Prayer is one of the most powerful weapons God has given us, and looking ahead at 2020, I believe it has never been more important for God’s people to be on our knees. Our world is filled with events and situations that can cause great fear and anxiety. It’s easy to become overwhelmed and live imprisoned by fear. We are promised in God’s Word that he is faithful and will protect us (2 Thessalonians 3:3). God wants us to let go of fear and to live life to the fullest! (John 10:10) When you are overcome by worry, use these prayers for protection to remember who God is and the protection he has promised you.
Dear God, thank You for being the Father who craves to lavish love and goodness toward me. Help me to recognize it, accept it, and embrace it. It leads to life far beyond what I could hope or imagine. May I look to You first — nothing else — for comfort and protection. I choose to find my rest in You. Amen
A Prayer for Strength When Weary
Lord, I’m weary. My energy is sagging, and my motivation is lagging. And I am so in need of you. I need your strength and your fresh touch to get back on track again. Your Word says the joy of the Lord is my strength. If that’s true, then I need your joy to replace all the bone-tired parts of my mind, body, and soul.
The pressures of life sometimes push me into a corner, rendering me helpless to move forward. A hundred voices call my name, and I feel paralyzed at times to answer, not knowing where to turn. Lord, help me not to quit, to keep running the race faithfully, and to find strength in that safe, secret place of yours, under the shadow of the Almighty.
I need your strength to say no when I’m tempted to surrender to harmful things, or when selfishness clings to my clothes and won’t let go. I need your strength to say yes when cowardice and fear nudge me to deny the convictions of my heart. I need your power to reach out in love to those both close to me and all around me. When don’t I need your strength, God?
You are my rock, and I run to you today, believing that you will lift up my heavy arms, that you will fuel me for the tasks you’ve given me, and that your joy will completely consume the weakness of my life and make me healthy again. I don’t want to stay grounded, crippled by limitations, and failed attempts. I’m tired of feeble efforts. Lord, I want to mount up with wings like an eagle and not just fly. I want to soar.
Renew my strength, Lord. Fill me with your supernatural power to overcome each obstacle in my path. With my eyes on you, Lord, with you walking beside me, working through me, I can make it. Thank you, Lord!
In Jesus’s name, Amen
~ Rebecca Barlow Jordan
A Prayer for a Breakthrough
Father, I ask You for a fresh vision for what breakthrough will look like in my life. Help me to pursue healing while I wait for my miracle. Show me how to rest right in the middle of the storm. Help me to enjoy the feast You prepare for me, right in the middle of the battlefield. I want my whole life to testify that there’s a God in heaven who knows my name and who will get me safely home. Fill me afresh with the wonder of Your love and power. I am determined to win this battle with anxiety. Help me to discern when to rest, when to feast, and how to actively engage my faith as I wait for You to breakthrough. May my life display Your power. Do the impossible in and through me, I pray. Amen. – Susie Larson
A Prayer for Healing Power
Father God, many of us need healing. I need healing for past hurts, random physical pains that I allow waylaying my days, and Spiritual healing for various reasons. I reach up to You to receive this healing so that I may be whole and that I may be able to then minister to others in a way that brings You fullness of glory. How wonderful to be able to worship You without stain or blemish and to be totally healed. Show others Your healing power so that they may also be healed and walk in wholeness. In the precious name of Jesus. Amen! – Dawn Mast
A Prayer for Gratitude
Dear God,
Thank you for your incredible power and work in our lives, thank you for your goodness and for your blessings over us. Thank you that you can bring hope through even the toughest of times, strengthening us for your purposes. Thank you for your great love and care. Thank you for your mercy and grace. Thank you that you are always with us and will never leave us. Thank you for your incredible sacrifice so that we might have freedom and life. Forgive us for when we don’t thank you enough for who you are, for all that you do, for all that you’ve given. Help us to set our eyes and our hearts on you afresh. Renew our spirits, fill us with your peace and joy. We love you, and we need you, this day and every day. We give you praise and thanks, for You alone are worthy! In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
A Prayer for Faith to Believe
Precious Lord, I know You want this for me. I want this for me. Help me to retrain my thoughts and reframe my perspective. I marvel at how often my dreams take me downward. But like an eagle that soars in the sky, You call me to set my sights on things above. I need supernatural help with this! Fill me afresh with a strong sense of Your presence and Your peace. Help me to remember the great things You have done. May I one day marvel at how my thoughts reflect a heart and mind that are healed and whole, just like You always intended them to be. Do a miracle in me, Lord. In Your Name, I pray. Amen.
