Welcome to the January 2026 Prayer Vigil!
This month’s prayer vigil will begin with an ending! We will “begin” this New Year with a “Doxology”; Paul’s to be specific in the epistle to the Romans. This prayer vigil will be different from many that have preceded it, even from the few that I have written. We tend to use a good number of verses to pray over and read through, which is not always a bad thing; but I fear that we can glean over true revelation for sheer abundance. This month we will spend our time together really pouring over one passage and trying with all our faculties to derive all that the Holy Spirit intends for us to receive from it. So may we find ourselves at this time of the new year, sitting silently before the Lord… not in abundance of words or thoughts but dwelling within the one thought worthy of our time, and like Augustine, say: “all else pales in comparison to your pleasures O Lord”.
May we begin with the understanding that you are to work this half hour. My prayer for you is that you would pour over this verse. You would claim it as your own and like a warrior in battle you would grasp it and besiege it, until from it you have drawn all that you can work in.
The Word “doxology” is derived from the Greek work “doxologia”, which means “praising” or “giving glory”. Let us come to this time with that sole purpose.
The first time you read through this passage, read through it without stopping to ponder or getting teary; just read it through one time: Romans 11:33-36 NIV
Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments,
and his paths beyond tracing out!
[34] "Who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor?"
[35] "Who has ever given to God,
that God should repay him?"
[36] For from him and through him and to him are all things.
To him be the glory forever! Amen.
This second time read it through but pick out one line that really reverberates in your mind and soul. Spend some time really considering each of the purposefully chosen words and then journal a few lines of your observations and meditations.
This passage draws us into a place of expansion. It is by these lamentations that our view of God and his majesty are expanded. This must draw us to a place of awe and admiration. This is a skill we have lost. We want facts and evidence and documentaries but rarely if ever, are we left with a God who leaves us speechless or without words. This practice and discipline we must recapture. I would charge you to spend the next ten minutes or so really considering this God of majesty. This God of greatness:
- “the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!”
- “How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond searching out!”
- “Who has known the mind of the Lord?”
O how our life would be shaken and left hampered if we were to spend considerable time not asking, not speaking, but adoring, brooding, marveling at the wonder of God.
Finally, let us glance to the future tense. Verse 36 carries with it one of the most profound statements of the sovereignty of God and his ordination on Earth in all of Scripture. This verse speaks to the “majesty” of God. The word majesty is derived from the Latin word for “greatness”, this is Paul ascribing greatness to God. It is from His hand that all things were wrought. Everything in nature, all that was created, was given birth from his hand. All things continue and are sustained, through him; and by his grace they will continue and only as he their creator sees fit to allow it. And finally, to him, all of the created would serve its purpose unto his glory on earth till his Kingdom comes.
So we shall expand his position in our lives or rather see him as he always has been, and remind us of our poor misconceptions.
“To whom then will you compare me, that I should be like him?” (Is 40:25, RSV)
1) This question rebukes wrong thoughts about God. “Your thoughts are too human,” said Luther to Erasmus. This is where most of us go astray. Our thoughts of God are not great enough, we fail to reckon with the reality of his limitless wisdom and power, because we ourselves are limited and weak. Spend a few moments putting this mistake right, ask the Lord to work in you an aptitude to acknowledge the full majesty of your incomparable God and Savior.
“Hast thou not known? Hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary?” (Is 40:28, RSV)
2) This question rebukes our slowness to believe in God’s majesty. God would shame us out of unbelief. He asks, “Have you been imagining that I have grown old and tired? Has nobody told you the truth about me?” The rebuke is well deserved by many of us. How slow we are to believe in God as God, sovereign, all-seeing, and almighty! The need as we begin this New Year is for us to “wait upon the Lord” in meditations on his majesty, till we find our strength renewed through the writings of these things upon our hearts.
As you have time, spend your remaining moments lifting up:
Family:
Pray for – Those in your immediate family who begin this year without a personal relationship with Christ.
Those in your extended family who do the same.
The many in our church family who have children, husbands, and wives who have not come to know the Lord.
IBC’s Ministries:
Pray for – The invited pastors and speakers who will be preaching.
The deacons — for wisdom and discernment as they make decisions.
The worship team and audio-visual team.
The youth and young adult ministries.
The children’s ministry – the Lord to give strength to the teachers and provide a Children Ministry Coordinator.
The Men’s ministry — that God would call out men to join, lead and disciple.
The Women’s ministry — for their leadership team and its continued ministry to the women it serves.
Missions:
Pray for – The upcoming Alpha Course at IBC in late February and April 2026.
The prisoners at the Lai Chi Kok prison who heard the gospel songs and message on 27 December 2025.
More volunteers to join the Hong Kong Christian Kun Sun Association to visit prisoners.
The missionaries among us, our mission partners and outreach activities.
And finally, pray for the pastor search team as they seek the one the Lord has called, and for this coming year of ministry for International Baptist Church; That God would continue to bless this fellowship with sweet community, a growing body of believers as the lost come to know Christ in this place, and that the body of saints in this place would grow in their knowledge and faith in the One who has called them.
[This prayer guide was prepared by Charles Ip]