This year's Seek God for the City campaign is just around the corner! Join in the prayers in this discussion thread. Click the picture for the Seek God for the City web page (at waymakers.org), where you can find more information about the prayer resources available.
A companion prayer guide for use with children is attached to this discussion. This children's prayer guide is also available on the SGFC web page as a free download and is freely reproducible.
"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." -- Ephesians 3:20-21
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Week 6, Day 40 - Sunday, Mar. 20 (Palm Sunday)
Father, we long to see the return of your Son in glory. Prepare your Church as a Bride waiting for her bridegroom. Fill us with expectancy. Fill us also with your heart, Lord - that we would prepare not only ourselves but as many others as we can who will call on your name. Fill us with a sense of urgency to proclaim your salvation.
Lord Jesus, please bless the children in our generation. Call them to yourself - to praise you as the children did on Palm Sunday. Raise up parents, teachers, and spiritual leaders who will guide them in your path. Lead them not into temptation but deliver them from all kinds of evil: from those who would do them harm, from situations that are spiritually dangerous for them, from paths that will lead away from you. Raise up this generation of children to be the ones who complete the task of world evangelization and prepare the world for your return.
God, please watch over Jerusalem. Bring reconciliation and peace to this city that so desperately needs it. Bring salvation to Jews and Muslims alike. Open doors for the gospel to spread to every neighborhood in this city - whether Arab or Jewish. Grant your people and your church favor in the eyes of the government and in the eyes of those who are far from you. Jesus, you said you longed to gather Jerusalem under your wings as a hen gathers her chicks - do that in our day, for your glory. Amen.
Week 5, Day 39 - Saturday, Mar. 19
Father, please renew the hopeful expectation of the Church for the return of your Son. Lord, even as your people, we confess that we get so preoccupied with daily life and even with good things like ministry, that we shift our focus from heavenly things to earthly things, and we lose that anticipation of when you will make all things new. Remind us often, Lord, that even in the midst of uncertainty, violence, and chaos, the story is already written and the Victor already determined. Find us faithful, Lord Jesus, when you return.
Lord, you've promised that there will be people from every nation, tribe, and language worshiping before your throne. You said that the spread of the Gospel to the whole earth would be the last sign before your return. Hasten the day, Lord, when every town and village has a vibrant, witnessing church; when every person has a chance to hear the gospel in their own language; when your word goes out in many forms to every corner of every country. Prepare this world for your return, Lord, by calling out for yourself a remnant from every people group.
Thank you, Lord, for the elderly in our city and communities. Thank you for giving them length of life and for the fruit borne in so many of their lives. Please make these years fruitful, meaningful, and joyful for them. Cause them to be honored in the sight of their families and our communities. Replace the sadness of grieving those they have lost with the joy of walking day by day with you. Prepare them for the time when you will call them to their rest; in the meantime, grant them abundant lives, good health, and provision for their needs.
Lord of the Nations, send forth your Word to every town and village in the United Arab Emirates and in Yemen. Raise up workers for these harvest fields. Provide translators for every language in these countries that is still in need of your word. Open doors for ministry and for proclamation of the gospel. Break down political, social, and cultural barriers to the spread of the Gospel. Reveal yourself throughout these countries in such a way that people will be drawn to you for salvation.
In Jesus' name. Amen.
Week 5, Day 38 - Friday, Mar. 18
Father, please unify your church in worship, even when individuals may come from different traditions. Remind us often, Lord, that worship is not about us - it's about you. So lift our hearts together in praise that we pay less attention to the forms as we are swept away in your presence. Raise up city-wide worship events that bring together people from different denominations and backgrounds to praise your name. Remind us often that our eternity will be spent worshiping you with people from every nation, tribe, and language, and prepare us now for that great day.
Father, we acknowledge you as the giver of life. We are made in your image - fearfully and wonderfully knit together. You know each person while they are yet in the womb and you have a plan for each life. Please protect the unborn, who cannot speak out for themselves. Be their Voice, their Advocate - in our justice system and in our politics, as well as in the hearts of their parents. Bring to fruition your wonderful plan for each one. Provide for unwed mothers-to-be - calm their fears and turn their hearts to you and to their unborn children. Raise up believers to come alongside them and walk with them through their pregnancies and the birth of their children. Where needed, provide adoptive parents to care for the children. Fill your people with love for the unborn and for their mothers, and push us to demonstrate that love.
Lord of the Nations, reign over the countries of Syria, Turkey, and Tunisia. Open doors for the Gospel to spread in these countries. Protect your people who are persecuted for their faith - give them courage and grace under fire. Change the trajectories of these countries, so that your name may be known far and wide in each one. Please bring real peace to Syria - not just an absence of war, but a positive, hopeful environment where families can look forward to brighter futures. Bless Turkey for its acceptance of so many refugees - provide the economic and social resources the country needs to care for these refugees while still taking care of its own people. May your name be blessed in each of these lands.
In Jesus' name. Amen.