Short Prayer to Forgive Yourself
Father, today I ask forgiveness of all the negative and harmful words I have spoken about myself. I do not want to abuse myself in such a way again. Transform my thoughts and let me understand how marvelously you made me. Change my habits, so I use my tongue to speak hope and favor upon my life. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Prayer for Peace
Father God, my heart is filled with chaos and confusion. I feel as if I am drowning in my circumstances, and my heart is filled with fear and uncertainty. I really need the strength and peace that only You can give. Right now, I choose to rest in You. In Jesus’ Name, I pray, Amen. ~ Mary Southerland.
Prayer for the Broken-Hearted
Lord, my heart is broken, but You are near. My spirit is crushed, but You are my rescuer. Your Word is my hope. It revives me and comforts me in especially now. My soul faints, but you are the breath of life within me. You are my help, the one who sustains me. I am weak, but You are strong. You bless those who mourn, and I trust You to bless my family and me with all that we need. You will rescue me from this dark cloud of despair because You delight in me. In Jesus’ Name, Amen. ~ Jennifer White
Prayer for God’s Strength
Lord, thank you for your greatness. Thank you that when I am weak, you are healthy. Lord, the Devil, is scheming, and I know he desires to keep me from spending time with you. Don’t let him win! Give me a measure of your strength so that I might not give in to discouragement, deception, and doubt! Help me honor you in all my ways. In Jesus’ Name, Amen. ~ Debbie Przybylski
A Prayer to Combat the Coronavirus Pandemic
Most Merciful and Triune God,
We come to You in our weakness.
We come to You in our fear.
We come to You with trust.
For You alone are our hope.
We place before You the disease present in our world.
We turn to You in our time of need.
Bring wisdom to doctors.
Give understanding to scientists.
Endow caregivers with compassion and generosity.
Bring healing to those who are ill.
Protect those who are most at risk.
Give comfort to those who have lost a loved one.
Welcome those who have died into Your Eternal Home.
Stabilize our communities.
Unite us in our compassion.
Remove all fear from our hearts.
Fill us with confidence in Your care.
(mention your particular concerns and prayers now)
Jesus, I trust in You.
Jesus, I trust in You.
Jesus, I trust in You.
Amen.
A Prayer to Combat the Coronavirus Pandemic
A Prayer to Combat the Coronavirus Pandemic
Most merciful and Triune God,
We come to you in our weakness.
We come to you in our fear.
We come to you with trust.
For you alone are our hope.
We place before you the disease present in our world.
We turn to you in our time of need.
Bring wisdom to doctors.
Give understanding to scientists.
Endow caregivers with compassion and generosity.
Bring healing to those who are ill.
Protect those who are most at risk.
Give comfort to those who have lost a loved one.
Welcome those who have died into your eternal home.
Stabilize our communities.
Unite us in our compassion.
Remove all fear from our hearts.
Fill us with confidence in your care.
Jesus, I trust in you.
Jesus, I trust in you.
Jesus, I trust in you.
Amen.
Bless Those Who mourns
Bless those who mourn
the death of relative or friend
and feel that with this loss
their lives are incomplete.
Bless those who mourn,
and fill these empty hearts
with pleasant memories,
the sound of laughter,
sunshine and happier days.
Bless those who mourn,
and heal their brokenness
with the soothing balm
of your gentle touch,
that they might know
shalom, wholeness, peace. Amen.
Prayer for Strength and Faith
Lord, at the moment, nothing seems to be able to help the loss I feel.
My heart is broken, and my spirit mourns.
All I know is that Your grace is sufficient.
This day, this hour
Moment by moment
I choose to lean on You,
For when I am at my weakest, Your strength is strongest.
I pour out my grief to You
And praise You that on one glorious day
When all suffering is extinguished, and love has conquered
We shall walk together again. Amen.
Prayer for Comfort for the Bereaved
Bring comfort to those
coming to terms
with the unexpected
loss of a loved one.
Bring healing to those
alive but broken
by serious injuries
and related trauma.
Bring unity to those
working for peace
and understanding
between communities.
Bring your warmth
to those whose hearts
are cold and empty,
and bring your blessing
on all who in such times
are there to share your love. Amen.
Prayer for Strength and Wisdom
Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life
Amen
Pray for Healing Hearts from Racism
Prayer for Peace
Gracious Lord,
we dream of a world free of poverty and oppression,
and we yearn for a world free of vengeance and violence.
We pray for your peace.
