A Month of Praying for Our Community
Monday, February 14. Father, we pray for each member of the Worship Planning Team, that they sense your leading as they plan our times of worship with you. Father, we also pray for all the pastors in Holland. We pray that you would pour out your Spirit mightily on them with your wisdom, power, and protection. May they be an encouragement to each other to continue faithfully in your work. “Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them…” (1 Peter 5:2).
Tuesday, February 15. Lord, we bring before you the influence of gangs in our community. We ask that you break the influence they hold over the people involved in them and that they would find true belonging in you. May we be your conduits of light and love to show the true hope of freedom in Jesus. “In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The slight shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:4-5).
Wednesday, February 16. Father, help us to show kindness and compassion and not judgement to those who are unemployed or underemployed. Show us how to meet the needs of some through Grace Space and by supporting area nonprofit agencies that help those with few resources. We pray that You would provide meaningful employment for all who seek it and that they would see You as their Provider. “That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God” (Ecclesiastes 3:13).
Thursday, February 17. We pray for children who are orphaned or living in foster homes, that they would be placed in safe, godly homes where they are loved (and perhaps adopted) and where they can heal from any traumas they have experienced. We pray that Christian families would be willing to be foster parents. “You, Lord, hear the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry, defending the fatherless and the oppressed, so that mere earthly mortals will never again strike terror” (Psalm 10:17-18).
Friday, February 18. Father God, You give us the ability to work and produce wealth through our work. We pray for business owners and all who work for them, that you would bless them with wisdom and a desire to always do their work with excellence and integrity, to be honest and fair in all of their business dealings. “But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today” (Deuteronomy 8:18).
Saturday, February 19. We thank You, Lord, for the body of believers that You have gathered at Maranatha. Help us to be kind, helpful and encouraging to everyone in our church community. May our fellowship tonight at the Pizza and Game Night give You honor and glory. “May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer” (Psalm 19:14).
Sunday, February 20. Lord, we lift up before You all of the men in our community and ask for Your Spirit to work powerfully in each one of them, drawing them to Yourself and revealing Yourself to them in unmistakable ways. Protect them from evil and give them godly friends and mentors. “This is what the Lord says: ‘Let not the wise boast of their wisdom or the strong boast of their strength or the rich boast of their riches, but let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,’ declares the Lord” (Jeremiah 9:23-24).