Saturday, April 28, 2012
Psalm 82 (with text - press on more info.)
Psalm 82 (New International Version)
Psalm 82
A psalm of Asaph.
1 God presides in the great assembly; he gives judgment among the "gods":
2 "How long will you [a] defend the unjust and show partiality to the wicked? Selah
3 Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed.
4 Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.
5 "They know nothing, they understand nothing. They walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
6 "I said, 'You are "gods"; you are all sons of the Most High.'
7 But you will die like mere men; you will fall like every other ruler."
8 Rise up, O God, judge the earth, for all the nations are your inheritance.
Friday, April 27, 2012
AFWIS and Operation World Together in Prayer
Apr 27: Congo DRC
Congo-DRC
Democratic Republic of Congo (Formally Zaire)
Africa
See Prayer Information
Geography
Area: 2,345,410 sq kmCongo contains most of the Congo River system and much of the vast Central African rainforest.
Population: 67,827,495 Annual Growth: 2.80%
Capital: Kinshasa
Urbanites: 35.2%
HDI Rank: 176 of 182 (UN Human Development Reports 2009)
Peoples
Peoples: 239 (2% unreached) All peoplesUnreached Peoples Prayer Card
Official language: French. Trade languages Lingala/Bangala in north and northwest, Swahili in east and south, Tshiluba in centre and Kikongo/Tuba in west Languages: 217 All languages
Religion
Largest Religion: Christian| Religion | Pop % | Ann Gr | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Christians | 62,503,037 | 92.15 | 2.7 |
| Evangelicals | 12,688,720 | 18.7 | 3.7 |
Answer to Prayer
The Church’s social impact has grown, since it has emerged as the only viable national structure to endure in the general social, political and economic collapse of the country. Despite the destruction of countless churches and ministry buildings, only the Church has plugged the gap left by a failed state in terms of caring for the many needs in this broken land. In the much-needed area of peacemaking and reconciliation, Christians and churches lead the way for a new start to a land that desperately needs one.For an additional 3 Answers to Prayer see Operation World book, CD-ROM, or DVD-ROM.
Challenge for Prayer
The wars of the 1990s and following embroiled the military forces of seven nations and provoked the rise of local inter-ethnic conflicts and warlords. None of these forces and factions had Congo’s best interests at heart. Most foreign forces have withdrawn, although Rwandan troops often cross the border to pursue rebels. Many militias are still at large, and the ravages of war must still be repaired. Pray earnestly for:a) Hostilities to cease and peace to take hold.Now, only the eastern Kivu and northeastern areas remain unstable with regular violence, a patchwork of rebel forces and militias. Pray for international bodies, regional governments and the woefully inadequate DRC army and police to act with justice, decisiveness, wisdom and authority in making and keeping peace. The UN peacekeeping force (MONUSCO) is large but impossibly overstretched in its new remit to help rebuild Congo.
b) Illegal forces to be disarmed and disbanded. Most militias have devolved into little more than personal armies of dangerous warlords, wreaking terror upon an innocent and helpless populace far from the safety of government or international forces. Included among these are the Lord’s Resistance Army (from Uganda) and countless groups in the provinces of Kivu, Maniema and Orientale, including PARECO, CNDP, FDLR, FNI, Simba, Mai-Mai Simba, Mai-Ami Kapopo, Mai-Mai Yakutumba, others. Providing jobs and even basic needs as incentives for these desperate men to lay down their arms is a great challenge. Pray for these men to be convicted and disillusioned with this life and for those continuing to perpetrate such violence to be stopped. Pray for past and present warlords and war criminals to be stopped and brought to justice.
c) The return of the 1.7 million displaced people to their homes. Around 1.3 million people in the east of the country alone have been uprooted. Life in refugee camps is miserable and uncertain. Those interned are vulnerable to militia attacks, disease and sexual predation, and they live with little or no resources for anything beyond mere survival.
d) The cessation of war crimes and exploitation of the conflict. Untold horrors have been committed against many thousands of innocents. Rape is routinely used as a weapon of fear, as are mutilation and torture. Stealing cattle – the portable wealth of many tribes – is a normal activity for militias, as is illicit mining of diamonds and other resources to be sold to unscrupulous foreign buyers. Pray for an end to such evils.
For an additional 7 Challenges for Prayer see Operation World book, CD-ROM, or DVD-ROM.