When our hearts ache for the victims of war and oppression,
help us to remember that you healed people by merely touching them…,
and give us faith in our ability to comfort and heal bodies and minds and spirits
that have been broken by violence.
When the injustice of this world seems too much for us to handle,
help us to remember that you fed five thousand people
with only five loaves of bread and two fish…,
and give us hope that what we have to offer will turn out to be enough, too.
When fear of the power and opinions of others
tempts us not to speak up for the least among us,
help us to remember that you dared to turn over the tables of money changers…,
and give us the courage to risk following you without counting the cost.
When we feel ourselves fill with anger at those who are violent and oppressive,
help us remember that you prayed for those who killed you…,
and give us compassion for our enemies, too.
When we tell ourselves that we have given all we can to bring peace to this world,
help us to remember your sacrifice… ,
and give us the miracle of losing a little more of ourselves
in serving you and our neighbors.
Walk with us, Lord, as we answer your call to be peacemakers.
Increase our compassion, our generosity, and our hospitality for the least of your children.
Give us the courage, the patience, the serenity, the self-honesty
and the gentleness of spirit that is needed in a world filled with turmoil and terror. Amen.
~ written by Jack Knox, pastor of Salem (Oregon) Mennonite Church
Pray for Justice
Psalm140:12 “Lord, I know that you defend the homeless, and see that the poor are given
justice.”
“In our prayers for justice, we ask God to give us strength and wisdom to act for change, and
we ask him to bless, comfort and give hope to people who feel powerless and invisible. Pray
for a fairer, more just society, so that “justice and fairness flow like a river that never runs
dry.” (Amos 5:24).
Dear Lord,
Help us to follow your example,
by looking out for those who each day feel that they are marginalized,
who cannot find hope,
who believe that they have little to offer,
who are overcome by the challenges of poverty,
Help us to widen our horizons,
to make space for the stranger,
to watch out for those who feel invisible,
to give time to the outsider,
to talk to the person facing silence,
to restore justice and value.
Give us the courage to undertake this, the determination to join with others in seeing grace
in every human face,
and the faith to embrace the opportunity in your name. Amen.
Pray for Prosperity
Jeremiah 29:7 “Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile.
Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”
We are called to pray for the place that God has called us to live! You are not in this nation by accident or fluke! God has called you and placed you here. We must now take ownership of our calling and positioning by God and pray for the prosperity of our nation. When we pray for our nation’s prosperity in every respect, we, too, will prosper.
Pray for Hope
Heb 6:19,20 ‘We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.
It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, 20 where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever.’. What our nation needs and all of those who live in it are an anchor, something to hold us against floating out to sea. There is only one hope, the person of Jesus. Our hope is not in a change of circumstances but IN THE LORD Psalm 39:7Pray for an opportunity for the Gospel of hope to touch the lives of every broken community.
A prayer of help and lament during racial injustice and riots
Like many Americans this week, my sleep has been interrupted by deep anguish of the soul. Over this past year, God has directed me to study his Word by tracing the theme of sorrow and lament. Lament literally means “an expression of grief or sorrow” and is a prayer in the form of a complaint against God. It is an acknowledgment of one’s bleak situation, desperation for deliverance, and an appeal to the very character of God. A lament gives believers the rhetorical tools to grieve biblically, which leads to worship and the comfort of our Heavenly Father.
Instead of a thin veneer, biblical lament offers us something more substantial, more weighty, more enduring, and less circumstantial. Our local churches need this example during this current season. God knows our thoughts, fears, and grief (Psalm 139). The Lord wants us to cast our burdens on him (Psalm 55:22). In fact, it’s the very valley of the shadow of death that he promises to walk through with us (Psalm 23). And we are promised: “Blessed are those that mourn, for they will be comforted” (Matt. 5:4).
Life is hard, really hard. The clear story of the Bible tells us this fact. Beginning in Genesis 3, man’s sin unleashed an unceasing fury on creation that remains to this day. It will not relent until Christ returns again (Rev. 19). Unlike the popular Hallmark Channel movies that are clean and tidy, our world is messy. We see throughout the Bible, church history, and our very lives, that sadness is a constant companion (John 16:33). Our hearts get pulverized in this fallen world.
Yet, thankfully, the good news of Scripture is that a Redeemer has come to restore what sin has broken. Jesus did this by being the perfect sacrifice for sin on the cross and rising victoriously from the grave, beating sin, Satan, and death.
