A Growing Church (Acts 9:31)

So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.
– Acts 9:31

Oh, there is so much in this one verse that I want to lead us to pray over the church in our day. So think about the local church that you’re a part of. Think about the Church in your city, the followers of Jesus in your city. Think about the Church in your country, the followers of Jesus around your country. And then the Church of Jesus among the nations, the followers of Jesus in all the different places in the world where the Church exists. So let’s just pray Acts 9:31 over us.

Acts 9:31 reminds us to pray for peace among the Global Church.

So the church throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and was being built up and walking in the fear of the Lord and the comfort of the Holy Spirit. It multiplied.

God, we pray that this would be so over each of our local churches, all the way to churches across our community and countries around the world. We pray for peace in Your Church. God, we pray that You would guard us against all the adversary’s attempts to destroy the peace You’ve designed for us. God, we pray for peace in You. We pray for freedom from anxiety and worry, for freedom from strife and division across Your Church.

We pray that we would be built up. God, that Your Church, that we’re a part of, that the local church, all the way to the Church among the nations, would be built up to become more like You. Jesus, conform us more to Your image. Help us to be a more faithful reflection of Who You are. We pray that You would build up Your Church in our cities, our countries, and around the world.

Acts 9:31 encourages us to pray for Church multiplication amidst trials.

Help us, we pray to walk in the fear of You. God, we pray for renewed fear of You. Zeal for Your name, honor for You. God, we pray that You would renew our awe before You. God deliver us from casual, complacent religion. Help us to live with zeal and honor and fear of Your Name. And God, help us to walk in the comfort of Your Holy Spirit.

God, amidst all the fallenness of this world, trials, tribulations, suffering, and pain, God, we pray that Your Holy Spirit, the Comforter, would bring comfort to our local churches and churches around the world. We pray that You’d help us to walk as Your people in the comfort of Your Holy Spirit. And God, we pray that as we do these things, Your Church would multiply. We pray for that. We pray over our local churches. God, please cause our churches to multiply, to lead to planting and starting other churches, spreading the gospel in ways that lead to the multiplication of the Church across our city and across our country.

Lord, we pray for the multiplication of Your Church, not just for the stopping the decline where that’s happening. God, we pray that You would bring about multiplication of Your Church in our countries and among all the nations. God, we pray that Your Church would multiply to the ends of the Earth.

A Prayer for the Arwa Mala People

We pray specifically that Your Church would multiply to the Arwa Mala people of India. Lord, that this people group of a hundred thousand, where there is no church right now, would have a church among them. God cause Your Church to multiply throughout India. We pray specifically among the Arwa Mala. Oh God, we pray this over Your Church according to Your Word. Do in our day what you did in Acts 9:31. We pray this over Your Church, for Your Church. In Jesus’ name, amen.