Week 5, Day 37 - Thursday, Mar. 17
Father, thank you for the people from other countries that you have brought to our city. Thank you for bringing them to a place where they have the opportunity to hear the Gospel and to interact with Christians safely. Thank you for international students, for business people, for migrant workers - all of whom have come here seeking their own futures but also as part of your plan for their lives, whether they know that or not. Lord, reveal yourself to them in their time here and change their lives with your salvation.
Please also ease any racial or ethnic tensions in our city and communities. Make peace between peoples of different backgrounds. Raise up your church as a leader in reconciliation between peoples as well as between people.
Fill people in our ethnic communities with a sense of your great pleasure in their cultures and languages. Where there needs to be repentance over wrongs done across ethnic or racial lines, bring the humility that's needed for people to repent. Where there needs to be forgiveness, bring the grace that people need to forgive. Make your church a body of peacemakers, and may that peace draw many from all ethnic groups in our city to you.
Lord of the Nations, reign over Oman, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia. Bring down systems that have been erected to stand in the way of the Gospel. Open doors for your word to spread to every corner of these countries - to every town and village, to every people group, even to every family. Hasten the day when each person in these countries has an opportunity to hear the Gospel in a meaningful, relevant way, and to respond to your invitation to salvation. Raise up workers for these harvest fields - Bible translators, teachers, evangelists. Proclaim your word in these lands through the internet and through satellite radio and TV. Do what looks impossible today, Lord - raise up a witnessing church in each town and village throughout these countries.
In Jesus' name. Amen.
Week 5, Day 36 - Wednesday Mar. 16
Father, you call us to live at peace with all people as far as it depends on us. Please forgive your children when we don't live up to this high standard. We confess, Lord, that when we're wronged, we want justice and not mercy. We don't like having our rights trampled on, and we want to punish those who have made us suffer. We feel the same when we see stories of those around the world who are persecuted for their faith. Our natural tendency is to react with anger towards ISIS, Boko Haram, the North Korean regime, and all who unjustly persecute your people.
Lord, you have called us not just to live at peace with others but to actually be those who make peace. Empower your church to be at the forefront of true peacemaking - not just ending wars and conflicts but truly reconciling people, first to you and then to each other. Give us grace to pray for our enemies both near and far away. Change the hearts of those who oppose you, and empower those who are suffering persecution to remain faithful to you and to bless their enemies.
Father, please look with your favor on high-profile athletes. Lead them not into temptation, Lord, but deliver them from evil. You have given them much; teach them how to be accountable for all you have provided. Specially bless the believers among them with your favor, so that other athletes may come to know you and so that your word may spread. For students in school preparing for athletic careers and for the coaches who guide them - grant your special wisdom. Restrain the tendencies toward self-indulgence. Raise up positive relationships that will keep them on the right path.
Lord of the Nations, please let your special favor fall on Lebanon as this country takes in so many thousands of refugees and provides safe haven for them. Provide this country with the resources needed to take care of the refugees; bless Lebanon's economy to the point that the refugees turn out not to be a burden, but a channel through which your favor rests on Lebanon. Grant her leaders wisdom, righteousness, and compassion as they make decisions that impact both the refugees and their own citizens. Open doors for the Gospel to spread throughout this country, and call to yourself many who today do not know you.
In Jesus' name. Amen.
Week 5, Day 35: Tuesday, Mar. 15
Father, please restore the children in our city and communities to their parents. Please bring humility and repentance where wrong has been done, and a spirit of forgiveness. Heal past wounds of both parents and children, and bless these relationships going forward. Lead parents in our communities to bless their children with your love, grace, and hope. Protect our children from paths that lead to temptation and danger; instead, grow their hearts for you, and lead them on paths of righteousness. Again we pray for the salvation of entire families in our neighborhoods.
Lord God, please bless the laborers in our community. Bless them with safe workplaces, positive friendships, and meaningful work. Bless them by ensuring that they are treated with justice and dignity. Bless them by providing for their needs, especially in a changing economy. Above all, bless them with the hope that is in Christ Jesus.
Lord of the Nations, please look down on Israel with your favor and blessing. Give her leaders wisdom in perilous times. Bring peace between Christian, Jew, and Muslim - with mutual respect and honor. Bring fair solutions to the issues that divide. Bless Israel and make her a channel of your blessing to surrounding nations and to the foreigners in her midst.
In Jesus' name. Amen.
Day 34: Monday, Mar. 14
Father, we long to see you bring peace, reconciliation, and restoration to broken relationships - whether in families, in churches, in neighborhoods, in businesses, across racial, ethnic, or social lines. Please reconcile people of all neighborhoods and families in our communities to yourself, and make your church an agent of reconciliation in our city and our communities. Open the eyes of believers to opportunities to be reconcilers and peacemakers. May your name be honored through the efforts of your people to bring peace.
