Intercessory prayer is the purifying bath into which the individual
and the community must enter every day.
(Dietrich Bonhoeffer)
and the community must enter every day.
(Dietrich Bonhoeffer)
Before You Ask
And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. (Matthew 6:7-8)
Many people think their prayers won’t work if they don’t utter them clearly enough, or fail to explain to God exactly what they mean, or don’t speak loudly enough to him with sufficient earnestness. But when this happens, prayer becomes so exaggerated that our Savior even forbids it.
Obviously Jesus does not want to discourage us from praying. His point is that when we pray we must have a sense of proportion. Once we have prayed, we must be quiet. We need to be like the farmer who has sown his seed. Help will come only when you are quiet in faith. Also in your sickness or with other needs, learn to be still and look to the Kingdom of God.
We can share our needs with the Father in a few words, without making a fuss, and rest assured that God already knows what we need and what he will do to help us. We don’t have to explain our requests in great detail to God, or try and make quite sure that he knows our needs. God knows about even the smallest matters and takes them straight into his heart. We can turn to him by glancing Heavenward, with no words at all. We can do this even when we pray about something concrete and tangible, or about something that specifically troubles us. We may realize that what we thought we needed is actually not necessary and that we can find a way right in the midst of how things are now.
This doesn’t mean that we just let things happen – as if everything will come of its own accord without our longing for it. Nor should we just cast a brief and hurried request at God’s feet. When this happens, we too easily lose sight of God, assume that everything comes to us without his help, and we forget to thank him. Then we cease to have a believing heart and are consequently not true children of God.
Jesus said, “Before you ask him.” Therefore we do need to make our requests known to him, otherwise many things will not be given that could have been given. It never displeases God when we come to him with our heartfelt requests. A real child asks for everything, knowing God has an ear for him. We should bring all our burdens and needs to him, for at the very least this helps to make us ever more aware that in all things God is the giver.
God always has our interest in mind. He carries our various needs with fatherly concern, eagerly waiting for us to come to him. He has not forgotten us. And when we feel tempted to think so, then all the more we should remember that he knows it all and cares for us. In fact, he knows much more about us and our needs than we do. Simple, childlike prayer is enough to move his heart, give you something out of the fullness of his compassion, and save you from all sorts of fear and trouble.
(Johann Christoph Blumhardt)
(The God Who Heals, Words of Hope for a Time of Sickness)
Request a prayer and pray for others
To request a prayer, click on the blue button below that reads, Share Your Prayer Request.
To pray for others, look below the form to see what prayers have been requested.
You may add your prayer request to this prayer wall using the form below. Once your prayer request is received, I will share it according to your instructions. Feel free to submit as many prayer requests as you like!
Julia
Prayers for Myanmar
We pray for peace and justice to reign in an impoverished land whose ethnically diverse peoples have suffered greatly.
We pray for effective evangelism that would penetrate the hearts of a staunchly Buddhist majority.
We pray for those believers who face tremendous harassment and persecution for their Christian faith.
Amen.
(Prayercast)
Received: August 2, 2018
Julia
Prayer for Europe
Father of mankind, Lord of history, watch over Europe to whom you have sent philosophers, legislators, wise people, forerunners in faith of your Son, who has died and has risen again.
Watch over these peoples, evangelized by Peter and Paul, by the prophets, by the monks, by the saints; watch over these regions watered by the blood of the martyrs and touched by the voice of the Reformers.
Watch over the peoples united by so many ties but also divided, over time, by hatred and war. Help us work for a Europe of the Spirit founded not only on economic agreements, but also on human and eternal values.
A Europe capable of ethnic and ecumenical reconciliations, ready to welcome the stranger, respectful of each person’s dignity. Grant that we assume our duty with hope to inspire and promote an understanding among peoples which ensures in all the continents, justice and bread, freedom and peace.
Amen.
(Eurcom)
Received: August 2, 2018
Julia
Prayer to be gathered in
God, gather me under your wings. May I feel your closeness, warmth, and love for me at this moment. Help me to hear your heartbeat of consistent love. As I sleep may you be at work in my situation. Amen.
(Barry Pearman)
Received: August 2, 2018
Julia
Freedom Prayer
Heavenly Father, we give thanks to you for the gift and blessing of the freedom we enjoy in our great nation. We praise you, Lord, for inspiring and guiding our founding fathers as they struggled to build our country and create a new way of living with the goal of freedom and justice for all.
We thank you, Lord, for the courageous self-sacrifice and generous spirit of countless people who have given their life's blood in the defense of freedom and for the pursuit of justice. Keep us faithful to the tradition and example we have inherited; may we leave for the next generation a better world, prepared for the dawning of the Kingdom of Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.
Amen.
Received: August 1, 2018
Julia
A PRAYER FOR REST
O God of peace, who has taught us that in returning and rest we shall be saved, in quietness and confidence shall be our strength: By the might of your Spirit lift us, we pray, to your presence, where we may be still and know that you are God; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Received: August 1, 2018
Julia
Prayers for the Fulani:
The Fulani live in Western Niger. The majority of them have settled in and around towns and cities in the Departments of Niamey and Dosso, some have become farmers, although owning cattle is still a key part of their ethnic identity. Fulani culture places a high value on self-control and on a certain stoicism which does not allow any demonstration of weakness. When one Fulani wants to express friendship towards another, he will lend him a cow. The person receiving the cow takes care of it until it has a calf, and then he returns it to the owner.
