Opportunities for Prayer and Obedience this Week

(This is the last post until Monday, April 9.) Contents: prayer items and MP3 sermon recommendations.

Pray for:

Bangladesh. 140 million people. One of the world's poorest nations: average income 1% of US. 38% literacy. 86% Muslim, 12% Hindu, 0.7% Christian (mostly nominal). One of the most unreached countries in the world: one missionary for every 300,000 people. Praise God for a growing Church. Need: Church leadership. Pray for: radio, Jesus film, cassette, drama team, Bible distribution ministries.

Belgium. 10 million people. A post-Christian country that is deeply divided due in large part to a history of being fought over by its neighbours. Protestant Church only now recovering from destruction of its 600 congregations by the Spanish Inquisition in the 16th Century. Catholicism is strong but weakening and secularism is taking over. Very few national pastors/leaders. Extremely low giving within the Church. Pray for Christian literature, radio and TV ministries; and praise God that His true Church is growing in Belgium, especially in the Flemish areas.

Uzbekistan. Uzbekistan is right in the middle of the 10/40 Window (most unreached part of the world). The following was taken from OM's annual report: "In the midst of oppression there is a spiritual hunger. We train leaders of the growing house church movement. 'Andy' leads 150 believers gathered in 10 villages. He has never been to seminary, supports himself by driving a taxi, and trains new leaders by simply inviting them to follow him around. The gates of hell cannot stop churches like that." Thought: Andy sounds like a good guy to financially support.

Suggestion: listen to MP3 messages
I have really been blessed and changed through the preaching and teaching ministry of many whose messages are available online as MP3s. Click the "MP3 Sermons" in the right column for speakers categorized by Bible Teaching, Missions, Thinking, Practical Living, Evangelism, and Revival & Prayer.

Romans 12:1-2 says,

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God"--this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.

In order to live for God--to be a "living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God--we need to know God's will. To know God's will, we need to be transformed. To be transformed, we need to have our minds renewed. So the renewal of our minds seems to be the first thing that needs to happen. Hence the critical need to spend time in the Word alone (e.g., devotions) and together (e.g., Bible study), to listen to good Bible teaching (e.g., sermons at church, online MP3s), to think (instead of letting others think for us too much: e.g., TV, media, peer pressure), to ask ourselves how much and where our minds have conformed to the world and, through it all, to ask the Holy Spirit to renew our minds in prayer.