Prayer Guide - Cru

Prayer Guide

This resource is designed for teams and small groups of larger teams

to engage the Scriptures together. A team could spend most of the morning reading, discussing, reflecting on and praying the Scriptures from this guide.

Worldwide Day of Prayer | Tuesday, April 27, 2021

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There is an old joke that goes something like this:

A group of scientists decides that humans have advanced far enough and they no longer need God. They send one of the

scientists to tell God that mankind no longer needs Him.

The scientist explains to God that he and his colleagues can clone sheep, cure diseases, transplant organs, and are even on the brink of being able to create human beings.

God listens patiently and then tells the scientist that in order to proceed in running the world without Him, he needs to create a human being from the dirt, just as He did. God bends down and picks

up a handful of dirt. Likewise, the scientist bends down to pick up a handful of dirt. God interrupts and says,

“Excuse me. Get your own dirt.”

God is both Designer and Creator of everything involved in

His design. That includes the very dust from which we are formed and every one of the emotions with which we respond to the world around us. He is the source.

We are created in the image of God, with God-given abilities and desires to design, create, invent, build, organize, govern, lead, cultivate, grow and improve.

None of these activities would be possible without God, our being made in the image of God, and existing in the world that God created and sustains.

Likewise, when He re-creates us through the forgiveness of sin and regeneration of our darkened hearts, we begin to live life as God intended it from the beginning. Now, made new through Christ’s love, we can experience God’s love flowing through us and the abundance of being designed to love.

This prayer guide is an invitation for individuals and teams to explore and reflect on how God designed us to love.

As you spend time in the Word together, please turn your discoveries into prayers -- written or spoken or silent longings.


2

Ephesians 2:1-10

Read Ephesians 2:1-10 out loud two times slowly. (For each reading, switch translations and readers. Let the listeners absorb the text before discussing it.)

Can someone verbally summarize what this passage is saying? (Allow one person to summarize.)

What would anyone like to add to the summary?

Share and Discuss:• What do we learn about God from this passage?• What do we learn about people from this passage?• What do we learn about God’s design for love from

this passage?

Pause to Pray. Notice if you feel led toward a time of prayer as a result of your discussion and take a few minutes to pray.

Historical Background: Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians was written around 60 AD during Paul’s imprisonment in Rome. Paul spent three years doing ministry in Ephesus and the surrounding area. This letter was likely meant to be circulated to the churches in the region. It did not address any specific problems, but served to strengthen the churches and remind them of the nature and purpose of the church, the body of Christ (p. 2128, Life Application Study Bible, NIV, Tyndale, 1998).


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Background Notes for Further Thought

Ephesians 2:4-7: This picture of God’s delighting to bestow his love on his people forever develops Old Testament pictures of his special love for his people (Deut. 7:6-9).

Scholars have compared the image of the exaltation of the believers in 2:6 with the fairly common Jewish image of the righteous enthroned in the world to come; Christians have begun to experience the life of the coming age in advance. The context would drive an additional point home forcefully to readers once enslaved by fear of Fate or the stars, magic or spirits: to be “seated with Christ” means in 2:6 what is meant in 1:20-21--to be enthroned over the evil powers. Christians need not fear [demons] spirits, Fate or anything else; their lives are ruled by God. (pp. 543-544, Keener, Craig S., Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, IVP, 1993, updated 2014).

Ephesians 2:8-10: Good works flow from what God does in us, rather than God’s work in us flowing from our works. God redeemed Israel before he gave them commandments (Ex. 20:1); it was always his purpose for good works to flow from his grace, even if Israel did not always understand that point (Deut. 5:29; 30:6; 11-14). Most Jewish people in Paul’s day agreed that they were saved by God’s grace in the covenant, but they did not extend this idea to non-Jews, who could not inherit the covenant by virtue of birthright. (p. 544, Keener, Craig S., Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, IVP, 1993, updated 2014).


4

Ephesians 2:11-22

Read Ephesians 2:11-22 out loud two times slowly.(Switch translations and readers. Let the listeners absorb the text before discussing it.)

Can someone verbally summarize what this passage is saying? (Allow one person to summarize.)

What would anyone like to add to the summary?

Share and Discuss:• What do we learn about God from this passage?• What do we learn about people from this passage?• What do we learn about God’s design for love from

this passage?

Pause to Pray. Notice if you feel led toward a time of prayer as a result of your discussion and take a few minutes to pray.


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Ephesians 2:11-13: Most ancient Jewish people believed that non-Jews could never participate in the fullness of the covenant without circumcision, although they could be saved by keeping some basic commandments. To be circumcised was to be grafted into the community of Israel, to become part of God’s covenant family. That done “by hands” evokes a negative phrase in the Greek version of the Old Testament (usually associated with idolatry; e.g., Lev. 26:1). (p. 544, Keener, Craig S., Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, IVP, 1993, updated 2014).

