life of Christ as materials for the building of God and as weapons for the fighting of the battle. (WL, The All-inclusive Christ, chap. 7, sec. 2)
For the building and the battle, may we progress in our experience of this Christ as “a land whose stones are iron and from whose mountains [we] can mine copper!” (Deut. 8:9).
Prayer for the Current Situation
“The earth is Jehovah’s, and its fullness, the habitable land and those who dwell in it.” (Psa. 24:1)
“In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses every man’s understanding, will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 4:6-7)
* “Let us consider one another so as to incite one another to love and good works, not abandoning our own assembling together.” (Heb. 10:24-25a)
As God’s people, let us pray for the advance of the divine history within the current human history. We need to be sober-minded and vigilant, but we do not need to panic. We believe “the heavens do rule” (Dan. 4:26) so that the environment might be fit for God’s chosen people to receive His salvation. In these days of local and global uncertainty, let us pray for:
- the Lord’s protection of all His people in their health, economics, and other ways;
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the Lord to be wisdom to leading brothers and co-workers everywhere in guiding the church life;
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the Lord’s ruling as King of kings over all the governments and their current decisions;
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an increase in mutual contact and mutual care among the saints;
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all the saints to freshly and joyfully pursue the Lord in our new meeting environment;
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*the speaking of the ministry to continue and to reach everyone;
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the gospel to reach many people who are open due to the current situation.
Los Angeles Young People
All the upcoming young people’s conferences at Oak Glen have been cancelled for the safety of the young people, serving ones, Oak Glen staff, and ultimately all the saints in the churches in Southern California. The coordinating saints are looking to the Lord to provide an alternate arrangement to convey the word and the burden to the young people. We pray that this provision can be as impactful upon them as it would have been at Oak Glen. Further details will be sent in the coming days.
* In LA, we began an online YP meeting Monday and Wednesday each week to check in with our JH and HS students, as well as to share helpful and encouraging topics. More than 30 YP joined the first meeting with positive responses. Please pray for increased care and contact with our YP during the coming weeks. Pray that the hearts of our dear young people would be comforted and encouraged in these days.
FTTA
In light of the rapidly developing situation and in consultation with the medical personnel, the senior co-workers, and the brothers overseeing LSM, we felt it was necessary to continue the FTTA remotely, beginning Monday, March 23, and to ask all the trainees to return to their homes as soon as possible. There is a growing sense of priority, not panic, that we cannot disregard our civic responsibility to society to take measures, though drastic as they may seem, to limit the spread of the coronavirus. It is most definitely wiser to err on the side of caution for the protection of our trainees and the recovery’s name.
* FTT Middle-age
We had fellowship with some senior co-workers regarding what we should do. After much fellowship and deliberation, we decided to suspend this term of the FTT-MA and ask all the trainees to return home this week. All the training classes are therefore cancelled for this term until further notice.
GTCA—Gospelize, Truthize, Churchize America
“I exhort therefore, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercessions, thanksgivings be made on behalf of all men; on behalf of kings and all who are in high position, that we may lead a quiet and tranquil life in all godliness and gravity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of our Savior God, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the full knowledge of the truth.” (1 Tim. 2:1-4)
In order for the Lord’s prevailing move in this country to be realized, we need to pray intercessory prayers for all men, and especially for the leaders of this country. Our prayers are not political in nature; rather, we pray for the Lord’s will in these verses to be fulfilled so that we may lead a quiet and tranquil life in godliness and gravity. Such prayer is with a view to preserving a proper environment that is suitable for “all men to be saved and to come to the full knowledge of the truth.”
New GTCA Website
The website http://GTCA.us has been refreshed. At this site we can subscribe to receive ongoing burdens and news. The site also has information about the ten target cities for migration this year, including a conference and city tour in each city in May. We hope this new site will help facilitate the saints’ participation in GTCA, whether by praying, giving, or migrating. May the Lord use this new site to further His move in North America!
Announcements
- Morning Revival: Crystallization-study of Deuteronomy, week 4.
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http://LSMchristianradio.com broadcasts hymns and messages of the ministry 24 hours each day.
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Memorial Day Conference: May 22 to 25 in Atlanta, GA. Conference and hotel information is posted at https://churchinlosangeles.org/prayer. Saints from LA should RSVP by April 28 at http://tinyurl.com/memdayla.
* additions or updates from the first prayer email for this week.