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This is the audio from the February 9, 2024 live social media broadcast of encouragement and prayer by Impact Prayer Ministry’s director, Tom Lemler.

“I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.”
Jonah 4:2 (NIV)

This week’s prayer focus is about living with compassion.  Many times we try to substitute pity, instruction, warnings, judgment, or even good deeds for true compassion because we want to help but we don’t want to suffer.  Yet godly compassion means to suffer with those who are suffering so that they may receive the same comfort from us that we have received from God.  There is no greater example of compassion than Jesus coming to earth and suffering alongside mankind so that we may be comforted with the same comfort He received from His Father.  Living with compassion means that we will not only take notice of the suffering that takes place in our world, our neighborhoods, our churches, and our homes; we will join in suffering with those who hurt so that together we can find the comfort God desires for us.  We can learn a lot about the compassion we ought to  have by looking at the compassion God has for us.

“When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”
Matthew 9:36 (NIV)

As you pray this week, ask God to open your eyes to the sufferings of others.  Pray that you would pay attention to the “crowds” and notice when their actions are the result of being harassed and helpless.  Pray that your compassion would cause you to suffer together with those being harassed as you help them find the Good Shepherd.

You can find the live video feeds of these encouragement and prayer times on Impact Prayer Ministry’s Facebook page.

In prayer,
Tom