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Praying for God’s Will and for Our Spiritual Border to Be Enlarged

“Your kingdom come; Your will be done, as in heaven, so also on earth.” (Matt. 6:10)

“And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, Oh that You would richly bless me and enlarge my border, and that Your hand would be with me, and that You would so keep me from evil that it would not grieve me! And God caused what he had requested to come to pass.” (1 Chron. 4:10)

One main principle of God’s work is the need for man’s prayer. He wants man to cooperate with Him in prayer. As believers in Christ, we need to have prayers that express God’s will and our desire to have our personal spiritual border to be enlarged.

In order to do something, God must first put His will within us through the Holy Spirit. He will only accomplish something after we have echoed it in our prayer. God operates through this procedure. He wants a will that is one with Him and that echoes Him. God wants man’s will to be joined to Him. He does not want to act alone; He wants man to cooperate with Him. This is the responsibility of the church on earth.

If our prayer is only for the fulfillment of our plans and wishes, it will not have any value in the spiritual realm. Only prayers that are initiated by God and echo what He has initiated have any spiritual value; we must learn to pray this kind of prayer.

Jabez called on God to enlarge his border. The enlarging of the border of the good land in his prayer signifies the enlarging of the border of gaining Christ and the enjoyment of Christ, who is the reality of the good land. God caused what Jabez had requested to come to pass. I hope that all of us would have such a prayer, a prayer that God would enlarge the border of the enjoyment of the good land, that is, enlarge the border of our enjoyment of Christ. (CWWN, vol. 38, pp. 281-284; Crystallization-study of 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther, msg. 2, VI, A.2, B; Life-study of 1 & 2 Chronicles, p. 18)

Southern California College Conference

This weekend, April 14 to 16, college students and current high school seniors from around Southern California will gather in Cerritos for the Spring College Conference. The topic is “The Greatest Prophecy in the Bible.” Please join us in prayer for:

  • More than 90 college students and high school seniors from Los Angeles to attend at least one meeting.
  • An atmosphere filled with the exercise of the spirit and hearts that are wide open to receive the word of the Lord.
  • A vision of Christ and the church to be imparted to each student, one that would guide them and that they would never forget.

North America College Training

The second deadline to register for this summer’s North America College Training is this Saturday, April 15. So far, nearly 2,300 saints have registered. Please continue to fight the battle in prayer with us for:

  • More than 3,000 to register by this next deadline; pray for the Lord to open doors even in seemingly impossible situations due to conflicts with internships, family plans, classes, etc.
  • Especially the newer and younger ones to see the preciousness of this training and be willing to joyfully pay the price to give this week to the Lord and seek first His kingdom.

Bibles for America

Last month, BfA incorporated USPS tracking information into the customer service emails that people receive after they order a Bible. Recipients are now alerted when their Bible is shipped, out for delivery, and delivered, allowing them to track the shipment progress and making for a better overall experience.

We are continuing to make technical improvements to the order tracking process that will be implemented in both English and Spanish. Please pray that these improvements would be developed in a timely way, and that every Bible would successfully get to its intended recipient. Pray also that as the Lord’s Word continues to go out, it would accomplish what He delights in, and would prosper in the matter to which He has sent it (Isaiah 55:10-11).

Poland

After the war between Russia and Ukraine started, between 4 and 5 million Ukrainian refugees moved to Poland. Because of such an overwhelming number of refugees, we decided to preach the gospel in Eastern Europe, mainly in Poland. In 2022 we had four gospel trips and three shepherding trips in Poland. A report on the current situation in Poland can be downloaded from https://lme.org/reports.html.

Please pray for:

  • The blending and building up of the Polish saints and the Ukrainian saints in Warsaw and Kraków.
  • The feeding and shepherding of the Ukrainian refugees gained through the gospel.
  • The 15 trainees in the Warsaw extension of the Full-time Training in Moscow.
  • The raising up of new lampstands in Wrocław, Łódź, and Poznań.

Pakistan

In November 2022, the annual National Conference in Pakistan was held for the first time since the pandemic. Approximately 240 saints from the churches in Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Karachi, and Faisalabad (a newly-propagated city) attended the conference, along with some brothers and sisters from other Christian groups. The subject was “God’s Grace in His Economy.” In the Lord’s table meeting, the brothers and sisters testified that we were one Body. Even saints from other Christian groups, including some pastors, attended the conference and appreciated the word of the ministry. After the conference, some gospel friends expressed their desire to continue to meet with us.

For a detailed report with photos, see the March 2023 issue of the Lord’s Move to Asia newsletter:

Announcements

  1. Morning Revival: Week 2 of Crystallization-study of 1 and 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther.

  2. Memorial Day Conference: Saints in LA who are considering attending in-person sessions May 26 to 29 in Chicago are asked to RSVP by April 30 at https://tinyurl.com/memdayla. Your response helps LSM in making preparations and you to receive any pertinent updates.

  3. July Semiannual Training: July 3 to 8 in Anaheim and by video via Zoom. Registration for LA saints is now open until April 30 (live) and June 18 (video) at https://tinyurl.com/summertrainingla.

  4. West Coast Korean-speaking Blending Conference: Saturday, April 29 from 6:00 to 9:00 pm and Lord’s Day, April 30 from 9:00 am to 12:15 pm on Zoom only.

  5. Wednesday Night Ministry Meeting: The general subject of this term’s weekly ministry meeting is “The Crucial Points of the Truth in Paul’s Epistles.” Saints are invited to attend in-person at 7:25 pm at the Ministry Conference Center in Anaheim or online at https://www.lsmwebcast.com.

  6. Free e-Booklets: Living Stream Ministry offers a series of free e-booklets to read and share at https://www.lsm.org/booklets, including “Life’s Sight—the Need of the Blind in Religion.”

  7. Bibles for America‘s latest post is available to read and share at https://blog.biblesforamerica.org.

  8. Living to Him has a podcast series particularly helpful to working saints, available on all major podcasting services at https://livingtohim.com/the-living-to-him-podcast.

  9. A Timely Speaking of Supply: Enjoy a free weekly video from messages given by Brother Lee at https://lsm.org/timely-speaking.html.

  10. Ways to Give: Information about the church’s online giving platform, Subsplash, and where to mail checks, are at https://www.churchinlosangeles.org/members/offerings.