Ash Wednesday is only a couple of days away, and the annual Seek God for the City campaign is about to begin. Please join me in asking God to bring honor to himself in our neighborhoods, in our cities, and around the world. I invite anyone to post prayers for their neighbors, cities, etc.
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Day 40 - Sunday, Mar. 25
Father, awaken our city to the Lordship of your Son. Break through the distractions - the unbelief, the materialism, the false religions - so that you may be known and worshiped widely. In every neighborhood, in every apartment complex and building, in our schools and our government offices - in our shopping centers and on our streets - may your name be proclaimed and may you be worshiped.
Keep hope alive in believers - hope in the return of your Son at the time of your choosing, and hope for your presence, provision, and purpose to be accomplished in our day. Keep us from getting so caught up in the things of the moment that we lose sight of how you are bringing history to a culmination. Keep us from despair and discouragement - remind us often that you are sovereign, that the story has been written, and that you are victorious.
Lord God, please raise up the children in our city and across our land as a new generation that will know and follow you. Accomplish through them the spread of your word throughout the world. Teach them about your love and sacrifice, and call the same love and sacrifice out of them. Give to our parents wisdom to raise up their children to know you and to serve you. Thwart the purposes of the enemy in attempting to confuse them or deny them access to your word. May the children come to you, Lord Jesus.
Finally, Lord, we pray for your peace to rest on Jerusalem. Even as controversy surrounds the moving of the US Embassy there, even as violence on all sides seems to surround the city - quell all of this and bring your peace. Lord Jesus, we acknowledge that lasting peace can be found only in you, so we pray that you will make of your church reconcilers of people to you - Jews, Muslims, and others - and then reconcilers of people to each other.
May you be honored in all of this and in all of our prayers.
Amen.
Day 39 - Saturday, Mar. 24
Father, please bring in our day great movements of people to yourself - movements like on Palm Sunday or later on Pentecost Sunday. Prepare the path for your word to be proclaimed throughout our land. Make of people in our cities "fourth soil" people - those who will hear and receive the gospel and will bear fruit, 30, 60, and 100 fold. And may all of this happen for the sake of your glory and the advancement of your kingdom.
Father, please give men in our city hearts of servanthood and righteousness. Show them how to lead their families spiritually, how to serve and care for them, how to lay down their lives for you and for their families. Free men from bondage to jobs that seek to steal their identity - instead, enable them to find their identity in you. Give to men the wisdom to balance family, job, church - all the many responsibilities in our culture today. Cause your name to be honored among the men in our city.
Lord God, please open doors for the gospel in the United Arab Emirates and in Yemen. Resource your church to come alongside those who are in need - especially those suffering from the recent storms in Oman and Yemen - so that your love and grace may be known by those who are currently far from you. Jesus, appear to Muslims in these countries in dreams and visions, and draw entire households to yourself.
For the sake of your glory. Amen.
Day 38 - Friday, Mar. 23
Father, please grant pastors and teachers in our city wisdom from your word to share in ways that will penetrate the barriers that people have erected against you. May the proclamation of your word in our worship services and through our lives bear fruit in drawing non-believers to yourself. Reap a rich harvest in every sector of our city, by calling people of every group and neighborhood to yourself.
Grant your wisdom to our leaders as well, Lord - at every level, from local all the way up to the President. You can direct the paths of even those who do not know you and you can reveal yourself to them in ways that guide them to make wise decisions, just as you revealed to Pharaoh what was to come through Joseph and gave him the wisdom to follow Joseph's advice. So raise up advisors and counselors for our leaders who will instruct them in your wisdom and whose words you will use to guide decisions and policies. Cause our leaders to rule in righteousness and to serve the people. Place it in their hearts to foster freedom of worship and conscience.
Father, please reign in Syria, Tunisia, and Turkey. In Syria, Lord, please raise up wise, strong leadership - men and women who know you and who know what is best for the country and who have the courage to set that direction. Replace the anarchy and violence there with order and peace. Bring back normality to the lives of those who have known nothing for years except for war and bloodshed. Restore the fortunes of this country in a way that will cause its people to worship you as their Creator and Provider.
In Jesus' name. Amen.