We will get through this horrific time in our world and nation, but not by minimizing the reality of its awfulness. Christians will triumph in hope when we hold up against the backdrop of this global pandemic and national crisis a big God who is good, wise, and sovereign over all things. We give hope to our community, not by pointing them to an upcoming political election, showing them the green arrows on the stock market ticker tape, or by pacifying them with watered-down pop psychology that claims to be the truth. Instead, we point them to the suffering Savior.
So, last night I watched and researched the riots with my four sons, including our African American son. I attempted to explain honestly to them the horrors of racism in our world, the horrific, evil murder of George Floyd, and the sinful violence and destruction of our communities by rioters. When I laid my head on my pillow, I had nothing left. I did not have all of the answers, the right balance of social outcry to all that ails us, nor a summary theory that makes all of this make sense. All I had was desperation and a Heavenly Father that is sufficient in all of my weaknesses. I called out to God in the following prayer based on Psalm 16:
Oh God,
You are our refuge; do not allow us to be shaken. Preserve us amid the overwhelming decay in our current circumstances. You are infinitely useful and our only hope. Your name is on your people, and you promise to make our righteousness like the dawn and the justice of our cause like the noonday sun if we delight in you. Your church is being flanked on every side. We confess that we are too often silent to injustice and to the hope of the Gospel. We are often more vocal in our political and tribal allegiances. We are active in defending our own name but negligent in lifting up yours. It seems that Satan is winning and that you are being made into a mockery, our King, and our God. We are worshiping at the altar of many false gods, which are no gods at all. We are often bitter, hateful, compassionless, prideful, and trouble makers. Turn our hearts to you.
Lord of Lords, for the mothers (and fathers) of black sons that cannot close their eyes for the horror. Erase from their minds the primordial scream of George Floyd that is burned into their ears, as he gasped for air and called for his mother during his final moments. Be their portion and cup. Hear their cry for help, and carry this burden for them, Sovereign Ruler of all. Cause the lines to fall for them in pleasant places, and may they that look to you in salvation receive their inheritance. Comfort them and hear the calls of sighing for all of the black community. Heal hurting hearts as only you can, Father. Break these sinful strongholds in our hearts and culture, and flood us with grace and forgiveness.
For my African American friends, sons in the faith, and faith-family members, remind them that you have not forgotten them, that you are their strong tower and Deliverer. Justice flows from you like a rushing river, and you are making all things right.
Oh King of Kings, under your providence, some of our friends, current and former church members, and men that we have disciplined are in law enforcement. Many of them have been summoned to protect and defend some of the very citizens that seek to bring them harm. Their spouses are waiting through the watches of the night as they call out to you, hoping upon hope that their spouses will be spared. Protect and comfort them in this terrible situation, oh Redeemer. Bring this dangerous unrest to naught, for your name’s sake.
For politicians, rulers, and authorities, give wisdom and be their delight. You say in your Word that you give counsel and wisdom, even in sleep. Do it, Lord! Give them words that heal and the spirit of peace.
For pastors and ministry leaders, help us to be peacemakers, shepherds, and healers. Be our portion, oh, Father. Help us to point people to the just one who will one day make all things right.
For the business owners that have lost their livelihoods due to riots, to those that have lost loved ones at the hands of rioters, and to the multitude of people that live in the middle of these city protest zones, make their hearts to delight in you. Calm their fears, sustain them through this pain, and provide for them. Set yourself before them, and help their flesh to dwell in the security of you.
This current reality in America is horrific, heartbreaking, and too much for us to bear on our own. Don’t let us see corruption or be abandoned to Sheol. Use this current calamity to take out hearts of stone and give hearts of flesh for those that do not know you. For those that do know you, draw them near.
Give us the eyes of faith and show us the path of life. Make it on earth as it is in heaven. Give us your very presence and the joy that comes only from you. Help us. Hear our cries for help, for the sake of your glory!
In Jesus name,
Amen
PRAYER FOR PEACE IN OUR COMMUNITIES
Let us pray . . . O Lord our God, in your mercy and kindness, no thought of ours is left unnoticed, no desire or concern ignored. You have proven that blessings abound when we fall on our knees in prayer, and so we turn to you in our hour of need. Surrounded by violence and cries for justice, we hear your voice telling us what is required . . . “Only to do justice and to love goodness, and to walk humbly with your God” (Mi 6:8). Fill us with your mercy so that we, in turn, may be merciful to others. Strip away pride, suspicion, and racism so that we may seek peace and justice in our communities. Strengthen our hearts so that they beat only to the rhythm of your holy will. Flood our path with your light as we walk humbly toward a future filled with encounter and unity. Be with us, O Lord, in our efforts, for only by the prompting of your grace can we progress toward virtue. We ask this through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
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