Prayer Before a Conference Eph.3:20-21 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO
As we get ready for our two upcoming conferences here, we need to know about prayer before a conference. Dr. Sam Gipp will be preaching January 31 through February 3, 2016. And then Pastor Joel Logan will be preaching our missions conference February 27 through March 2, 2016. We will also be hearing from the missionaries and another pastor during the missions conference.
The best way for us to prepare for these conferences is to pray. And the scriptures give us a really good idea for what we ought to be praying. Prayer before a conference includes praying for:
God’s glory – Eph 3:20-21 – our prayer should be that God would “do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think” in our church for his glory. It is the ministry of the Holy Spirit to glorify Jesus Christ [Jn 16:13-14] and our prayer should be that Jesus will be glorified in our lives through the preaching of the preachers and the testimonies of the missionaries.
Spirit’s Liberty – 2 Cor 3:17-18 – where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty. We should be praying that there is no restraint to the work of the Holy Spirit in our midst during the conferences. We want him to be able to speak to us through the preaching without distraction and without grief. When the preachers are filled with the Spirit they will be led to say just the right thing at just the right time.
Word’s free course – 2 Thes 3:1 – when the word of God has free course, God can speak to us directly out of his words. All through the church God’s words can be applied to our hearts, ministering to our spiritual needs and directing us according to God’s will. His words must be magnified among us [Ps 138:2].
Preacher’s Boldness – Eph 6:18-20 – when the preachers preach, they have no idea what we need. But God knows. So, we need to pray that the preachers will preach with boldness, preaching the words of God with power and holding nothing back out of fear of man.
Our responsiveness – Rom 15:18, Jas 1:22 – we need to pray that our hearts are tender toward the words of God and the Spirit of God. We need to be obedient and responsive to God’s will for us as a church and as individuals. We need to do what he tells us to do through the preaching of his words.
Conclusion: Now that we know about prayer before a conference, if we will remember to pray like this in preparation for these conferences coming up, I believe the Lord will work mightily among us and glorify himself in our midst and in our lives.