GRACE: Theme for 2012 June 2 Worldwide Day of Prayer for Prodigals-1

I have the privilege of praying for prodigals with a wonderful online community.  We pray all year for our own prodigals and for each other, and on June 2 each year we pray for thousands more on the Worldwide Day of Prayer for Prodigals.  This letter is the first in a weekly series leading up to June 2.Dear Lover of Prodigals,We are fast approaching our next June 2 Worldwide Day of Prayer for Prodigals.  In several months of asking God what our theme for this year should be, only one word came, repeatedly.  That word was GRACE.In this first mini-devotional on GRACE, I will just try to convey the meaning and magnitude of this word, as it reveals God and His involvement in our lives and the lives of those we are praying for.  In the weeks to come we will look in more depth at how that GRACE is lived out.Our theme verse:  Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (Hebrews 4:16)We are blessed as we come to Him, for our need is great, deep and ongoing.  Thus we have a means to discover the reality of God’s grace in the intense crucible and classroom of our lives with our prodigals.So what is GRACE?In the dictionary, it is defined with words such as favor, goodwill, kindness, forgiveness, charity, love, mercy, clemency, pardon, leniency, reprieve.Sometimes seeing the antonyms also helps us understand meaning:  animosity, enmity, disfavor, harshness, disrespect, dishonor.We gain much greater insight into God’s definition of GRACE from the Greek lexicon.The Greek word for GRACE is CHARIS, which has the same root as words for joy, thanks and gift.  Here are some definitions and descriptions:That which affords joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm, loveliness.Of speech:  goodwill, loving-kindness.Favor of merciful kindness by which God, exerting His holy influence upon souls, turns them to Christ, strengthens them, increases them in faith, knowledge, affection, and kindles them to the exercise of Christian virtues.Living in grace:  the spiritual condition of one governed by the power of divine grace.Gifts of grace:  beneful bounty, recompense, reward, resulting in thanks and gratitudeA few of the gifts Scripture tells us have been bestowed on us by the grace of God, delivered by the Lord Jesus and continually poured out on us and in us by the Holy Spirit:Sufficiency for every need.Redemption.Incomparable riches.EncouragementStrengthGrowthSo as we prepare our hearts for our day on our knees/faces on behalf of our own prodigals and thousands of others, may the GRACE of the Lord Jesus Christ be poured out on us abundantly.GRACE to you, with love,JudyIf you would like to be a part of our prayer for community, or to request prayer for prodigal in your life, please request an invitation here.  We would love to have you join us and would be grateful to pray for someone in your life needing a touch from God.Weeks   1   2   3   4   5   6   7  8