Patterns for Prayer Volume 2 E-Book

Alvin VanderGriend

• Herausgeber: WS
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Serie: Patterns for Prayer
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 141

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Beschreibung

“After five minutes I run out of things to say.”

“My prayers don’t seem to go anywhere.”

“My prayer life is boring!”

Ever felt that way? Do you want your prayer life to be radically different? Patterns for Prayer can make the difference.

It provides daily prayer suggestions in five categories:

Personal • Family and Friends • The Church • The Kingdom • The Unsaved

Each suggestion is designed to move you to voice dynamic, kingdom-building prayers. Over time you will be motivated and encouraged to move beyond the suggested prayer items as you gain confidence. Soon prayer will become an enjoyable habit as you learn to release God’s power on your world.

There are 3 volumes to the Patterns for Prayer series. Each volume covers a 4-month period. Volume 2 has daily prayer points for the months of May - August.

Purchase all three together at a discounted price.

Leseprobe

PrayerShop Publishing is the publishing arm of the Church Prayer Leaders Network. The Church Prayer Leaders Network exists to equip and inspire local churches and their prayer leaders in their desire to disciple their people in prayer and to become a “house of prayer for all nations.” Its online store, prayershop.org, has more than 150 prayer resources available for purchase or download.

© 2021 Alvin VanderGriend

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without the written permission of PrayerShop Publishing, P.O. Box 10667, Terre Haute, IN 47801.

All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

ISBN (Print): 978-1-970176-15-5

ISBN (E-Book): 978-1-970176-16-2

Original contributors to this prayer guide include Edith Bajema, Dian Ginter, Joan Huyser-Honig, Don McCrory, Laurie Quist, Al Schaap, Mark Timmer, Alvin J. VanderGriend, and Jean Westenbroek.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

May

June

July

August

PREFACE

This book is designed to help you develop a meaningful and disciplined personal prayer life. I have heard people say, “I’d like to pray more, but after five minutes I run out of things to pray about.” Most of us know what that’s like. Patterns for Prayer is for all who have “run out of things to pray about.”

Regular use of this prayer guide will help you

•learn to use the language of Scripture in prayer

•use all of the elements of prayer regularly

•claim the promises of God with confidence

•keep your thoughts from wandering during prayer

•pray expressively for friends and family

•release God’s power and grace for your church and the kingdom of God

•develop the habit of praying for unsaved friends and acquaintances

You’ll discover a weekly cycle in these pages as you pray for the leadership and ministries of your own local church. You’ll pray about worship, church leaders, outreach ministries, church education, world missions, caregiving and fellowship, and financial stewardship.

This guide is meant to enlarge and deepen your prayer life. It is not intended to be the whole of it. Let these prayer suggestions trigger prayer expressions from your own heart. Where they do not fit, customize them to your own situation. Space is provided on each page for you to keep a record of further petitions and intercessions.

The Heidelberg Catechism reminds us that “God gives his grace and Holy Spirit only to those who pray continually and groan inwardly, asking God for these gifts and thanking him for them” (Q&A 116). I pray that you may do just that and, in so doing, find that your life is enriched as you grow in intimacy with God and receive a generous amount of his grace and Spirit.

—Alvin J. VanderGriend

MAY 1

Personal Prayer

Praise God for his holiness (Ex. 15:11). Thank him for calling you to live a life of holiness through the power of the Holy Spirit. Confess contentment with areas of your life that do not reflect God’s holiness. Commit yourself to avoiding anything that “contaminates body and spirit” (2 Cor. 7:1). Ask God to give you a daily desire to obey his command to “be holy, because I am holy” (Lev. 11:45).

For Your Family and Friends

Pray for the teens in your family or among your friends. Ask God to protect them from all the “contaminants” offered by our modern culture.

For the Church

Thank God for the leaders in your congregation. Ask that they would be committed to personal holiness. Pray also for their marriages and families.

For the Kingdom

Pray that God would be glorified throughout his kingdom as it spreads around the world. Ask for renewal to sweep the churches of the West. Thank God for great harvests in the former Soviet Union, in Asia, and in South America.

For the Unsaved

Ask God to open the eyes and hearts of unsaved friends. Pray for an opportunity this week to share the good news with at least one other person.

MAY 2

Personal Prayer

Praise God for communicating with you in his inspired Word. Thank him for providing a “lamp to [your] feet and a light to [your] path” (Ps. 119:105). Confess any doubts you’ve harbored concerning the authority of God’s Word in your life. Commit yourself to treasuring the words of God more than daily bread (Job 23:12). Ask God to feed you spiritually as you look to his Word for guidance throughout this week.

