Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
The summer season has begun! So many beautiful days that we get to spend outside if we choose. Let’s not forget those who don’t have that choice – Hebrews 13:3 reminds us “Remember those in prison, as if you were there yourself. Remember also those being mistreated, as if you felt their pain in your own bodies.” It’s very easy to focus only on that which is before us, but we are continually called on by God to look beyond ourselves and our present circumstances. We as Christians should all strive to be eternally minded.
Thank you for your time spent in prayer each week for this prison ministry, the chaplains and volunteers, the inmates and their families, the prison staff and their families, and of course the prayer requests we collect each week during the Monday night services in Chester County prison. We lift up these prayers during the service, and also remind the men each week that all of you are out there praying them as well. There is great comfort knowing that many others are praying for your concerns. Thank you for being the answer to someone’s prayer!
Each week, we use scripture to focus our minds as we transition into a time of prayer. Last night I selected excerpts from Psalm18:
I love you, Lord;
you are my strength.
The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior;
my God is my rock, in whom I find protection.
He is my shield, the strength of my salvation,
and my stronghold.
I will call on the Lord, who is worthy of praise,
for he saves me from my enemies.
To the faithful you show yourself faithful;
to those with integrity you show integrity.
To the pure you show yourself pure,
but to the wicked you show yourself hostile.
You rescue those who are humble,
but you humiliate the proud.
Lord, you have brought light to my life;
my God, you light up my darkness.
In your strength I can crush an army;
with my God I can scale any wall.
As for God, his way is perfect.
All the Lord’s promises prove true.
He is a shield for all who look to him for protection. (Psalm 18:1-3,25-30)
In 1st service, we got to hear Jim’s first-ever message in the prison where he explained how Paul spread the Gospel message in the ancient world – he made use of the roads put in place by the Romans. Then he used the “Romans road” construct to show how we can easily explain the purpose of the Gospel to anyone. Along 6 stops (Romans 3:23, 5:8, 6:23, 8:1, 10:9, and 10:13) Paul takes us through the Bad news of who we truly are and our need of a savior, and the Good News of how our loving God met that need in Christ Jesus. These verses perfectly set the context for anyone to call on the name of the Lord to be saved.
In 2nd service, Troy used Hebrews 4:14-15 to fully investigate what it means for Jesus to be our High Priest – the perfect intercessor between God and man. As the perfect sacrifice, Jesus is our connection point to God and we must set our eyes on Him. He will return as promised and we must be ready – He has given the time for all of us to make the best choice possible in life, and to encourage others to do the same. We can use the “Romans Road” approach, or rely on the many prophesies in God’s word to share with others what is to come, but the point is the same – be ready by accepting the free gift of salvation made possible by our savior.
God bless each of you as you lift up the requests below, and know that we are praying for each of you as well.
Grace and Peace,
Rick
Prayer Requests from Medium Security (7:00pm service):
- Keith– my court date on June 17, I’m very anxious and unsettled about it. And for my children.
- Joshua– my family.
- José– family, and to get out of here.
- Brent– I lost another friend (Elaine) this week, which makes 4 people in my life who died in the past few weeks, pray for peace and may God have mercy on their souls. Also for my friend’s daughter who has some internal health problems that they can’t figure out what’s wrong.
- Kyle– my daughter (12), my Mom who is stressed out, and peace for me.
- Eric– prayer to the Lord of Hosts for a nice paying job when I get out of here, and for a girlfriend, and for financial increase.
- Brent– thanks for the volunteers, and pray for Dan’s health.
- Drake– for God’s continued guidance, for friendship, closeness to God. Also to be able to retain more info from the Bible.
- Miguel– for my 3 boys to be well taken care of during the summer.
- Dan– my brother-in-law to let go and finally accept Christ.
- Vince– for the courts to work better and address our issues effectively.
- Raheem– for a court order to send me home, I’m ready to go. Feeling overwhelmed, need peace.
- Andy L– for my neighbor who won’t give her life to the Lord. My wife started a neighborhood Bible study, may God bring the people with open hearts and may it bear much fruit.
- Jose– for our nation, and may the elections install men and women with hearts for God into office.
- (Name?)– for my cellmate to get out and stretch his legs once in a while, and for his hygiene and his mental health.
Prayer Requests from Minimum Security (8:30pm service)
- Jeremiah– my children, I have a court date coming up and pray it all works out.
- Clarence– blessings on the volunteers, for the brothers back on the block who couldn’t make it out, for family, my kids, my court date, and may the Lord shine light on my case – I pray something would happen with court date on the 17th.
- Harry– for clarity on my domestic relations situation (custody of my triplet boys), for strength and wisdom, and for all of us in here.
- Reef– for my case on July 29, clarity for the court on what really happened and that they would do the right thing.
- Glenn– thanks for the weekly volunteers, for my family and friends, hoping to get transferred to the work release center next week. Also for the issue with my lungs to get diagnosed and resolved, and hopefully not be life-threatening.
- Andy D– for my friend Herb in the hospital slowly recovering from coma, not allowed to drink fluids so voice is shot/can’t really speak and showing a bit of confusion lately.
- Rick C– prayers that Reef (who gave an incredible testimony) will continue down the path God has set him on, and build his faith without having to rely on feelings and continued demonstrations of God’s power and presence.
Prayers from Onesimus Prison Ministries
- For every man and woman released from prison to follow a new path and for God to lead them to a good Bible-preaching church that matches their personality, welcomes them in, and walks alongside them in their journey of faith.
- We lift up all the new leaders and the entire staff at Chester County Prison and their families.
- We lift up the staffing situation at the prison, that God would supply more workers who have a heart for Him.
- We lift up our wonderful prison Chaplains – Pastor Jack (continued healing from cancer), Rhonda ministering to the ladies, and Heinrich ministering to the men. And may God expand the programming and chapel schedule in His perfect timing.
- We lift up all the Aftercare ministries serving women and men released from Chester County prison.
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/
If this email was forwarded to you and you’d like to subscribe, click HERE.
