Scripture and Prayer Focus for November 9, 2026

 November 9 -- John 17: 1-9 "When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, 'Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.' 'I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours.'"

Prayer focus for today: "For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me."  If you are a true follower of Jesus who has set your life aside for Him, those words should bring ultimate comfort. Pray today that, no matter what struggles you face, you will NEVER give up on Jesus or fail to believe in Him. Please also pray for our Tree of LIfe grade 12 students who will be completing their national examinations this week. So many of them are realizing the reality of growing up and moving on. For some, there is excitement and joy knowing they can see through the darkness that lies ahead as they start to live as an adult in society. For many others, there is only darkness and fear of the unknown. Pray that they will each choose to faithfully follow Jesus and believe that He is able to carry them through the great unknown of life outside of the Tree of Life. Pray for Christ to give them wisdom in the decisions they make that will impact the rest of their lives. 

Scripture and Prayer Focus for November 8, 2026

 November 8 -- John 16: 30-33 "'Now we know that you know all things and do not need anyone to question you; this is why we believe that you came from God.' Jesus answered them, 'Do you now believe? Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.'"

Prayer focus for today:  "But take heart, I have overcome the world."  What a peace that statement should give us, if we are truly followers of Jesus Christ. Knowing that HE HAS OVERCOME THE WORLD and has conquered death as our living savior and Lord is all we need to know as we daily give up self to follow and obey Jesus. Pray today for strength to obey, follow, and boldly live unashamed for Jesus. Rest in Him alone in this crazy, uncertain world. He is all you need!

Scripture and Prayer Focus for November 7, 2026

 November 7 -- John 16: 23-29 "In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.' 'I have said these things to you in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech but will tell you plainly about the Father. In that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf; for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father.' His disciples said, 'Ah, now you are speaking plainly and not using figurative speech!'"

Prayer focus for today: If you are like me, today's closing verse put you at ease. Finally, the disciples are understanding! Pray today for God to give you peace and understanding of His purposes for you. Nothing in your life is an accident ... ever. He has you and He always will. 

Scripture and Prayer Focus for November 6, 2026

 November 6 -- John 16: 16-22 "'A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me.' So some of his disciples said to one another, 'What is this that he says to us, 'A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me'; and 'because I am going to the Father'?' So they were saying, 'What does he mean by 'a little while'? We do not know what he is talking about.' Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, 'Is this what you are  asking yourselves, what I meant by saying, 'A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me'? Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.'"

Prayer focus today:  Notice how Jesus knows the concerns and confusion of his disciples, but he is also ready and able to comfort and try to help them understand.  Stop for a moment and think of someone near you (or someone you can contact by phone or message) who needs help better understanding the truth of Jesus. Pray today for God to lay upon your heart the person YOU need to share Him with right now. Pray for a willing, bold, available heart to give up personal time to share Him with someone who needs to better understand. Pray that you can willingly set yourself aside and allow God to speak through you to help someone choose to follow Jesus (or better understand how to follow Him) today. God wants to use each of us to grow His Kingdom ... pray you are ready, willing, and able to fulfill what you were created to do!

Scripture and Prayer Focus for November 5, 2026

 November 5 -- John 16: 8-15 "'And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.' 'I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.'"

Prayer focus for today:  Isn't it amazing how even looking at two or three verses in God's Word can have SO much to comprehend, it's difficult to know where to start?  At the same time, we can't just camp out on one verse and fully understand it, because context is key. That is the limitation of our human mind that should keep us going and growing every day to know more and more about the God we serve and the Savior of our souls.  Notice in the middle of today's Scripture reading this statement from Jesus, 'I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.'  Jesus was referencing not only that those to whom He was speaking could not handle the truth He needed to speak because He knew the limitation of the human mind, but that they were not able nor ready to fully comprehend it. 

Pray today for Christ to renew (or instill) an eagerness in you for His Word. Pray to grow in your walk with Christ that you would stop trying to manage everything on your own, but truly trust in Him alone for all you need. Pray that when life seems too difficult to comprehend, He will give you the understanding you need at that moment, and that you will be content that that is all you need ... and carry on.

Scripture and Prayer Focus for November 4, 2026

 November 4 -- John 16: 1-7 "'I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me. But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you.' 'I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, 'Where are you going?' But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.'"

Prayer focus for today:  Jesus always spoke the truth. He wasn't popular or adored for it, but He always told the truth. (Because He is God who cannot lie, of course.) Even when the truth was stated over and over, so many people did not believe ... in Him or His Words. Today, our prayer focus is a bit different. Please pray today for all of our grade 12 students in Zambia who are currently in the process of taking their national Grade 12 examinations. Pray for them to know the truth of what they have learned and be able to complete each phase of the exams well. Pray that God will fill them with confidence in what they have worked hard to learn and the ability to recall and write clearly the answers to each question. Pray for those who are not strong students for whom this time of year is very frightening, that they will trust Christ and seek Him each day as they simply don't know what their future will hold.

Scripture and Prayer Focus for November 3, 2026

 November 3 -- John 15: 22-27 "'If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me hates my Father also. If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: 'They hated me without a cause.' 'But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.'"

Prayer focus for today:  "But now they have no excuse for their sin."  Jesus's words should send a bit of sting to all of our hearts. When reading today's passage, if our hearts are right with God, we should see a bit of ourselves in here. Jesus is saying that because they have been told and still sin, they have no excuse. Simple as that. I believe every one of us reading this today have also read God's Word. We KNOW what is right and what is not from God's Word. Yet, we still CHOOSE to sin. We don't like to call it sin, but God calls it like HE sees it. Pray today for a repentant heart towards the sin you still hold on to that keeps you trapped. Remember, we've chatted before about those comfortable sins that are so much a part of us we usually ignore them. Pray for time to just sit alone before God and allow Him to point out to you those sins you're still clinging to. I promise you... the peace you will experience when you acknowledge, repent, and change will be like nothing you've ever experienced.