Isaiah 2:2-3; John 8:2; 1 Timothy 2:1-2;
Day 37 - Thursday, Mar. 22
Father, unify your church across this country and around the world in worship of you. Give to each ethnicity and culture a unique aspect of worship that brings honor to you. May nonbelievers from every culture see this worship and be drawn to you. You are the Creator of all people and all peoples, so please redeem each culture and people group for yourself. Be seen not as a "foreign god" but as the One True God all over the world.
Please bless children who have lost their parents with others who will love, care for, and protect them. Raise up foster parents and adoptive parents to provide loving homes and opportunities to hear and receive the gospel. Protect these children from all forms of abuse and from those who would take advantage of them. Please grant the blessing of siblings being kept together, and find wise and righteous mentors for those who have aged out of the adoption system.
May your word spread throughout Oman, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia. Especially in this season of Ramadan, may you be known to Muslim peoples in these lands. Lord Jesus, reveal yourself in dreams and visions and cause Muslims in these countries to seek you. Bring them into contact with the Gospel, whether through workers you would send, or through media or the internet. Touch their hearts and draw them to salvation. Amen.
Psalm 102:18, 21-22; Mark 11:17; Psalm 10:17-18
Day 36 - Wednesday, Mar. 21
Father, we long to see you honored even in the midst of war, strife, division, and disunity. May the truth of your word penetrate through all the violence, and may your voice of peace and love overcome the strife. Cause your people to be humble and broken before you, and to approach non-believers with humility and grace. Make of your church agents of reconciliation around the world - reconciliation of people to you first and then to each other; reconcilers of races and ethnicities; reconcilers of nations and philosophies. Your word is truth, Lord - sanctify your church by that truth and lead your people to share that truth around the world.
Father, may your special blessing fall on the native peoples of our land. Put your church at the forefront of bringing reconciliation and reaching out to those who have been mistreated and misunderstood. May your church be planted among all the tribes of our nation, so that your name may be honored and worshiped in all native languages and cultures.
May your name also be honored throughout Lebanon, Libya, and Morocco. Please quell the violence and shut down the terrorism that so characterizes Lebanon and Libya. Give to the leadership of Lebanon wisdom in serving and handling all the refugees that have come there. Raise your hand against the terrorists of Hezbollah; grip their hearts with your truth and love. Resource your church in each of these countries to be channels of your blessing to the unreached around them.
In Jesus' name. Amen.
Psalm 46:6, 9-10; Luke 20:18; Isaiah 51:4
Father, please make of your church a beacon of hope, light, and grace in our city. Forgive us our own lack of forgiveness and bring us to repentance for failing to forgive our neighbors the way you forgive us. Make of us a people who return good for evil, blessing for curse, prayer for persecution. It is not natural for us to love our enemies, Lord - those who have set their hearts and lives against you and against your people. We rely solely on your supernatural power for that.
Please strengthen persecuted believers around the world to respond with grace to those who persecute them. To forgive as Stephen forgave; to worship as Paul and Silas worshiped; to stand strong with the word of truth as Peter and John did. Raise your hand on behalf of your persecuted church so that those outside your grace may see your power and believe.
Lord we seek your grace on behalf of the elderly in our communities. Bless their later years with peace, with loving relationships, with purpose and meaning. For those who know you, Lord, make these years the best years of their lives - and for those who don't, please don't give up on them but offer them yet again a chance to hear the Gospel and to believe in you. Take care of the elderly in such a way that they will be brought to gratitude for your love and will abound in your grace.
Spread your word throughout the nations of Israel, Jordan, and Kuwait, Father. Bring clarity to those who think they know you and yet are far from you. Move in the hearts of believers in these countries to share the Gospel with those who do not know you. Reap a rich harvest through the proclamation of your word.
In Jesus' name. Amen.
Day 34 - Monday, Mar. 19
Father, please use all the conflict and uncertainty in the world and in our country to open doors for the Gospel. Place in the hearts of people a strong desire for the peace and the certainty that only You can provide. Cause people to become dissatisfied with things that don't last, and to seek the Truth. And as they do that, Lord, open doors for believers to share the Gospel with them and for the church to serve them.
Empower your people to follow you without fear - whether that's fear of rejection in this country or fear of persecution around the world. May your praise be on the lips of all your people, and would you please use that praise to touch the hearts of those who are far from you.
