Isaiah 55:10-11
10 “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
Matthew 28:18-20
18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Did you know I’ve lived on both coasts of Canada? While there are many differences between the east and west coasts, one thing that I loved about both places was the way the Church joined together to be ambassadors for God’s Kingdom to their neighbours.
In my east coast town, churches organized a day each year to love on the community through acts of service such as free car washes, picking up garbage, and of course prayer. Last fall in my current west coast city, Christian leaders across different churches organized a prayer walk. The city was covered in prayer for an entire week as people committed to praying for specific streets.
Did you know that you are an ambassador for God’s Kingdom in your city? All authority has been given to Jesus and He has commissioned us to go make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:18-20). Now more than ever, in this ongoing pandemic, the world needs to know our loving Father.
The good news is, we can start where we are: in our cities. AND we can start with what we have: God’s Word and prayer.
Let’s ask God what His will is for our cities. Let’s choose some Bible verses to declare over our streets. If you’re not sure what scriptures to use, Psalm 46 is a great place to start.
Remember that God’s Word is powerful. It changes the atmosphere and it changes us (Isaiah 55:10-11).
Together, amid this unprecedented season, let’s be God’s ambassadors, declaring that Jesus is Lord over our cities. Let’s pray and believe that “greater things are yet to come and greater things are still to be done here!”
REFLECTION: What scriptures can we pray over our cities?
LYRICS
God of This City
Performed by Bluetree and Chris Tomlin
Songwriters: Bleakley Richard Edwin / Boyd Aaron Jordan / Comfort Peter / Jordan Ian Philip / Kernaghan Peter / Mccann Andrew Thomas
Verse:
You're the God of this city
You're the King of these people
You're the Lord of this nation
You are
You're the light in this darkness
You're the hope to the hopeless
You're the peace to the restless
You are
Pre-Chorus:
There is no one like our God
There is no one like you God
Chorus:
For greater things have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done in this city
Greater things have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done in this city
Verse
Pre-Chorus
Chorus
Interlude
Pre-Chorus
Chorus x 2