More Information
The Operation World book, CD-ROM, and DVD-ROM provide far more information and fuel for prayer for the people of Congo-DRC.Endless Hallelujah - Matt Redman (Worship with Lyrics)
When I stand before Your throne
Dressed in glory not my own
What a joy I'll sing of on that day
No more tears or broken dreams
Forgotten is the minor key
Everything as it was meant to be
And we will worship, worship
Forever in Your presence we will sing
We will worship, worship You
And endless hallelujah to the King
I will see You as You are
Love You with unsinning heart
And see how much You paid to bring me home
Not till then, Lord, shall I know
Not till then, how much I owe
Everything I am before Your throne
And we will worship, worship
Forever in Your presence we will sing
We will worship, worship You
And endless hallelujah to the King
No more tears, no more shame
No more sin and sorrow ever known again
No more fears, no more pain
We will see You face to face
See You face to face
And we will worship, worship
Forever in Your presence we will sing
We will worship, worship You
And endless hallelujah to the King
And endless hallelujah to the King
We'll sing
And endless hallelujah to the King
Genesis 49 (with text - press on more info. of video on the side)
Genesis 49 (New International Version)
Genesis 49
Jacob Blesses His Sons
1 Then Jacob called for his sons and said: "Gather around so I can tell you what will happen to you in days to come.
2 "Assemble and listen, sons of Jacob; listen to your father Israel.
3 "Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, the first sign of my strength, excelling in honor, excelling in power.
4 Turbulent as the waters, you will no longer excel, for you went up onto your father's bed, onto my couch and defiled it.
5 "Simeon and Levi are brothers— their swords [a] are weapons of violence.
6 Let me not enter their council, let me not join their assembly, for they have killed men in their anger and hamstrung oxen as they pleased.
7 Cursed be their anger, so fierce, and their fury, so cruel! I will scatter them in Jacob and disperse them in Israel.
8 "Judah, [b] your brothers will praise you; your hand will be on the neck of your enemies; your father's sons will bow down to you.
9 You are a lion's cub, O Judah; you return from the prey, my son. Like a lion he crouches and lies down, like a lioness—who dares to rouse him?
10 The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs [c] and the obedience of the nations is his.
11 He will tether his donkey to a vine, his colt to the choicest branch; he will wash his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes.
12 His eyes will be darker than wine, his teeth whiter than milk. [d]
13 "Zebulun will live by the seashore and become a haven for ships; his border will extend toward Sidon.
14 "Issachar is a rawboned [e] donkey lying down between two saddlebags. [f]
15 When he sees how good is his resting place and how pleasant is his land, he will bend his shoulder to the burden and submit to forced labor.
16 "Dan [g] will provide justice for his people as one of the tribes of Israel.
17 Dan will be a serpent by the roadside, a viper along the path, that bites the horse's heels so that its rider tumbles backward.
18 "I look for your deliverance, O LORD.
19 "Gad [h] will be attacked by a band of raiders, but he will attack them at their heels.
20 "Asher's food will be rich; he will provide delicacies fit for a king.
21 "Naphtali is a doe set free that bears beautiful fawns. [i]
22 "Joseph is a fruitful vine, a fruitful vine near a spring, whose branches climb over a wall. [j]
23 With bitterness archers attacked him; they shot at him with hostility.
24 But his bow remained steady, his strong arms stayed [k] limber, because of the hand of the Mighty One of Jacob, because of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,
25 because of your father's God, who helps you, because of the Almighty, [l] who blesses you with blessings of the heavens above, blessings of the deep that lies below, blessings of the breast and womb.
26 Your father's blessings are greater than the blessings of the ancient mountains, than [m] the bounty of the age-old hills. Let all these rest on the head of Joseph, on the brow of the prince among [n] his brothers.
27 "Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; in the morning he devours the prey, in the evening he divides the plunder."
28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them when he blessed them, giving each the blessing appropriate to him.
The Death of Jacob
29 Then he gave them these instructions: "I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite, 30 the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre in Canaan, which Abraham bought as a burial place from Ephron the Hittite, along with the field. 31 There Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried, there Isaac and his wife Rebekah were buried, and there I buried Leah. 32 The field and the cave in it were bought from the Hittites. [o] "
33 When Jacob had finished giving instructions to his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed, breathed his last and was gathered to his people.
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