EXTREMISM
Luke 15:12-32
When praying for our city, you might begin by saying, “God of justice and hope,
please bring people in this city from darkness to light as you work through…”
Ungodly hearts (vs 12)
All of us have selfish instincts– but for some, the pain of life and the sin in their
heart combine to produce powerful desires for control, power, respect, or comfort.
Ask God to reorient the hearts of those involved in crime in our city, so they would
come to see how wonderful it is to live within God’s ways.
Ungodly lives (vs 13)
Wayward desires lead to wayward actions. Distorted hearts can easily lead to
drug use, burglary or knife/gun crime. Spend some time lamenting the crime
in our city. Pray for God to intervene, so that as hearts turn to Christ, lives would
increasingly reflect His justice and peace.
Ungodly consequences (vs 14)
All crime has consequences. It is an affront to God, and hurts both the victim and
the perpetrator. Bring before God any specific cases affecting people you love or
incidents in the news that are on your heart. Pray that the victims would know
true comfort, and that those who have committed the crime would allow the
consequences to spur them to change.
Godly repentance (vs 20)
True change begins with repentance-returning to our Heavenly Father, conscious
of our need and with a desire for Him. Pray for Christian organizations working
with gangs, offenders, and prisoners. Ask God to use them to speak clearly of a
Father who wants people to turn back to Him.
Godly Acceptance (vs 23)
Repentance is a wonderful thing. It results in full acceptance by the Lord. It should
result in full acceptance by the Lord’s people too. Sometimes there need to be
boundaries, but always there needs to be love. Thanks God for His grace and
acceptance shown to all repentant rebels, and pray that our church would love
the ex-criminal as well.
