Patterns for Prayer Volume 3 E-Book

Alvin VanderGriend

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

Seitenzahl: 132

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 3 has daily prayer points for the months of September - December.

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): 978-1-970176-17-9

ISBN: (E-Book): 978-1-970176-18-6

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

September

October

November

December

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

SEPTEMBER 1

Personal Prayer

Praise the God of peace. Thank him for making available that “peace at all times and in every way” (2 Thess. 3:16). Confess ways in which you have added to an argument or refused to let God’s peace be established between you and another person. Commit to being at peace with God and others by being both pure in heart and a peacemaker (Mt. 5:8-9). Ask God to spread the wholeness of his salvation through you.

For Your Family and Friends

Pray for any marriages or parent-child relationships among family and friends where God’s peace is not being experienced right now. Ask God to help you know how and when to speak, be quiet, mediate, etc.

For the Church

Pray for the fellowship of your local church to be unhindered by strife and controversy. Ask God to also bring his peace to your denomination.

For the Kingdom

Pray for those who are peacemakers between nations in conflict. Ask God to prompt Christians to full involvement as peacemakers.

For the Unsaved

Pray that the willingness of Christians to resolve even difficult differences will be a brilliant display of God’s love to the unsaved. Ask God to bring an unsaved friend into his family.

Prayer Pointer

“Front-line prayer meetings are battle stations in which the prayer warriors themselves are changed.” —THE PRAYING CHURCH SOURCEBOOK

SEPTEMBER 2

Personal Prayer

Praise God for his indescribable love. Thank God for loving you so much that he would sacrifice his own son. Confess ways you have not been generous with your love in response. Commit to offering even your very body as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God (Rom. 12:1). Ask him to help you not to be conformed to the world but to be transformed by the renewing of your mind (12:2).

For Your Family and Friends

Pray for Christian friends and family members to stand true for God no matter the cost. Ask that they be filled with God’s joy in the midst of sacrifices.

For the Church

Pray for believers being persecuted for righteousness. Ask God to help them remember the heavenly reward, enabling all to rejoice and be glad even in the face of insults and false accusations for the sake of Christ (Mt. 5:10-12).

For the Kingdom

Pray that Christians giving sacrificially will be irresistible evidence of the presence and power of God. Ask God to multiply these sacrifices for the extension of his kingdom.

For the Unsaved

Pray that God will give you opportunities to give of your time and resources to help an unsaved acquaintance. Ask God to help you continue to share his love in spite of possible opposition.

SEPTEMBER 3

Personal Prayer

This week, meditate on Psalm 42 each day. Today, praise God as the one who quenches your deepest spiritual thirst (42:1-2). Thank him for being the living water in your life. Confess times in your life when you’ve passed by God’s streams of water and settled for Satan’s stale pond instead. Commit yourself to quenching your thirst in the living God alone. Ask him to meet with you in prayer today.

For Your Family and Friends

Pray that your family will be a refreshing oasis of hospitality and warmth as you open yourselves to the needs of others.

For the Church

Do the members of your congregation thirst for God as they come to worship? Pray that they will. Pray also for God to prepare your own heart as you join with others in God’s house this Sunday.

For the Kingdom

Pray for missionaries in many countries who share with hurting people not only the bread of life, but also cups of cold water in the name of Christ. Ask God’s blessing on their labors.

For the Unsaved

Pray that your own thirst for a closer relationship with God might draw others to him. Ask God to get you out of the way so that they might see Jesus clearly and drink deeply of him.

Prayer Pointer

“Whether we like it or not, asking is the rule of the kingdom.” —CHARLES H. SPURGEON

SEPTEMBER 4

Personal Prayer

Praise God for his constant presence with you every day. Thank him for always being near you even in times of extreme difficulty (Ps. 42:3). Confess those times when you’ve doubted God’s loving presence. Commit yourself to seeking his face every morning in prayer and meditation. Ask God to go with you throughout this day.

For Your Family and Friends

Pray that believing members of your family will have a distinct sense of God’s presence with them. Ask God to help them in times of distress.

For the Church

Pray for all the leaders in your congregation: your pastor, elders, deacons, ministry heads, and others who come to mind. Pray for God’s obvious presence in their lives.

For the Kingdom

Ask God to provide the necessary funds for ministries dedicated to saving the lives of the unborn. Pray that believers will not lose heart in the battle against abortion.

For the Unsaved

Pray that the question “Where is your God?” might come home to an unbelieving friend or neighbor. Ask God to prepare you to speak a word of grace to that person.

SEPTEMBER 5

Personal Prayer

Praise God for the privilege of coming to him in worship and praise today. Give thanks with “shouts of joy and thanksgiving” (Ps. 42:4) for God’s many benefits. Confess your occasional lack of enthusiasm in devotion. Commit yourself to “festive” times of personal worship. Ask God to meet with you on those occasions.

For Your Family and Friends

Ask that the devotional experiences of your family and friends will be characterized by joy. Pray that the Spirit will enliven their walk with God.

For the Church

Ask God to bless the work of outreach ministries in your neighborhood or city. Pray that they will be empowered as they seek to bring the gospel to needy people.

