Worthy of God’s Love

It’s February. 2020 has settled in. You’re starting to remember to write 2020 instead of 2019. The newness has already worn off. Resolutions you made are losing momentum. You’ve yet to meet up with that woman God put on your heart.

I want to start by saying, you are enough, and you are worthy of God’s love. Your shortcomings don’t define you or your future, and there are no prerequisites to belong in God’s family. Song of Songs 2:4 (NIV) says it all when we’re feeling defeated, “Let him lead me to the banquet hall, and let his banner over me be love.” Let’s stop and allow God to lead us there and love us.

Brené Brown, one of my favorite authors, tells us that though we’re wired for struggle, we are worthy of love and belonging. We’re all in this together – loving women to Jesus and doing it imperfectly. So, what are we to do when we don’t know what to do next?

What is that word we’ve been saying over and over? RALLY. This is the perfect time. We need to rally and let God do the fighting so we can ready ourselves to get back at it.

Whether you’re gathered with a group of others today, one-on-one with someone else, or by yourself, visualize that you are at the rally. What do you do at the rally?

1. Come clean. Confess your fears, your struggles, and exhaustions. (James 5:16)
2. Express gratitude. Where is God at work? What can you be thankful for today? (Psalm 107:8-9)
3. Speak truth. While you’re rallying together, God is still fighting. (Nehemiah 4:20, Exodus 14:14)
4. Pray for each other. Pray the names of women who need to know Jesus. Pray for yourselves that God would restore you to His mission for your life. (Colossians 4:3-4)

Discussion Questions:

1. Who are the women in your life you’re fighting for to know Jesus?
2. What action step are you going to take this month to grow in friendship with one of those women?
3. Who is fighting with you toward the same goal? Rally back to them for encouragement this month when things get tough. Rally back to them when there’s cause for celebration, big or small!

Prepare for Prayer

Take a couple of minutes to meditate on:

Read: Song of Songs 2:4 (NIV)

“Let him lead me to the banquet hall and let his banner over me be love.”

Read: Deuteronomy 6:5

“And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.” (All emphases in Scripture verses are ours.)

Pray: Oh God, we pray that You will give us pure devotion to love You with all that You made us to be and all that we are.

Thank God:

• for His adoption of us as His daughters. Pray that our affection would be focused first on loving our Father.
• for His unconditional love for us to be poured over onto others who haven’t experienced His love yet.
• that though we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Now that’s amazing love! 

Pray for Your Group’s Upcoming Outreach Event

Read: Psalm 27:3

“Though a mighty army surrounds me, my heart will not be afraid. Even if I am attacked, I will remain confident.” 

Pray: Mighty God, we thank You for the power that You bring in fighting for us as we battle against the enemy for “the lost.” We acknowledge Your presence with us and ask You to calm our hearts as we sometimes come across spiritual attacks when we reach out to women with the redeeming power of the love and forgiveness of the Gospel. 

Pray:

• that we would put our heart trust in God.
• that we would keep our hearts faithful to the mission and keep a foundation of prayer in all that we do.
• for God to fill us with His Spirit that our hearts may be without anxiety or fear and instead that we might be Fear-LESS for God and His Kingdom.

Sharing Your Faith

Read: Psalm 51:17

“The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.”

Pray: Loving Father, help us to remember that You desire broken and pure hearts for we realize that is where You can shine Your light through our brokenness. Thank You for seeing us as we really are, then loving us, and using us all the same.

 Pray for:

• open hearts of repentance and faith to love women toward Jesus.
• obedience to see the hearts of women around us who are broken and needy.
• dependence on God’s Holy Spirit to move in women’s hearts, as He gives us divine opportunities. 

Pray for our Nation and Leaders

 Read:  Luke 6:45

“A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart.”

Pray: Oh God, please grant our nation and our leaders the spiritual heart that flows from the treasury of a heart that is set on the goodness of the Kingdom of God.

Pray for:

• our nation and world leaders that they would seek after the good treasury of God.
• Christian leaders to be influencers for the heart of Christlikeness.
• leaders who do not know the Lord to make responsible decisions for managing and spending public revenues.

Pray for the Stonecroft Family

Read: Proverbs 4:23

 “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.” 

Pray: Dear Lord, please help each of us to watch our heart, as it is considered the deepest part of our being, and from it flows our intentions and actions. Fill our hearts with Your love and desires.

Pray for:

• all Stonecroft volunteer leaders to be filled with the heart of God’s grace for women who are far from Jesus Christ.
• every believer to recognize and prioritize the value of the heart as it is the “wellspring of life” so that we might experience the fullness of our faith and God’s good gifts to us.
• for our hearts to love the Lord our God with all that we are – soul, mind and strength.

Prayer for Stonecroft Staff

 Shirley Voorhees – Administrative Coordinator

• Please pray for Shirley as she continues to learn and grow in her new positions.
• Pray for grace for Shirley’s family as they continue to adjust after the death of their oldest daughter. They just experienced the first anniversary of her passing.

 Mary Speidel – Copywriter and Editor, Marketing and Communications

• Pray for God’s wisdom in managing her time, talents, and financial resources for His glory and purposes.
• Ask God to strengthen and encourage her elderly mother who is dealing with some health issues. Pray that she can remain active in ministry in her retirement community and local church.
• Pray for her sister, Ruth, as she continues to adjust to life as a widow after the death of her husband a year ago. Pray also for her adjustment following a recent move to live near her daughter and family.

Pray for Stonecroft leaders such as Stonecroft Regional Administrators, District Consulting Coordinators, Regional Speaker Trainers, Regional Reps, Area Reps, Chairs, Prayer Consultants, and hub leaders as they rally to wholeheartedly love 1 million women toward Jesus by 2025.

Pray for our international partners that they would love from the heart the women that He shows them to love.

Pray for Friends of Stonecroft – In this month’s Friends of Stonecroft script, we learn about a group of Stonecroft women in Oklahoma who take Stonecroft Bible Studies to different places in their community so more women can get involved. Pray that:

• more nonbelieving women will continue to join the group.
• nonbelieving women in the groups will come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Share Personal Requests

Pray for our personal needs to be met according to His riches in Christ Jesus, so that we can trust God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. 

Closing Prayer

Father, we thank You for this Prayer Connection time. We ask You to help us to remember Your extravagant heart of love that You demonstrated for us so that we too may radiate Jesus’ heart of love for women who do not yet have a relationship with Jesus. Amen.