Lord, the family was the very first institution you created, and we know you love to see families working well. Please bring restoration to broken family relationships; comfort to families who are grieving loss; provision to families in financial need; and over all, salvation to families that are far from you. Draw entire families to yourself, Lord God, like you did with the family of the jailer in Philippi. Turn the hearts of parents to their children and children to their parents. Bring hope to families as they turn to you.
Lord of the Nations, please halt the spread of Islam in Egypt, Iran, and Iraq - and especially of Islamic extremism. You have promised that the gates of hell could not prevail against your church. Fulfill that promise in these nations, Lord, so that your name may be known widely among those who are currently far from you. Strengthen your church in the midst of persecution - not just to withstand it, but to overcome it with your grace, compassion, and mercy. Change the times and leaders of these countries and open doors for the Gospel to spread.
In Jesus' name. Amen.
Week 5, Day 33: Sunday, Mar. 13
Lord of reconciliation, please reconcile to yourself people of every race and ethnicity in our city. Plant vibrant, culturally relevant, kingdom-focused churches in every culture. For those who have come from lands where the Gospel is not freely proclaimed, please draw them into contact with your word and with your Son.
Make of your church an agent of reconciliation in our communities. Teach us as your people to value every culture, to respect the differences among us and celebrate the uniqueness you have given to every people group. Where there are lines of tension, please give your people courage to reach across those lines to build bridges.
Father, thank you for those whom you have called to protect our country as part of the military. Please look on them with your favor. Keep them save in travel, in conflict, and in all their duties. Make your word precious to them as they risk their lives. Give chaplains and other spiritual leaders special wisdom to serve and to honor you in the sight of our armed forces. Strengthen military families through moves and times of separation - make these special times of your blessing and favor on them.
In Jesus' name. Amen.
Week 4, Day 31: Friday, Mar. 11
Father, you are the one who establishes leaders in their roles. You raise them up, give them responsibility, and call them to account for that responsibility. Thank you for our leaders, Lord. Please protect them from all temptation - from greed, from special interests, from the deceitfulness of wealth and power. Grant our judges wisdom to rule justly, and our lawmakers your guidance to enact laws that reflect your righteousness. Purge any corruption from our system, Lord. In this election year, raise up leaders with hearts of servanthood, integrity, and humility.
Please also remind business leaders in our community that they will one day account to you for the opportunities with which you entrusted them. Establish them and their businesses in righteousness. Grant them your favor for conducting business fairly and equitably. Bless the fruit of all their efforts to be a blessing to our communities.
Lord God, please strengthen our agricultural workers. Give them a sense of the importance and value of their work. Strengthen both their bodies and their minds for the work you have given them. Bless our farmers with favorable weather and good growing conditions. Please watch over migrant workers and take care of their needs. Call many from the agricultural community to yourself by your grace and compassion.
Lord of the Nations, thank you for the work you continue to do across Russia. It's so encouraging to read that two-thirds of the population identify as Christians when only a few short years ago that would have seemed impossible. Truly, Lord, what is impossible for men is more than possible for you.
Please raise up leadership for your church in Russia. Train and educate pastors and other church leaders. Break down the authoritarian molds of the past and bring about a style of leadership that suits the Russia of today. Raise up indigenous forms of church, education, and worship that will truly represent Russian faith. Work through the discipleship schools, seminaries, and TEE programs to ground leaders in your word. Grow your church in Russia in depth of discipleship.
In Jesus' name. Amen.
Week 4, Day 30: Thursday, Mar. 10
Lord Jesus, you have promised that the gates of hell would not prevail against your church. Fulfill that promise in our day, Lord - enable your church to boldly move forward in our city and communities, breaking down the walls, gates, and other barriers erected by Satan and by the world. Strengthen weak congregations into powerful forces for your kingdom. Overcome any fears we may have by reminding us of your greatness and increasing our faith in your provision and protection.
Make your church victorious in all the lands where your people are significantly persecuted for their faith. Break down those gates of hell - whether they come from extremists, from governments, or even from neighbors and family. Strengthen your church around the world collectively and each congregation individually to become a prevailing church - one where you are glorified and one that contributes to the advancement of the kingdom.
Father in heaven, please take hold of all the lives of the fathers on earth among us. Teach fathers in our midst what spiritual leadership of their families really means. Give them hearts of servanthood for their families. Grant them favor in the eyes of their wives and children and give them wisdom to lead their families in righteousness. Forgive the fathers among us who have neglected their walks with you and neglected or abused their families - forgive, and cleanse. Strengthen fathers to forsake paths that are not beneficial for their families. May their fatherhood increasingly look more and more like your Fatherhood over time, that you may be honored in each family.
Lord of the Nations, please strengthen families in the countries of Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, and Portugal. In each of these lands, Lord, lead families in righteousness. Convert entire unbelieving households to the faith, so that your name may be worshiped in houses and communities throughout these countries. Give to the governments of these lands wisdom to enact and enforce what will make families stronger. Spread your word throughout each of these countries, to every people group. Raise up a thriving church among each people, Lord, so that no one in these countries is without a witness to your grace and compassion.
In Jesus' name. Amen.
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