Please look with your favor on the mothers in our city and communities. Strengthen them for the crucial work you have given them. Give them a sense of your presence and your favor in their work, and protect them from the doubts that the evil one would sow through the opinions of the world of the value of motherhood. Turn the hearts of husbands to their wives, to give their lives for their wives and serve them as you raise families to honor you.
Open doors for the spread of the Gospel throughout Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. Thank you especially for the spiritual openness throughout Iran, especially among the youth. You have shown them, Lord, the futility of Islam - now please show them the truth. Bless the work of ministries like Iran Alive and others who are reaching out with the Gospel in Iran. Bring about a great revival in this country that will turn the direction of the nation around.
In Jesus' name. Amen.
Day 33 - Sunday, Mar. 18
Lord Jesus, you are the Prince of Peace. Please bring peace in our city and in cities across the country - peace between races and ethnic groups; peace between liberals and conservatives; peace between social groups and economic classes. The day will come - and may it be soon, Lord! - when you will bring peace to all the earth at your return. But until then, please reconcile individuals to yourself that they also may be reconciled to each other. May you be seen as the ultimate hope for ongoing peace between peoples and cultures.
Lord God, please bring peace to so many places in the world where hatred and violence are rife - places like Syria, northern Nigeria, Iran, Sudan, and Eritrea. Places like India where persecution is on the rise and like North Korea where persecution has long been the norm. Raise up your church as reconcilers of people - you have reconciled us to yourself and given us the ministry of reconciliation. Cause us to take that seriously, Father.
Father, may your word soon spread throughout all the peoples of Algeria, Bahrain, and Cyprus. Break down every barrier to the Gospel in these countries. Raise up persons of peace in each people group and bring them into contact with the Gospel. Draw their hearts to you and through them, draw others. May entire households in these countries be won for Christ and may your church steadfastly reflect your love and grace in these places.
In Jesus' name. Amen.
Micah 4:3; Matthew 12:21; Psalm 22:27
Day 32 - Saturday, March 17
Lord God, you are worthy of all worship - worthy to be worshiped by people from every nation, tribe, and language. May the day soon come when that's a reality! Cause men, women, and children from every people group on earth to seek you sincerely, and reveal yourself to them as they seek. Raise up persons of peace in every village and tribe and among every people group, so that the Gospel may gain a foothold in each group. Call entire households to yourself.
Father, please have mercy on the military and on their families. Keep safe those who are serving abroad in dangerous places. Grant peace to their families and provide for their needs. Above all, turn their hearts to you, to rely on you in faith and to trust in your grace and mercy. Empower chaplains and other spiritual leaders to speak the truth of your word in love, so as to draw men and women in all branches of service to yourself.
May you be named and honored in every corner of Switzerland, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Uzbekistan, and Vatican City. In places that have fallen to a "post-Christian" culture, Lord, bring revival and a return to You and to the truth of your word. In places where your word is suppressed and your followers persecuted, change the hearts of those who have set themselves against you and break down the gates of hell before your church. Cleanse and purify your church in these countries.
In Jesus' name. Amen.
Psalm 22:27-28; John 12:20-21; Matthew 8:5-10
Day 31 - Friday, March 16
Father, please stir up interest in the Gospel throughout our city and through the cities in our land. Make yourself known in such a powerful way that many people open their hearts and minds to the truth of your word. We love to see individuals come to know you, but we long for a mighty movement of your Spirit to bring entire households, neighborhoods, and communities to yourself. Overcome the skepticism of doubters - convict them of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. Empower your people to speak boldly, wisely, and sensitively of your love and grace as you provide opportunities.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on the disabled in our community. Provide for their needs - material, financial, emotional, and spiritual. Grant them loving family and friends to walk alongside them in their journey. Turn their hearts to you and give them a hope that is beyond medicine or therapy but that lasts for eternity. At the same time, please provide for their needs toward healing, whatever those may be. Grant fulfilling lives even in the face of challenges and obstacles.
Break down obstacles to the gospel throughout Romania, Russia, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden. Empower your church in each one of these countries to overcome darkness with the light of your word. I pray especially for Russia, that your light may shine brightly there, changing the society and especially the government for the sake of your glory.
In Jesus' name. Amen.
Zechariah 8:20-22; Matthew 21:10; Isaiah 63:9
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