For the Kingdom

Pray for any in your congregation who are unemployed or underemployed. Ask God to provide the work and financial resources needed. Ask him to grant encouragement to these people—perhaps through you.

For the Unsaved

Pray that an unbelieving neighbor might be led to question your joy in serving the Lord and thus provide an opportunity for you to share your faith. Pray for eyes to see and ears to hear these divine encounters.

Prayer Pointer

“Prayer is a shield to the soul, a sacrifice to God, and a scourge for Satan.” —JOHN BUNYAN

SEPTEMBER 6

Personal Prayer

Praise God as the one who lifts your soul up from the depths of despair and discouragement (Ps. 42:5). Thank him for being your Savior and your God. Confess those times when you’ve chosen not to allow God to wipe away the tears of distress. Commit yourself to praising God every day for his tender mercies. Ask God to keep you from becoming downcast in your soul.

For Your Family and Friends

Pray for any close friends who struggle with depression or discouragement. Ask God to come close to them today and show them his marvelous love.

For the Church

Pray for the educational programs in your church. Thank God for those who write curriculum material. Intercede on behalf of teachers and helpers who instruct children and youth.

For the Kingdom

Intercede for Christian counseling agencies which help people find the healing light of Christ in the midst of a dark and dreary life. Pray that you will have greater compassion for those who suffer mental illness.

For the Unsaved

Ask God to cause many around the world today to “put their hope in God” (42:5) and thus be able to confess with believers in every land “my Savior and my God” (42:11).

SEPTEMBER 7

Personal Prayer

Praise God as the one who protects you from life’s roaring waterfalls and waves (Ps. 42:7). Give thanks that even in the stormy times of life God is always near. Confess those times when you’ve questioned God’s presence or doubted his protection. Commit yourself to staying by his side no matter what comes your way. Ask God to lead and guide you through the stormy as well as the calm seasons of life.

For Your Family and Friends

Pray for any teens among your family or acquaintances who are weathering the all-too-common storms of abuse, parental divorce, or suicide. Ask for God’s grace.

For the Church

Thank God for the work and witness of missionaries around the world. Pray that they will go on the wings of a praying church back home. Intercede especially for world missionaries supported by your church.

For the Kingdom

Pray for revival in the church in North America. Ask God to raise up faithful pastors and teachers. Pray that the gods of secularism and materialism will be cast out of our church families.

For the Unsaved

Think of one person with whom you could develop a friendship. It might be someone you see at work, or on the bus, or in your neighborhood. Ask God to create opportunities for you to share your faith—and then be ready to do so!

SEPTEMBER 8

Personal Prayer

Praise God for his love, which is with you both night and day (Ps. 42:8). Give thanks for the songs of praise which God brings forth from you. Confess that you sometimes don’t feel like reveling in God’s love or singing his praises. Commit yourself to living every day in the light of that love. Ask God to continue directing his love toward you.

For Your Family and Friends

Pray for the older members of your family—parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles. Pray that their later years of life will be filled with health and vitality. Intercede for any who are failing physically or mentally.

For the Church

Thank God for fellowship opportunities your church provides. Pray that caregiving and fellowship will extend outward, too, so that the needs of those in your neighborhood might be met through your church family.

For the Kingdom

Pray for believers in the federal governments of both the U.S. and Canada. Thank God that he has placed his people in and near the seats of highest political power. Ask that they will be enabled to make a difference because they serve the Savior.

For the Unsaved

Ask God to “direct his love” to a particular friend or acquaintance who does not yet know Jesus. Pray for an opportunity to share your faith with that person. Keep that one in your prayers throughout this week.

SEPTEMBER 9

Personal Prayer

Praise God for all his many blessings to you in your life (Ps. 42:11). Thank him that he is your God and that there is nothing that can ruin your relationship with him. Confess that you don’t always feel like praising God. Commit yourself to living in hope every day. Ask God to surround you with his presence—and then respond to him with praise.

For Your Family and Friends

Pray for the youngest members of your circle of family and friends. Intercede for any infants or toddlers. Ask God to bless them with good health, with safe surroundings, and with loving parents who will teach them to love the Lord.

For the Church

Pray for the financial giving in your church. Ask that those who give generously will receive their reward for faithful stewardship. Ask that there will be a spirit of generosity among the members.

For the Kingdom

Pray for those who have the gift of evangelism and who use it in various ways. Ask that the proclamation of the gospel in cities, towns, and rural areas will be met with a harvest of souls.

For the Unsaved

Think of a world map and pray for the harvest among the nations. Ask for breakthroughs in countries that have been particularly resistant to the gospel. Ask God to touch the lives of people in every country around the world today.

SEPTEMBER 10

Personal Prayer

Praise God as your mighty, protective, and loving Father. Thank him for adopting you as his own son or daughter and for making you heir to all the promises given in Scripture (Gal. 3:26-29). Confess those times you have forgotten who you are—a child of the Most High God. Commit yourself to remembering each day that you have been born into God’s family and have “clothed yourself with Christ” (3:27). Ask God to help you understand and appreciate your complete inheritance in Jesus Christ (Eph. 1:18).

For Your Family and Friends