A Way to Pray (Part Four)

By Tom Castor | March 3, 2017 |

This excerpt from Matthew Henry’s (1662-1714) A Method of Prayer is quoted here to assist you in your own prayer for “missions”. Look [here] for a more complete introduction.

Pray for the Health, Purity, and Holiness of the Church

For the amending of everything that is amiss in the church, the reviving of primitive Christianity and the power of godliness, and, to that end, the pouring out of the Spirit.

Lord, let your Spirit be poured out upon your churches from on high, and then the wilderness shall become a fruitful field; then justice shall return to the righteous, and all the upright in heart will follow it. 

Let what remains be put into order, and let every plant that is not of our heavenly Father’s planting be rooted up. 

Let the Lord whom we seek come to his temple like a refiner’s fire and fullers’ soap, and let him purify the sons of Levi and all the seed of Israel, and refine them like gold and silver, that they may bring offerings of righteousness to the LORD, pleasing offerings to the LORD as in the days of old, as in former years. 

Let religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, flourish and prevail everywhere: that kingdom of God among men, which is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.  O revive this work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make it known; and let these times be times of reformation.

Isaiah 32:12; Psalm 94:15; Titus 1:5; Matthew 15:13; Malachi 3:2-4; James 1:27; Romans 14:17; Habakkuk 3:2

 Pray for the Defeat of the Enemies of the Church

For the breaking of the power of all the enemies of the church and the defeating of all their designs against her.

Let all who set themselves, and take counsel together, against the LORD and against his Anointed, who would burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from them, plot in vain. Let him who sits in the heavens laugh at them and hold them in derision; speak to them in your wrath, and terrify them in your fury.  Give them, O LORD, what you will give them; give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts. 

O our God, make them like whirling dust, like chaff before the wind;  fill their faces with shame, that they may seek your name, O LORD,  and that they may know that you alone, whose name is the LORD, are the Most High over all the earth. 

Put them in fear, O LORD, that the nations may know that they are but men!  And wherein the proud enemies of your church deal arrogantly, make it to appear that you are above them. 

May all who hate Zion be put to shame and turned backward! Let them be like the grass on the housetops, which withers before it grows up. 

Let no weapon fashioned against your church succeed, and let every tongue that rises against it in judgment be confuted. 

Make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples, and let all that lift it hurt themselves, though all the nations of the earth should gather against it; so may all your enemies perish, O LORD, but let your friends be like the sun as he rises in his might. 

Lord, let the man of lawlessness be killed with the breath of your mouth and brought to nothing by the appearance of your coming: And let those be undeceived who have long been under the power of strong delusions to believe what is false, and let them love the truth. 

Let Babylon fall and sink like a millstone into the sea; and let the kings of the earth who have given their royal power and honor to the beast, be wrought upon at length to bring them into the new Jerusalem.

Psalm 2:1-5; Hosea 9:14; Psalm 83:13; Psalm 83:16; Psalm 83:18; Psalm 9:20; Exodus 18:11; Psalm 129:5-6; Isaiah 54:17; Zechariah 12:3; Judges 5:31; 2 Thessalonians 2:8; 2 Thessalonians 2:10-11; Revelation 18:21; Revelation 17:17; Revelation 21:26

There are several options, should you want to secure a copy of Henry’s book for yourself. The original can be found in some rare bookshops. A .pdf copy of the original is available [here].  Two modern revisions are available [here] and [here]. Eight Versions are available as free eBooks. [here]. Differences are based on Bible versions used (NIV, ESV, NASB) and the perspective taken (First Person, Corporate). For 13 Convincing Arguments on Why to Pray the Scripture, take a look [here].

Tom Castor

Thomas Castor, founder of Clear and Simple Media Group, is a seasoned writer and communicator who has been delivering content with clarity and simplicity for 30 years.