Ephesians 2:14-16: Paul writes this letter from prison because he has been falsely charged with taking a non-Jew inside the temple in Jerusalem (Acts 21:28). Taking a non-Jew beyond a particular dividing point in the temple was such an important breach of Jewish law that the Romans even permitted Jewish leaders to execute violators of this law. Paul’s readers in Ephesus and Asia undoubtedly know why Paul is in prison

(Acts 21:27, 29); thus for them, there can be no greater symbol of the barrier between Jew and non-Jew than the “dividing wall” of verse 14. But Paul says that the dividing wall is shattered in Christ. (p. 544, Keener, Craig S., Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, IVP, 1993, updated 2014.)

Ephesians 2:19-22: In the OT, the only division in the temple was between priests and laity, but by Paul’s day architects had added literal barriers for non-Jews and for women (contrast I Kings 8:41-43). Some other Jewish writers spoke of God’s people as his temple, but only Paul and other early Christians recognized that this new temple included non-Jews. (p. 544, Keener, Craig S., Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, IVP, 1993, updated 2014.)

Around the time that Paul was writing these words, Jews and Syrians were massacring each other in and around Caesarea, a city where he had been not long before (Acts 23:33). Here Paul challenges current day realities with Kingdom of God realities for the newly formed church. (Adapted from, Keener, Craig S., Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, IVP, 1993, updated 2014.)


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From being created in the image of God, seeing the Trinity’s relationship with one another and experiencing God’s love for us in Christ Jesus, we see that we were designed to love. Indeed, we are designed to love together as the body of Christ.

However, our expression of God’s love is affected by sin and the power of Satan at work in the world. Paul addresses the reality of “unseen rulers and authorities” at work in the world and the new Kingdom of God reality at work in the church.

Paul’s references to these unseen powers:• Jesus’s authority is over all powers (Eph. 1:22).• Believers are no longer under the dominion of

Satan and the powers (Eph. 2:3).• God’s wisdom is on display to the authorities in

the creation of the church (Eph. 3:10• Many commentaries see Eph. 6:10-20 as the

climax of the book, where the united church is seen to be in warfare against the powers/authorities, etc. (Eph. 6:12).

Read Ephesians 3:10-11. Imagine and discuss how bringing the Gentiles and Jews into one family reveals God’s wisdom to the “unseen rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.”

Prayer Practice: Spending time in Ephesians, we have been able to discuss and reflect upon God’s plan and wisdom in creating the body of Christ. Pause to pray God’s purposes over the church. (Notice that God’s purpose for the church as explained in Ephesians shares similarities with Jesus’ prayer for his followers in John 17:20-23.)

Designed to Love— Together.


Ephesians 3:10-11: Because these heavenly “rulers” were viewed as angels of the different nations, the unity of the church displayed the rule of God, whose authority transcended that of the angels and all earthly boundaries (p. 545, Keener, Craig S., Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, IVP, 1993.


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Paul’s Prayer, Our Prayer: Paul’s rich relational language in his letter to the Ephesians demonstrates that God’s love creates a chain reaction. God gives us the very love from which He wants us to love. Only if we tried to live apart from Him would God be inclined to say, “Get your own love.”

Paul concludes Ephesians 3 with a beautiful prayer that begins, “When I think of all this….” He’s thinking back on what he has written about:

Prayer Practice: Read and pray Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3:14-21 over the church, over Cru and over partner ministries that come to mind.

God’s love for us, our re-creation in Christ Jesus, the rich diversity of God’s family (the church), God’s masterpiece, the good works planned for God’s family.


8

In Matthew 22:37-40, Jesus answers a teacher of the law who asks Him to give His opinion on what is the greatest commandment. Jesus quotes the Torah (Deuteronomy 6:5):

You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: Love your neighbor as yourself. The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commands (New Living Translation). In Luke 10:25-29, we see Jesus having an encounter with another teacher of the law, who asks Him what he must do to inherit eternal life. When Jesus turns the question back toward the teacher of the law, the teacher quotes the same two commands from the Torah (Deuteronomy 6:5) and then cunningly asks, “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus tells the parable of the good Samaritan.

Prayer Practice: Take the next few minutes to pray silently as someone reads the following reflection for the group. Invite the group to close their eyes and pray silently as the prayer prompts are read:

• Heavenly Father, in my mind’s eye, would You show me someone who has been hurting recently. (15-20 seconds of silence)

• Jesus, would You show me Your compassion for this person or group. (20-30 seconds of silence)

• Holy Spirit, help me to see this person or group as a part of me. As You do, Holy Spirit, empower me to hold them in silent prayer before Father God. (30-40 seconds of silence)

• One person read as a closing prayer: Thank You, Heavenly Father, that You designed me to love, individually and together as part of Your family. Lord, thank You for the opportunity to pause and see someone as a part of me, and, in so doing, open my heart toward them. Thank You that when I see myself in others, I can also see Your grace for them, because my life has been transformed by Your grace for me. Lead me, and lead us, O God, in active love that overturns tables in the heavenlies. Amen.