For Your Family and Friends

Think of one specific family. Pray that this family would set aside time every day for family devotions and prayer. Ask God to make this practice a blessing in their family life.

For the Church

Thank God for the outreach ministries of your congregation. Pray for the work of your deacons. Pray for the ministries of mercy which they perform on your behalf.

For the Kingdom

Pray for Bible publishers and distribution agencies, such as the Gideons, who make the Word of God readily available to millions of people. Ask that God will prosper their work and witness.

For the Unsaved

Ask that unsaved people you know will discover the irresistible sweetness of God’s Word (Ps. 119:103) and be drawn to Christ through it.

Prayer Pointer

“The answer of our prayers is secured by the fact that in rejecting them God would in a certain sense deny his own nature.” —JOHN CALVIN

MAY 3

Personal Prayer

God sends his teaching like rain and his words like the dew (Deut. 32:2). Praise God for being your teacher (Ps. 71:17). Thank God for the privilege of receiving his instruction through his Word. Confess any lack of attention you’ve paid to God’s teaching. Commit yourself to listening closely to what God has to say to you. Ask God to reveal himself more clearly through his Word each day.

For Your Family and Friends

Pray for the parents in Christian families close to you. Ask God to help them to be excellent teachers and role models for their children.

For the Church

Pray for the teachers and helpers in your church school program. Thank God for their dedication and hard work. Pray also for adult education classes and teachers.

For the Kingdom

Thank God for the work of Christians who are helping to refocus the educational system in the former Soviet Union. Pray for Russian teachers who now have much greater freedom to present biblical truths in the classroom.

For the Unsaved

Ask that God will shower the blessings of salvation on unsaved people in your community as they learn of Christ.

MAY 4

Personal Prayer

Praise God, whose name is great among the nations (Mal. 1:11). Give thanks that the gospel has reached around the world and into your heart. Confess any sin that has hindered you from gaining a clear vision of God’s work in the world. Commit yourself to God’s plan for the gospel to be preached in the whole world (Mt. 24:14). Ask God to use you in that plan.

For Your Family and Friends

Pray for the children and teens among your family and friends. Ask that the gospel of the kingdom will take root among them at an early age.

For the Church

Boldly intercede for the work of gospel missions worldwide. Pray by name for world missionaries whom your church supports. Ask God to protect them and prosper their work.

For the Kingdom

Thank God that one day “all the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him” (Ps. 22:27). Ask that that special day will arrive soon.

For the Unsaved

Ask God to burden your heart with the plight of one unsaved person you know. Pray for that person by name. Ask that God’s global mission will touch that one soul and spark new life in Christ.

MAY 5

Personal Prayer

Praise God for his great love and mercy shown to you (Eph 2:4). Give thanks that nothing can separate you from the love of Jesus (Rom. 8:35). Confess any lack of love which you have shown to God or to another person. Commit yourself to loving God with your whole being (Deut. 6:5). Ask God to prune your life so that the spiritual fruit of love will grow large and appetizing to others.

For Your Family and Friends

Ask God to root out all hatred, jealousies, anger, and bitterness that may have sprouted up in your family life. Pray for love to grow in every relationship.

For the Church

How do the members of your church show love to one another and to their neighbors? Pray for fellowship and caregiving programs in your congregation.

For the Kingdom

Ask God to bring an end to civil wars, urban violence, racial bigotry, economic injustice, and every other sin that scars nations and neighborhoods. Pray for love to reign instead of hate.

For the Unsaved

It was Jesus’ love for sinners that sent him to the cross. Pray for an opportunity to share that kind of sacrificial love with another person (Jn. 15:9).

Prayer Pointer

“Beyond the preoccupation we all have with our needs, the rock-bottom reality of prayer is the sharing of experience.” —MICHAEL CARD

MAY 6

Personal Prayer

Praise God, who is the source of all wealth and prosperity on earth (1 Chron. 29:12). Give thanks for all the material blessings God has given to you. Confess any occasions when you have tried to “store up for yourself treasures on earth” (Mt. 6:19). Commit yourself to remembering that wealth and possessions, and the ability to enjoy them, are a gift from God (Eccl. 5:19). Ask him to open your eyes to new opportunities to use your possessions for the benefit of others.

For Your Family and Friends

Pray for family members or friends who have difficulty managing their household finances. Ask God to provide the help they need to be better managers.

For the Church

Pray for the deacons of your church. Thank God for their integrity and honesty as they handle the financial resources of your congregation. Pray also that your congregation will be a church of cheerful givers.

