100 Days of Prayer

Devotional

Jul 27

In the book of Ephesians, the apostle Paul describes the new identity believers have in Christ and what the implications are for this new way of life. One of the important callings we have as Christians is to pray for the needs and the well-being of our fellow brothers and sisters but more specifically to pray for the church body that we may carry out the work of the Lord's ministry. Ephesians 6:18 says "And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people." As you may have seen in recent weeks, our conference is currently doing what we call "100 Days of Prayer" where the entire conference spends one week praying for each conference church until General Assembly in October. This week is our week! From early this week to early next, many people in our conference will be praying specifically for us, West Covina Christian Church. Praise the Lord! Outlined below are specific PRAISES and PRAYER REQUESTS I've prepared for the conference. Would you praise God for His faithfulness and pray for our church prayer requests as well? Thank you. Have a blessed week!

Pastor Darren

Praises

Praise God for keeping the church family connected and protected during the pandemic. Despite the challenges of in-person ministry and social isolation, most of our church family (including many of our seniors) were able to stay connected socially and spiritually through online worship service, Children’s and Youth ministry, Life Groups, and virtual bible study and prayer meetings. Contact groups were established to provide social-emotional support and care for one another.
With the need for greater technological capabilities, God has provided a faithful, hard-working Audio-Visual team to enable and support our changing worship service environment for both the English and Nichigo congregations. We began with pre-recorded worship services then moved to live stream. Eventually we went to outdoor worship services in our church courtyard and finally returned indoors to the sanctuary on June 6th.
Praise God for new families and guests coming to church on Sundays seeking to learn more about Jesus, worship the Lord, and grow in their faith. Some newcomers discovered the church because of our live stream capabilities. Praise God for the technology to reach those we might never have met! Connections with several old church members, who now live in other parts of the country, have been renewed as well.
Praise God for new ministry opportunities to serve our community and be a testimony for the Lord. In the past year and half, we’ve established an Education Center which offers tutoring for students in partnership with our local elementary school, Cameron Elementary, established a Rotary Club, and developed important relationships with local civic leaders.
Praise God for several generous donations to the church which enabled us to renovate our sanctuary and foyer this past year. The improvements included the installation of new carpet, replacement of the pews with chairs, and the moving and reconstruction of the sound booth. With this past year’s restrictions on indoor worship service, the pandemic provided a prime opportunity to update the facility.
Praise and thanks to God for his financial provision to the church and the faithful support of church members.

Prayer Requests

Pray for God’s wisdom and discernment about how to spread a passion for Christ within our church family and the surrounding community. Pray that God would help us to keep “the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” when learning to worship and serve together, especially during these times in our nation’s history when it seems there’s so much opportunity for disagreement.
Pray for the Lord’s comfort and care for families that have lost a loved one. In the past several years, we’ve had a number of church members go home to be with the Lord. We are thankful for their faith and legacy but we, and their family and friends, miss their presence dearly.
Pray for God’s guidance as we search for a Director of Worship. May He direct our steps and timing to lead us to the right candidate for the position. Our prayer is that the filling of this position would provide vision and leadership to our existing Worship ministry and support broader outreach to non-believers as well.
Pray for God to strengthen our testimony and increase our effectiveness in our outreach to the community through our Education Center, partnership with Cameron Elementary School, and other community connections.
Pray that the Lord would resource existing ministries in the church (children’s, youth, seniors, welcome, social, compassion ministries) with new and younger volunteers; and develop servant leadership in our younger generations.
Pray for the care of the elderly in the church especially widows, the infirmed, and those that live by themselves.
Pray for the new Evangelism ministry in our church that is going door-to-door in our neighborhood and seeking to use other creative means to invite our neighbors into the church and share the Good News of the Gospel.
Pray for God to work in and through our short-term summer missions team currently serving at NAOMI House (Native American Outreach Ministries Inc.) in Arizona from July 24-30th. Our group consists of 18 team members from youth group to adult age. Pray for their safety and the growth of Christ’s character and missions in each of their lives.