Praying
for Your Congregation
Psalm
122: 7Peace
be within your walls,
Prosperity
within your palaces.”
8For the sake of my
brethren and companions,
I
will now say, “Peace be within you.”
9Because of the house of
the Lord our God
I
will seek your good. (NKJV)
7O Jerusalem, may
there be peace within your walls
and
prosperity in your palaces.
8For the sake of my family
and friends, I will say,
“May
you have peace.”
9For the sake of the house
of the lord our God,
I
will seek what is best for you, O Jerusalem.(NLT)
I
must begin with a disclaimer. I am NOT
advocating replacement theology in this blog when I speak of the Church and
Jerusalem in the same breath. However,
there are often, not always, double implications in Scripture that can apply to
both. My point in this writing is
intended to make us more aware of our need to have the correct attitude and
prayer posture when we are caring for the Church. Our personal local congregation is a
representation and in fact a living part of the Body of Christ. Like any body it must be cared for properly
and not neglected. The Psalmist here is
deeply concerned about his city and congregation. He prays for peace and declares peace over his
community. Then he said, “I will seek
your good.” A congregation is a delicate
mix of many different opinions, tastes and spiritual gifts. How in the world can such a group walk in
unity and accomplish anything of a redemptive nature? Only in the supernatural arena when the
blessing of the Lord is declared, unity is that location.
Unity is an attitude and a commitment that results in an atmosphere. The
writer makes is very personal and very practical when he says, “for the sake of
my family and friends, I will say, “may you have peace.” He goes on to say, “For the sake of the house
of the lord our God, I will seek what is best for you.”
It
is critical that we all, every single member of the local congregation, pray
and speak peace, unity and good to our congregation. This is especially true when enemies are
outside the gate and possibly even within our walls.
Peace and good to our congregations this day! May we all be instruments of that atmosphere.
No comments:
Post a Comment