Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Our springtime weather may have turned bitter cold lately, but the Son is still shining brightly inside Chester County Prison. Our ministry teams had another great night of sharing Christ’s love and bringing the Word of God to inmates at our weekly 7pm and 8:30pm services.
Prayer time in 1st service kicked off with praises and promises in Psalm 107:
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!
His faithful love endures forever.
Has the Lord redeemed you? Then speak out!
Tell others he has saved you from your enemies.
For he has gathered the exiles from many lands,
from east and west, from north and south.
Some wandered in the desert,
lost and homeless.
Hungry and thirsty,
they nearly died.
“Lord, help!” they cried in their trouble,
and he rescued them from their distress.
He led them straight to safety,
to a city where they could live.
Let them praise the Lord for his great love
and for all His wonderful deeds to them.
For he satisfies the thirsty
and fills the hungry with good things. (Psalm 107:1-9)
Troy took 2nd service prayer time in a new direction by asking for volunteers to pray on each request collected, which turned out beautifully as God’s people earnestly sought Him through prayers for others.
Dan began the 1st service message with personal testimony of coming to faith before introducing the related topic “Was Jesus really who He claimed to be?” Multiple Biblical texts reveal Jesus did in fact claim to be one with the Father, thereby claiming to be God incarnate. Then numerous Old Testament prophesies of the coming Messiah were matched with New Testament passages showing how Jesus fulfilled them all. Finally, Dan reasoned deductively if Jesus really rose from the dead as He claimed He would, proving the claim true. And now that we know these things to be true, what holds anyone back from believing?
Ryan’s 2nd service message focused on Jesus as our friend. True friends are a gift, blessing us through dedication, care, and love for us. What’s it mean for God to be our friend? John 15 reminds us there’s no greater love than laying down one’s life for friends, and we are His friends if we do what He commands. Dedication and commitment are a 2-way street among friends. Jesus made the distinction between us as friend versus servant, wanting to draw us closer to Himself, and wanting us to spend time with Him to know Him better. God’s not distant, He’s right here and not going anywhere – invest in the best relationship ever!
We also call each of you friend, and appreciate your dedication to prayer for the men, women, and families connected to Chester County Prison. I pray you are blessed each week as you are definitely a blessing to the inmates – they tell us all the time. Have a wonderful week, may our God bless you richly!
Grace and Peace,
Rick
Inmate Prayer Requests from Medium Security (7:00pm service):
- Joshua– family
- John– safe travels for volunteers and for their families. WE look forward to Monday night services each week. Pray for those who pray for us, and pray for peace from wars, fires, earthquakes, violence, murder in our world. Pray for inmate families and that we could all put on the full armor of God.
- Warren– family, health and safety for our families and all of us here, leniency in my upcoming court appearance, and to keep the faith.
- Andy L– my family, I have 2 family members with debilitating back pain that causes them to not be mobile.
- Jose G– salvation for Rony who struggles with alcoholism.
- Warren– for faith and for all those around us.
- Dan T– my brother-in-law, struggling to let go of head knowledge and open his heart to Christ.
- Rick C– older friend Milt who is scared he has same cancer that took his wife a few years ago.
Inmate/volunteer Prayer Requests from Minimum Security (8:30pm service)
- Craig– for my wife Kay in Georgia, I got to speak with her on Friday during daughter Brianna’s 11th birthday – call really lifted my spirits, also spoke to my mother-in-law and sister. Thankful for prayers, they are definitely working, pray for my other family members, my 5 daughters, family at large, and the whole wide world.
- Jeremiah– for my children, especially my daughter who is having a rough time.
- Harry– my court date on April 2, my relationship with fiancé Sonya, and for everyone in here.
- Josh– thanks for volunteers that come out each week, pray for safety and covering.
- Andy D– my friend Millard has stage 4 prostate cancer and his first round of chemo making him sick, pray for his physical comfort and an open door to share the Gospel with him.
Prayers from Onesimus Ministries
- As always, we pray God’s covering and continued blessing on Chaplains Rhonda and Heinrich as they serve the inmates, staff, and families connected to Chester County Prison. We ask for empowerment of the Holy Spirit in their ministry, and they would continue to find favor among the officers and leadership at the prison.
- For inmates who are ill or suffering with addiction – we ask for God’s healing touch upon them.
- For the health and wellbeing of our brother Jack Crans, still laboring mightily for the Gospel in the midst of his cancer.
- For peace among inmates, among staff members, and within every interaction between inmates and staff. May respect and compassion rule the day.
- For aftercare ministries that serve men and women recently released from prison, helping them build new lives on the foundation of Christ. Bless them with new identity as children of the King, and bless the ministries with all they need to effectively serve our great God in the ways He’s gifted them.
If you’d like to find out more about mentoring and discipling a man or woman coming out of prison, drop us a note at outreach@onesimusministries.org.
These weekly prayer requests are also posted on our website – https://onesimusministries.org/category/weekly-prayer-requests/
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