Australia’s Largest Christian News Site

Intention

To explain why the Church is so important to God.

Scripture

“Christ is the head of the church. He is the Saviour of his body, the church…

“He gave up his life for her to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word.  He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault…

“As the Scriptures say, ‘A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.’ This is a great mystery, but it is an illustration of the way Christ and the church are one.”

– Ephesians 5:23, 25–27, 31–33

“‘For the time has come for the wedding feast of the Lamb, and his bride has prepared herself. She has been given the finest of pure white linen to wear.’ For the fine linen represents the good deeds of God’s holy people.

“And the angel said to me, ‘Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb.’”

– Revelation 19:7–9

Reflection

In 1997, I was in Malaysia ministering the word of God. During my time there, I had coffee with a highly respected American Bible teacher. He said to me, “Warwick, the whole Bible can be summed up in this one thought: the Father is looking for a bride for his Son.”

He continued, “You see, in the book of Genesis, the Bible starts with a marriage service in the Garden of Eden. God was the celebrant and pronounced the blessing. Furthermore, in Revelation, the Bible finishes with the marriage supper of the Lamb, where again God is the celebrant.”

His statement floored me as being utterly profound.

And yet, I felt something was missing in his spiritual genius. It took me a few weeks of prayerful thought to come up with the missing part. Let me share it with you.

The whole Bible can be summed up in two thoughts. First, the Father is looking for a bride for his Son. Second, the Father is looking to have lots of children, because he wants to make his family as large as possible.

Usually, the bride comes first and then the children, but in God’s economy, “The first shall be last.” The greatest verse in the Bible, John 3:16, gives you the big picture. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Hebrews 2:10 describes the heart behind the Father’s plans. “In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered.”

In God’s perfect plan, Christ, through his blood, purchased a multitude of sons and daughters, who became the Church of the living God and the ultimate bride for the Son. This is a profound mystery, as Ephesians says.

I remember when the Wollongong City Council (my hometown) removed prayer nearly 40 years ago. I was deeply disturbed.

Before the next council elections, I made sure I spoke to all the prospective mayors. But none of them had any intention of bringing back the Lord’s Prayer. (Sadly, our council has been dissolved twice for corruption during the ensuing time. Without Christ, there is always chaos.)

So, I set myself to pray and fast on the day of the council elections. I remember lying on a cold rock on top of Mt Keira overlooking Wollongong early in the morning, praying for the elections.

God spoke to me, asking, “What are you doing?” I stammered, “Don’t you understand? I am praying for the city council because they have thrown you out of the ruling chamber.”

God often answers indirectly, as he did this time. The words that came to me at that moment were in the form of a paraphrase from Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Richard the Third: “My Church, my Church, my kingdom for my Church.” I had the answer I needed.

God’s priority is his Church. The Church is his Son’s bride, and not only that, but his very body and the hope of the world.

There is no other hope. That is why we are praying and fasting for the Church in October.

Video

Prayer

Father, pour out your Spirit on your Church and the leaders of the Church in Jesus’ name. This is a burning bush moment for the Church as Miriam says in tomorrow’s devotion. Enliven us to be your loving bride and see a harvest of souls in the outworking of our love in Jesus’ name, amen!

Author Bio

Warwick Marsh has been married to Alison since 1975, and they have five children and ten grandchildren. He is a family and faith advocate, social reformer, musician, TV producer, writer and public speaker. Warwick is well known in Australia for his advocacy for prayer, children, marriage, manhood, family, fatherhood and faith.

Prayer Points for October 2025

1. God to pour out his blessing and Spirit on every church in Australia and its leaders. Hebrews 13:7
2. All churches in Australia to grow in Christlikeness and win people to Christ. Acts 6:7
3. Widespread adoption of Reaching Australia 2033 and its plan to activate every believer in personal evangelism. Acts 1:8
4. Revival for Australia and for millions to come to Christ. Isaiah 64:1–2

We invite you to support this prayer campaign to multiply prayer in Australia for revival and see millions come to faith in Christ. Every donation to the Canberra Declaration helps us promote prayer and make a stand for family, faith, freedom, life, and the good news of God’s love through Jesus Christ, His Son.

Sign up to receive daily devotions during October in your inbox (and find extra info) here.

Join us for our nightly Zoom prayer call:

DATES: Every night from Wednesday, 1 October to Friday, 31 October

TIME (1–4 October): 8 pm AEST; 7:30 pm ACST; 6 pm WA

TIME (5–31 October): 8 pm AEDT; 7:30 pm SA; 7 pm QLD; 6:30 pm NT; 5 pm WA

ZOOM URL LINK: zoom.us/j/776881184

ZOOM TUTORIAL: youtube.com/watch?v=pAMDxH_H_Cs

View all Prayer for the Church October 2025 devotionals

Daily devotions are brought to you by the Canberra Declaration.

___

Photo via Adobe.