“Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness! You have relieved me in my distress; be gracious to me and hear my prayer.” (Psalm 4:1)

As David begins this psalm of prayer, it is good of us to recognize that he comes before the Lord in a most humble fashion. In these words we see his earnest appeal to God’s mercy and His righteousness, not his own. David comes with assurance because He is aware of God’s work in his past and is equally confident of that same work in his present and future, but he comes also most humbly, always and in everything appealing to the lovingkindness of God. For us too, it is always best to come to the Lord not in our own merits (which would be meaningless and a vanity) but rather in His righteousness and mercy, which He freely disposes to those who love Him.

In the coming weeks, may we enter our prayer closet knowing the only thing we can rightly appeal to is our Lord’s mercy and grace!

• We continue to pray for the healing of our land, from both the COVID pandemic and the sickness of sin that has wrought such great damage upon our nation causing divide, discontent, and racial and social division. May the healing balm of the Gospel be applied liberally and may God work wonders through His Church.
• We continue to pray for the ongoing Annual Conference preparations, seeking God’s guidance and leading as we gather to meet August 10-12 at the ARC.
• We continue to pray for the ongoing plans to conduct classes in-person and on-campus in the Fall of 2020.
• We continue to pray for the incoming first year FLBC class of 60 to 65 joining a returning class of around 50 in the fall of 2020.
• We continue to pray for the ongoing work on the Student Life Center, which has made amazing progress in its construction. We are praising God for this provision and ask that construction is able to continue at the expected pace and that all are kept safe as they work.
• We continue to bring before the Lord the urgency of calling men to consider preparation for pastoral ministry through seminary training. As the fields remain white unto harvest, may the Lord send workers into His harvest.
• We continue to pray for two upcoming events: The July 31st FLBC Golf Scramble which raises funds for student scholarships and the Summer Institute of Theology to be held August 3-7. We pray that many would participate and that God be glorified and attendees blessed and renewed through these events.

Your labor in prayer is both appreciated and cherished. Thank you for your service unto our Schools and Association!

On behalf of the Intercessor team,
Pastor Kirk Flaa, Sioux Falls, SD