Great Teamwork Needed
As we have watched the sporting successes and failures in the Olympic Games, we have done it for a variety of reasons. Many have watched because of their deep love of sport. It has been a great spectacle, and Australians have done well. We have seen how great teamwork has helped contribute to their success. Strong teams, just like strong bodies, are made up of interdependent members fulfilling defined tasks. This happens when they have encouraged one another, learned skills from one another, at times have had to forgive one another for mishaps or poor strategies. They have honoured others in their team, respected their different skills and insight, benefitted from the skills of coaches and the backing of friends. What is true about athletic teams can also be true for Christians. Athletes have a variety of strengths – agile strength, relative strength, strength endurance, explosive strength, speed strength, starting strength, maximal strength. These can help determine the roles they play in a team. Christians also have a variety of strengths which determine the roles they play in a team – some are great preachers but not good counsellors, strong leaders but not necessarily compassionate, good managers but not necessarily spiritually sensitive, good at building relationships but not at extending those relationships.
But all require love & hope. Each of us have character strengths, such as curiosity, kindness, and persistence, but also weaknesses. These character strengths really show our uniqueness and give us the ability to encourage one another and to embrace our identity in Christ. Good teamwork is so necessary in all areas of life—our families, our businesses, our communities. Paul reminds us in Romans 12 that bodies don’t function well unless they work together. Neither do churches nor Christian organisations. We need to work as teams where iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another. (Prov 27:17) St Paul described the importance of teamwork for Christians “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others”(Phil 2:3) . We are even told that two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labour. If either falls one can help the other up.(Ec 4:9-10) Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken” (Ec 4:12)
Let’s Pray:
* That as your people we recognise our need to work together as a team, using our different strengths according to the grace given to us, including prophecy, healing, service, teaching, exhorting, contributing generously, leading, or acting with mercy.
* That we acknowledge God as our leader and the third party in every team, adding strength and cohesion to the bond.
* That as your people we understand that reaching goals is God’s doing. What God is doing requires teamwork on our part.
Gender Dysphoria
Today we resume a short series on one of today’s vexing issues that does not affect many people, but those it does it becomes a devasting episode in their life. As Christians we are called to look after our brothers and sisters so whilst we may feel this issue is far from the reality of our world, we believe as Intercessors we need to stand in the gap for all affected by it. Let us therefore pray for those suffering from gender dysphoria and for them to find their identity in Christ. Pertinent scriptures for this issue are “He created them male and female and blessed them.” (Genesis 5:2) and “You knit me together in my mother’s womb. I am fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:13-14).
Let us therefore pray:
* For the medical community to awaken to the biological truth of male and female sexes and reject the false ideology of “gender-affirming” care. Remind them of their Hippocratic Oath to do no harm.
* That the scales will fall from the eyes of government officials at every level, school administrators and teachers, and other allies.
* That more doctors, psychologists, and medical professionals have the courage to speak out against the dangers of puberty blockers, hormone therapies and the lasting and detrimental effects of sex change operations. May they stand up for children and adults whose bodies and fertility are being destroyed by transgender ideology.
Number of Non-Binary Pupils up as Teachers Told to Forgo Using ‘Boys’ and Girls’
The number of school students identifying as neither male nor female is now 20 times higher than before the pandemic according to data released by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA). At least 2560 students enrolled as non-binary last year – up from 128 in 2019. This figure accounts for barely 0.05 per cent of the nations’s four million school students, but even so it creates a legal and ethical minefield for principals and teachers as education departments and anti-discrimination bodies dictate increasingly complex regulations. New school rules warn teachers against calling students boys and girls and referring to parents as mothers and fathers. Schools are forced to introduce gender-neutral uniforms, combine boys’ and girls’ toilet facilities and use gender-neutral pronouns and terms that recognise gender equity.
States are also introducing new laws which allow children to change gender identity school without parents’ permission or consulting medical practitioners. South Australian’s Education Department issued a new “mandated procedure” in February to let schools override parents’ views on a child’s gender. “When parents make it clear they do not support their child’s gender affirmation, the site leader must decide what is in the best interests of the child or young person,” it states. Transforming Families, a federally funded organisation run by the Telethon Kids Institute, has issued a guide for teachers that warns that schools “are fraught with traumatic experiences” for gender-diverse students, such as ‘using the wrong pronouns, separating the class by gender or forcing a non-binary child to use a gendered toilet”.
Please pray:
“We know who he is, and we know who we are: Father and children. And we know we are going to get what’s coming to us – an unbelievable inheritance,” Romans 8:16-17 MSG
* Let’s pray that all Christians stand firmly and strongly for the truth – that God created us male and female. Let us be faithful to Him: faithful in how we love others, and faithful in our dependence on His love to sustain us in our world which is increasingly pagan and hostile to Him. As the rap goes, “Feelings come and feelings go, feelings are deceiving. My warrant is the word of God, nothing else is worth believing!”
* Pray for all Australians to come to the realisation that, as C.S. Lewis put it, “Feelings matter, but they don’t define us,” and that they can resist this tide of woke evil.
* Pray for teachers and students who are intimidated by this tide of evil. Pray for courage and wisdom.
Praying for Issues in the News
* The raising of the terrorism threat risk from possible to probable has highlighted the difficult situation we face as a nation as social cohesion unwinds in our confused and divided world. With disaffected young males the most likely to launch such attacks let us pray that those who become radicalised out of anger, a sense of detachment from the world in which they live, or an attachment to causes they believe give them something to live for, will be discovered before they can carry out any attack. Pray for our law enforcement officers tasked with discovering and stopping such attacks that they will be given divine wisdom and foresight to enable them to block and dissolve any threats before they can be carried out.
* The dismantling of the CFMEU will not be as easy as it may sound with its long and strong attachment to bikie gangs and criminal networks proving difficult to untangle and dissolve. Pray that those tasked with the dismantling will be protected and strengthened in their endeavours and that the impact the CFMEU has had on the construction industry in Australia will be quickly dissipated.
Praying for our Nation
Failure to live in right relationship with God has led to both the church and the Nation living in wrong relationship with man. Because the church has been unwilling to address the sins of the past, God has been bringing these sins to public notice in these days. Because of His great love for us, He is no longer prepared to allow these sins to continue. We must recognise and confess these sins if we are going to be able to repent for these sins and allow God to restore the people and the land. This is called identificational repentance.
This week by the study of His word and the revelation of His Spirit let us identify and pray into the shedding of Innocent Blood in the Nation. Psalm 106:34-38, Isaiah 59:1-7.
Source: Australian Prayer Network
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