Devotion: The Power of Friendship
His feet thumped as he ran up the steps to my room. I could hear him coming as soon as the back door closed behind him. A few seconds later, he burst into my room with eyes wide open. “Guess what, Mom? THAT WAS SO MUCH FUN!”
The words tumbled out of his mouth as he shared the adventure he’d just had with his newly found friend, Jasper.
We moved to this house just a few weeks ago and learned quickly that the family next door has a little boy exactly my son’s age. While my husband and I were excited about it, my son was not. He’s had many school friends but none who became “best buds.” He’d pretty much decided that friendships weren’t for him because they just never seemed to work out well.
After we’d been here a couple of days, I asked him, “What would you think if I text Jasper’s mom so you can meet and play?”
“Moooooommmm,” he drew out the word in a whine. “I don’t think that’s gonna work.”
I talked him into it. Jasper’s mom said “yes,” so the boys met between our houses. Since that day, they’ve spent time together nearly every day. They go from house to house, alternating where they play and eat and run amok.
So last night, while he stood next to me talking a million words a minute and grinning ear to ear, my heart was full.
My little Jeremy has begun to discover the power of friendship. As he grows, he’ll learn that friends are there when life gets complicated. I hope he finds out that a hug from a friend can change your outlook. I pray he realizes that the comradery of faith is deep, and that truth spoken by a friend can bring freedom.
Friendship tells us: I am loved. I am worth it. There’s a place for me. Those truths echo what God Himself speaks to each of us, only we get to experience them through someone we can touch.
We live the Gospel when we invite connection.
May we choose love so that others experience God through the power of our friendship.
When we invite a new woman to an outreach, we extend friendship and live the Gospel.
When we knock on our neighbor’s door with fresh bread, we extend friendship and live the Gospel.
When we open our homes for a Bible study, we extend friendship and live the Gospel.
The power of friendship is love, and God is where all love begins.
Who needs the power of your friendship?
“A sweet friendship refreshes the soul.”
– Proverbs 27:9, MSG
Related Scriptures: Ecclesiastes 4:9-10, Proverbs 17:17, Proverbs 27:17
- How have your connections with others resembled getting close to God?
- How have you recently lived the Gospel by extending friendship?
Suzy Shepherd
Catalysts Director
Prepare for Prayer
Be still and rest in His presence, as you prepare for prayer time together.
Our focus for this month is the Power of Friendship.
Read: Romans 5:10
“For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved though the life of his Son.”
Pray: Holy God, we rejoice in our special relationship with You because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends with You. We thank You that we can look to the Spirit for the power of friendship which is from You, God. We invite You to lead us to a deeper relationship with You and to think of others we might befriend for Your glory.
Thank God:
- That friendship with God is available to us through repentance and faith in Christ! Therefore, we need not be slow in coming to Him and in remembering that God is our best Friend.
- For the power of friendship that gives us a special connection with God and others.
- That the power of His friendship is living in us and can help us to love our neighbors as He would want us to love and bless them.
Pray for Your Group’s Upcoming Outreach Event
Read: John 15:12-13
“This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”
Pray: Loving Father, as our Planning Team prepares for the next outreach event, we ask that You remind us that Your Son paid for our sins that we might have friendship with You. It’s amazing to think that You call us Your friends, because You are a Holy God, and we fall short. Thank You that we can testify to others about Your amazing friendship with us.
Pray:
- for our friendship with God to be a light in the darkness
- that guests will hear and receive the message of salvation and understand that confession of sin and faith in Christ can restore a right relationship with God
- for God’s Holy Spirit to move in lonely hearts that are longing for true friendship
Sharing Your Faith
Read: Proverbs 17:17
“A friend is always loyal, and a brother is born to help in time of need.”
Pray: Dear Jesus, You are our most loyal, life-giving Friend, as you laid down Your life for us and for the whole world. We thank You for Your ever-present friendship with us, and for the friendships that we have because of You in our lives. Thank You for the friendships on our Planning Team that are also a witness to lonely women who need You.
Pray for:
- our eyes to see the desperate women in our community who are lonely and in need of a friend
- open ears to be good listeners, that we might hear the needs of women in our community
- open hearts to be used by God to reach out to women who need to understand their unmet need for friendship with God
Pray for our Nation and Leaders
Read: 2 Corinthians 5:15a
“He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves.”
Pray: Oh Faithful God, we approach You with the power of Your friendship on behalf of our nation. We realize that many of our nation’s leaders as well as world leaders may not be living in unity and friendship, so let us not become apathetic but instead faithful in prayer. We pray for the leaders who do know You, that they might be led by the power of Your friendship through the Holy Spirit to make godly decisions on behalf of others and to be a witness among other leaders who do not know You personally. We pray for believers to remember that they are ultimately God’s ambassadors.
Pray for:
- leaders who have the power of God’s friendship in their lives, that they might be led out of that friendship versus selfish gains
- renewal in believers in this country to live in spiritual friendship with God
- protection from Satan who longs to keep others lonely and depressed, and far from God
- the Church to become unified as a witness of God’s forgiveness and friendship
Pray for the Stonecroft Family
Read: Proverbs 18:24
“There are ‘friends’ that destroy each other, but a real friend sticks closer than a brother.”
Pray: Lord, You created the Stonecroft family to love in the power of friendship with God to be like friends who stick closer than family. Thank You, God, for these faithful, beautiful relationships we get to have with one another because of our shared mission in Christ.
Pray for:
- close relationships among all the women who serve in Stonecroft’s ministry
- God to refresh our passion for the “lost” by the power of His friendship with us
- unity by the power of friendship among all Stonecroft believers serving not out of their own needs, but out of a desire to serve and lift up others
- more women to say “yes” to the power of friendship that Jesus offers!
Prayer Points:
Dale Shelton
- Pray for the Transformation Team with Dale Shelton, Ministry Support Manager – Pray that the Lord will give Dale wisdom in leading the Ministry Support team. Pray that He will go before her, equipping Dale for what He wants her to accomplish and helping her balance her daily work with special projects and other responsibilities.
- Pray for Tammy Aswell, Field Coordinator – Please pray that she will learn her new responsibilities fully and accurately so that she may serve Christ and others well.
- Pray for Stonecroft leaders such as Stonecroft Regional
Tammy Aswell
Administrators, District Consulting Coordinators, Regional Speaker Trainers, Regional Reps, Area Reps, and Chairs as they serve their teams to live in the power of friendship to reach women where they are, as they are.
- Pray for our international partners that they might be encouraged by the power of friendship with the Holy Spirit to share the stories of their testimonies of how they have friendship with God because of Jesus Christ.
- Pray for Friends of Stonecroft – In this month’s Friends of Stonecroft script, we learn about Samantha, a young military wife who lost her 5-month-old daughter to sudden infant death syndrome. She is ready to tell her story to help military families deal with the grief surrounding the loss of a child and desires to help these families learn to rely on God and grow close to Jesus Christ.
Please pray for:
- Samantha and other women going through training to share their stories to groups and the women around them
- the volunteers who come alongside these new storytellers to train and support them in creating compelling messages
- for the women who will hear their messages, that they will be open to receiving Jesus Christ
Share Personal Requests
Pray for each other and any personal requests of your group.
Closing Prayer
Father, we thank You for this prayer time together. We ask You to give us Your power to live in friendship with one another and with those who are far from You. May we feel Your power of friendship guiding us into the relationships that You would desire for us to be involved in for Your name’s sake. Amen