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
O Heavenly Father, as we celebrate again the nativity of thy Son our Savior, we pray that, like the angels, we may sing his joyful praise; like the shepherds, we may go even to Bethlehem and see the Child lying in a manger; and like the wise men, we may offer to him our worship, and give him the love and loyalty of our hearts; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Frank Colquhoun)
Received: December 31, 2017
Julia
Prayer and intercession for peace in Syria:
God of Compassion,
Hear the cries of the people of Syria;
Comfort those who suffer violence;
Console those who mourn the dead;
Give strength to those countries who welcome the refugees;
Convert the hearts of those who have taken up arms,
And protect those who are committed to peace.
God of hope,
Inflame the Universal Church with compassion for all the people of Syria,
And give us hope for a future built on justice for all.
We ask this through Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace and Light of the world.
Amen.
(Pathways To God)
Received: December 30, 2017
Julia
God, who makes us glad with the yearly remembrance of the birth of your only son, Jesus Christ: Grant that as we joyfully receive him as our redeemer, so we may with sure confidence behold him, when he shall come to be our judge, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Ghost, now and forever, (1549 Prayer Book)
Received: December 29, 2017
Julia
A Prayer for the Feast Day of the Holy Innocents: We remember this day, O God, the slaughter of the holy innocents of Bethlehem by the order of King Herod. Receive, we beseech thee, into the arms of thy mercy all innocent victims; and by thy great might frustrate the designs of evil tyrants and establish thy rule of justice, love, and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Received: December 28, 2017
Dalila
I pray for Rafael Gomez that if God decides that he leaves this Universe, that he goes in peace.
If it is not the time, that God creates a miracle for Rafael Gonez and he awakes fine from his hospital bed. Amen my God.
Received: December 27, 2017
Julia
A Prayer for the Feast Day of Saint John: Merciful Lord, we beseech thee to cast thy bright beams of light upon thy Church, that we, being illumined by the teaching of thine apostle and evangelist John, may so walk in the light of thy truth, that we may at length attain to the fullness of life everlasting; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Received: December 27, 2017
Julia
A Prayer for the Feast Day of Saint Stephen
We give thee thanks, O Lord of glory, for the example of the first martyr Stephen, who looked up to heaven and prayed for his persecutors to thy Son Jesus Christ, who standeth at thy right hand: where he liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting.
Amen.
Received: December 26, 2017
Julia
Lord God Almighty, King of glory and love eternal, worthy art thou at all times to receive adoration, praise, and blessing; but especially at this time do we praise thee for the sending of thy Son our Savior Jesus Christ, for whom our hearts do wait, and to whom, with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, be honor and dominion, now and forever. Amen. (Prayers for the Christian Year)
Received: December 23, 2017
Julia
Lord – Help us to live by faith in you alone and in what you do through others. You are the one on whom we can rely, and we fully trust in you.
Amen.
(Clark Campbell)
Received: December 22, 2017
Julia
Lord Jesus, in this moment, we pause to present ourselves to you on behalf of your church. We pause to gaze on the beauty of God’s glory found in your newborn face.
We ask that your Spirit would search us, know us, and show us the ways we have moved that are more about our desires than your will. We ask that your Spirit would reveal to us ways we have used cunning or deception or tampered with your Word such that harm and destruction have been wrought upon people you deeply love. And we ask that you would forgive us.
May the splendor of your glory reorient our hearts into the deepest truths of your reconciling work for us on the cross, so that we may also be agents of reconciliation with each other.
Amen.
(Lisa Igram)