Pray for unity of mind and vision between all Christian missionaries and that they will demonstrate God’s love for the Fulani.
Pray that Niger remains open to missionaries.
Pray for the new Fulani believers, that they will grow in their faith and share the gospel with their friends and family.
Pray that the Fulani will come to know their identity in Christ, and realize that it is possible to be both Fulani and Christian.
Pray that the Fulani will be open to the gospel as the missionaries share truths from God’s word with them.
Pray that the missionaries will continue to acclimatize and improve their language skills. Pray that they will get on well with the reserved Fulani people, and fit into life there.
Amen.
(African Inland Mission)
Received: July 31, 2018
Julia
Prayers for South Africa:
The legacy of apartheid continues to impact the nation. Despite progress in some areas, inequalities and injustices of the past continue to shape the future. Pray especially for:
a) Reconciliation among all races. This applies not just to black-white dynamics, but also to colored and Indian peoples as well as to relationships among various black ethnicities. The “rainbow nation” must still deal with contempt, mistrust, and deep-seated hurts and fears among peoples of this diverse but troubled land. Pray that the church might lead the way by living out the truth of oneness in Christ Jesus.
b) Poverty and economic inequality. Land redistribution and affirmative action in employment are contentious initiatives that seek to assist the previously disadvantaged, but they come at a cost to the efficient running of the economy. Extremes of wealth and poverty persist. The black majority itself includes a wealthy elite and a poor majority, but the middle class is growing. Pray for economic measures that might uplift those most needing assistance without crippling the effective running of the economy.
c) Rape and violent crime rates are alarmingly high. The proliferation of illegal firearms, poverty, desperation and lack of justice fuels hopelessness and anarchy. Pray for those working for justice and for people’s safety – especially pray for the beleaguered police force. Pray for Christian ministries working with children at risk, jobless young people, prisoners and the police force. Pray that the spirit of violence – both physical and sexual – might be bound under the authority of Christ.
Amen.
(Operation World)
Received: July 31, 2018
j
Prayer for South Sudan
We pray for the many casualties of war in South Sudan: for those bereaved or injured by conflict; for those bereft of their homes and livelihoods; for those in need of medical treatment.
We pray for the work of Christian relief services: for the distribution of food, fishing gear and seeds; for soap, mosquito nets and water; for a safe space for children.
We pray for the work of the church in bringing peace: for a listening ear and understanding heart; for productive negotiations and lasting peace; for strength to walk the long road of rebuilding and reconciliation.
Amen.
(Christian Aid)
Received: July 31, 2018
Julia
A Radical Prayer For All The Children
May No Child Ever Suffer Hunger, Cruelty, Violence, or War Ever Again
Dear God,
Thank you for children, for every little child in the world. I pray for them all, for a new miracle—that no child will ever suffer hunger, cruelty, indifference, violence, murder, or war ever again.
Can I ask for that, God of peace? Is that too much? Isn’t that your will? Please inspire us to protect the children of the world, that they not suffer hunger, disease, violence, war, or cruelty, that every child on the planet would be loved unconditionally and nonviolently, that a new generation of nonviolent children grow up to become nonviolent adults who transform the world into a new place of nonviolence and peace.
God of peace, please inspire parents not to harm their children, not to hurt them, not to strike them, not to be violent to them. Please give parents the grace through a new global awareness and education to practice unconditional love, tender compassion, and creative nonviolence to their children.
Teach them nonviolent suffering love, to love them even as they cry, scream, and kick, so that their love will disarm and pacify their children, and that love will take root in them and give them a lifelong direction of nonviolent love. Please disarm everyone so that no child or young adult is ever sexually abused again.
Help us to create policies and societies where children are revered, honored, and protected, where the needs of every child are met, where a climate of safety and nonviolence is created so that children grow up in peace and become the peacemakers you created them to be.
God of peace, give every adult the new grace to be nonviolent to children, to educate children in your way of nonviolence, and to work for a more nonviolent world so that generations to come will live in peace with one another and your creation.
You desire this, God of peace. Inspire us to make it happen, and in the process, share with us the joy of children that we, too, might reclaim our childlike wonder and welcome your kingdom of love and peace with sincere love, thanks, and joy.
Amen.
(John Dear)
Received: July 30, 2018
Julia
A Celtic Style Blessing
May you pay attention to your actions,
in this moment,
now this moment,
and now this moment.
May you listen carefully – God is near.
May you observe well – God is at hand.
May you be ready and willing to stop,
to sense,
to respond from within.
May you be infinitely patient,
like a monk waiting for a rabbit to come close.
May you be gentle of heart,
possess an inner vision,
recognizing a oneness
with every living thing -
even the mountains and stars the psalms say.
May you be able to distance yourself
from the national feeling of
mayhem and menace,
and feel the monk's joy -
the thrill of it!
(Stephen P. Morris)