For the Kingdom

Ask God to raise up people to contribute generously to the ministries of the church worldwide. Pray that real needs will be met without undue strain. Pray also that contributions will be used wisely.

For the Unsaved

Pray Eph. 1:18 for any unsaved person you know, asking especially that his or her spiritual eyes will be opened to see the eternal treasure of life in Christ.

MAY 7

Personal Prayer

Glorify God as the beginning and end of all things, the Alpha and the Omega. Give thanks for his love for you—a love that has kept you in mind since the beginning of the world and will continue to hold you when this world has passed away. Confess those times when you have seen yourself and your needs as the beginning and end of your existence. Commit yourself to giving God the highest place in your life and heart. Ask God to reveal his glory to you so that you cannot help but praise him with your whole heart.

For Your Family and Friends

Pray for the children in your family and congregation, that they may receive a blessing and a sense of God’s love and presence in worship.

For the Church

Pray for worship leaders in your congregation, that they may see the Alpha and the Omega, the Living One whose “face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance” (Rev. 1:16-18) and lead the people in praise of the Lord.

For the Kingdom

Pray that worship services all over the world will glorify the name and power of Jesus rather than promote lesser things.

For the Unsaved

Ask God to reveal his glory and power to any unbelievers who attend worship services in your community, so that they begin to worship him.

MAY 8

Personal Prayer

Praise your Father as the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries (Dan. 2:47). Give thanks for the mystery of salvation through Christ, which has been revealed to you through God’s Word and Spirit (Eph. 3:3-6). Confess that there are times when you do not rely on his wisdom and insight in your daily struggles. Commit yourself to spending more time in God’s Word and prayer, seeking to understand the mystery of your life in Christ. Ask God to fill you with a spirit of wisdom and revelation (Eph. 1:17).

For Your Family and Friends

Pray for those you know whose minds have been blinded by the gods of this age, unable to see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ (2 Cor. 4:4).

For the Church

Ask God that the leaders in your congregation may be especially gifted with wisdom as they lead your members through the challenges that you face in your neighborhood, outreach, and nurturing programs.

For the Kingdom

Pray especially for Christian leaders in strife-torn areas, that they may have the wisdom to speak God’s Word in difficult situations and bring truth and love where there is hatred and division.

For the Unsaved

Pray for one family on your street who does not attend church. Ask God to give you the opportunity to speak to them within the next few weeks.

MAY 9

Personal Prayer

Praise God as a rock of refuge, as a shelter, as a safe dwelling place (Ps. 31:3, 20). Give thanks that you have been rescued from forces in this world that would have overwhelmed your soul. Confess those times when you have paid little attention to the safety and refuge he offers. Commit yourself to remaining under the shadow of his protection. Ask God to shelter you this day.

For Your Family and Friends

Ask God to be a shelter and protection to single-parent families. Pray that the children of divorced parents will especially feel God’s loving presence.

For the Church

Pray that your congregation may offer the security of God, our rock, to those in your neighborhood who live in fear of death, poverty, crime, sickness, or loneliness.

For the Kingdom

Pray that God will be especially close to those Christians around the world who are imprisoned or persecuted for their faith. Ask that they may sense your prayers around them like a shelter and a cloak of protection.

For the Unsaved

Pray for those in nursing homes who are dying without the assurance of God’s love to welcome them home. Ask God to send people to tell them about Jesus, the rock of our salvation.

Prayer Pointer

“The first stage of prayer is not an activity of mind but a passive mode of receiving. Like slipping into a tub of hot water, I let God’s love seep in, saturate, permeate every part of my being.” —BRENNAN MANNING

MAY 10

Personal Prayer

Give praise to the one who said, “I am . . . the truth” (Jn. 14:6). Thank God for rescuing you from the darkness of Satan’s deceit and placing you in the kingdom of his marvelous light (1 Pet. 2:9). Repent of those times that you have been uncomfortable with the light of God’s truth and have preferred twisting the truth to suit your purposes. Commit yourself to walking in the light of God’s truth with your whole heart. Ask God to make you willing to do that, no matter the cost to your pride or reputation.

For Your Family and Friends

Ask God to build truthful relationships between parents and children. Pray that God will restore trust and love so that children can be honest about their feelings and problems.

For the Church

Pray that your church’s education classes will help those who struggle with Satan’s deceit in their lives to come to know the truth in Christ.

For the Kingdom

Pray that those in government, especially judges and lawmakers, will make their decisions in the light of God’s truth. Ask that they not be influenced by Satan’s claim that there is no God and no standard of truth.

For the Unsaved

Ask God to use your example of honesty and truthfulness this week to move someone’s heart to see the reality of God.

MAY 11

Personal Prayer