Week 9 | May 30–June 5

Preparing for Pentecost

Prayer Focus

1. Dear Heavenly Father, help us as a people to recognize our great spiritual need, and to put aside any double standards. Help us recognize that apart from You, we can do nothing, but through Your Holy Spirit we can be overcomers. (Claim James 4:8)

2. Precious Jesus, as we enjoy the Sabbath hours, baptize us afresh with Your Holy Spirit, and may this Sabbath be so full of Your Holy Spirit outpouring that everyone around us will be affected as a result. (Claim Acts 1:8)

3. Dear Lord, help us not be content with the Holy Spirit filling we’ve had up to this point, but help us to continually dare to ask for more, because MORE is what you’ve promised. (Claim Eph. 3:20-21)

4. Heavenly Father, there’s many details that need to come together as we prepare for the General Conference session. Please baptize us and baptize our leaders afresh with the Holy Spirit. Be Lord of all the details. (Claim Matthew 8:19-20)

5. Heavenly Father, bless the General Conference business sessions. Pour out Your Holy Spirit in every meeting. May much be accomplished for Your glory! (Claim Jer. 1:5)

6. Dear Jesus, bless all the divine appointments that will happen in the Exhibit Hall. Also pour out Your Spirit on the Back to the Altar revival sessions that will happen in the prayer room. May the entire General Conference session be touched by the many prayers that are even now being prayed. (Claim Jer. 33:3)

7. Lord, for those still wavering in the valley of decision, give them courage to stand for You and be baptized. Help them to choose You today just as You have already chosen them when you died for them on the cross! (Claim Josh 24:15)

Promises to Claim as you Pray

“If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?”
Luke 11:13
 
“We may have had a measure of the Spirit of God, but by prayer and faith we are continually to seek more of the Spirit.” 
Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, p. 507, 508
 
“Ask ye of the LORD rain in the time of the latter rain; so the LORD shall make bright clouds, and give them showers of rain, to every one grass in the field.” Zech. 10:1

Weekly Zoom Prayer Time

Join us Sunday, June 1 at 6:00 A.M. EST (10:00 UTC) on Zoom for the 100 Days of Prayer. Language interpretation for this meeting is available in Spanish, Romanian, Russian, and Swahili.

Zoom link: https://tinyurl.com/BTTA100

Join Zoom | June 1, 6:00 AM EST (10:00 UTC)

Preparing for Pentecost

By Mark Finley

“Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life." 

–Proverbs 4:23

 
Years ago, early in my ministry, I was invited to conduct a Week of Spiritual Emphasis at a Christian elementary school. As the week progressed, it became obvious to me that two of the teachers were having a serious conflict. Their negative attitudes toward one another regularly boiled over in staff meetings. If one suggested an idea, the other opposed it. When both of them were present in a meeting, tension filled the air. It was apparent that they did not like one another at all.
 
Toward the end of the week, I preached on Christ’s great intercessory prayer in John 17. Jesus was about ready to leave His disciples. Soon He would be betrayed and crucified. He would rise from the grave and ascend to His Father. His earnest prayer reflects what was on His heart. It reveals what was on His mind just before His death on the cross. The Savior was concerned about the unity of the church. He prayed, “That they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent me” (John 17:21). Christ longed that the dissension, jealousy, striving for supremacy, and conflict between His disciples cease. He prayed that their unity, in spite of all their differences, would reveal to the world the power of His love. 
 
As I shared the longing of Jesus’ heart with these students and teachers, something remarkable happened. The last night of our Week of Spiritual Emphasis, we scheduled a foot washing and Communion service. The Holy Spirit broke through. God moved powerfully. 
 
The two teachers who experienced such division knelt at each other’s feet. The Spirit of God broke down the barriers. They embraced, confessed their negative attitudes and prayed together...

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