Love God. Love People “He who is filled with love is filled with God Himself.” —Augustine of Hippo


9


Following Jewish interpretive technique, Jesus links the two commandments (Deut. 6:5; Lev. 19:18) by a common key word: “Love.” Jewish ethics repeatedly stressed love of God and of others…. The image is to love God with one’s whole person…. Jewish tradition sometimes joined the second commandment with the first. Some other teachers also used these commandments as summaries of the law, which is how they appear in their contexts in the Old Testament. (p. 106-107, Keener, Craig S., Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, IVP, 1993.)

Modern-day good Samaritan stories often express what compelled the person to act. The overwhelmingly common thread in these stories is identifying with someone during their time of need or suffering. Good Samaritans often cite how they saw themselves or someone they love in the person they went out of their way to help. In his book, Soul Keeping, author and pastor John Ortberg reflects on loving others with

that good Samaritan kind of love:

Researchers have actually found that we are wired to bless. When we watch another person perform an action, we have neurons that fire just as if we ourselves were performing that action. Researchers speculate that this allows us to learn by imitation, but also to have empathy for other people. Actually, brain studies are teaching us even more about the soul than that. When we watch another person suffer, a part deep in the brain burns with activity. The greater the distress, the brighter the area burns. However, [this brain activity] does not predict altruism. That is predicted by activity in another part of the brain. It turns out that we are most likely to actually help someone, not simply when we see them suffer, but when we also consider ourselves “attached” to them.

Seeing suffering does not move me to act if I think of the person as “him.” But when I think of that person as part of “us,” part of

“me,” then I am moved to bless. Jesus may have been speaking quite literally when he said, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

—Adapted from John Ortberg, Soul Keeping, pp. 159-160.


10

The more you are called to speak for God’s love, the more you will need to deepen the knowledge of that love in your own heart. The farther the outward journey takes you, the deeper the inward journey must be. Only when your roots are deep can your fruits be abundant.

—Henri Nouwen

The Scriptures are full of many beautiful passages of Scripture that illuminate how God has designed us to receive and give love. Praying God’s word is powerful. Most likely other Scripture passages about love have come to your mind as you reflect on the theme “Designed to Love.” There is a richness your team or small group can experience by praying the Scriptures that God brings to your minds.

Prayer Practice: Pause to reflect. What Scriptures come to your mind when you consider that we are designed to love? Did you think of a Scripture earlier but not get to mention it in discussion? Do you have keywords of a Scripture in mind but need to take a moment to search for it? Take a few minutes to reflect and notice.

Continuing to Pray through Scripture


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As a group, decide on a method for praying through these Scriptures together. Pray the Scriptures specifically over:

• Cru staff in the U.S. • Cru staff in Western Europe

(our prayer partners for the day)• Other partner organizations

Some passages to get started:

• Matthew 5:43-48—Love your enemies.• John 15:12-14—Love one another as I have loved you.• Romans 5:8—God demonstrates His love for us.• Romans 13:8—We have a continuing debt to love

one another.• Romans 13:10—Love does no harm to a neighbor.• I Corinthians 13:4-8—Love is….• Galatians 5:22-23—The fruit of the Spirit is love …• Ephesians 4:1-4—Live a life worthy of the calling

through love.• I Peter 4:8—Love covers a multitude of sins.• I John 3:18—Love with action and in truth.• I John 4:7-9—Love comes from God.• I John 4:13-21—God’s love enables us to show an active

love to others.

Further Notes:Are you inspired to keep thinking about loving God and loving others? Here are some resources that inspired this prayer guide:

How to Reimagine the Call to Love Your Next-Door Neighbors, Cru Listener podcast featuring Elizabeth McKinney (Resources from the McKinneys about next-door neighbor ministry are in the show notes).

“A Community of Peace in a Culture of Outrage and Fear,” Bridgetown Church “Future Church” sermon series.

https://www.cru.org/createdfor/2021/how-to-reimagine-the-call-to-love-your-next-door-neighbors/

https://www.cru.org/createdfor/2021/how-to-reimagine-the-call-to-love-your-next-door-neighbors/

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/part-5-a-community-of-peace-in-a-culture-of-outrage-and-fear/id84246334?i=1000512179545

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/part-5-a-community-of-peace-in-a-culture-of-outrage-and-fear/id84246334?i=1000512179545

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