But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (Matthew 6:33)

Many people start the new year by taking stock of life and making resolutions to improve some aspect of it in the next twelve months. It is a good time to re-evaluate your purpose in life.  There is no better purpose than seeking first the kingdom of God. That sounds good and right, but what does it mean? What does it look like on an ordinary Monday morning?
 
The first step in putting this purpose into action is prayer. Lord, what does it mean to seek Your kingdom first, ahead of all the other things I seek? What is my role in Your kingdom? You have given me abilities, interests – a bent. How do You want to use me and the ways You’ve made me to advance Your kingdom? Of what strategic importance for Your kingdom is the “territory” You’ve given me to occupy? Stir in me a desire to seek Your kingdom first, above all, and show me how to do it today.
 
Here are more suggestions for prayer this week:
 
1.  Thank the Lord for the rain and the gift of the intense, beautiful green of the foothills around us.
 
2.  Lift up families who have lost loved ones to death in recent weeks. Pray for Bonnie Thompson and Sue Nichols, who have both lost their fathers since Christmas, and for Annette Dee, who has lost an uncle who was like a father to her. These men were all advanced in years and failing in health, but the separation of death is still difficult to absorb.
 
3.  Remember in prayer those who are battling cancer and other serious health issues, asking the Lord to give them the strength to walk by faith, not sight. They include Bob Wickersham, Ramon Reyes, Esther Whitney, Kay Lewis, Wendy Chen, Anna Song, and Demi Gao. Also pray for the people who are walking most closely with them through the trial, caring for them.
 
4.  Join Chantel Pettitt in praising God for miraculous CT test results. A spot on her lung that could have indicated the spread of her endometrial cancer (removed in 2013) has completely disappeared. 
 
5.  No phase of parenthood is easy. A blog reader and I agreed recently that parenting adult children – a stage that seems like it should be the easiest – may actually be the most difficult. The “children” are independent adults, but parents still have wisdom and help to offer. Parents must navigate between healthy helping and enabling. They must offer wisdom but not unsolicited advice. They feel kicked-in-the-stomach pain when input offered from a motive of love is interpreted as malicious meddling. Pray for parents of adult children.
 
6.  In the January sermon series, our pastors are tackling the uncomfortable topic of how worldly thinking from the culture at large has infiltrated Christians’ thinking about the church. Let’s join our hearts in praying that we will no longer conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of our minds so that we can discern God’s will for the church.  (Romans 12:2-3)
 
7.  Pray for Tomasz and Kamilla Chylka and their work in Poland. In his latest letter, Tomasz wrote, “We have noticed that something’s changing in the spiritual reality of the Polish people.  After the materialistic era, many people, mainly the young, have understood that money isn’t everything, and they are looking for higher values. Please pray that God will reveal Himself to many Polish people in 2017.” You can read Tomasz’s full letter here – click on “Latest Prayer Letter.”
 

In Christ,
Carol Gilbert
Calvary Community Church of Brea