“While they were traveling, He entered a village, and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who also sat at the Lord’s feet and was listening to what He said.But Martha was distracted by her many tasks, and she came up and asked, “Lord, don’t You care that my sister has left me to serve alone? So tell her to give me a hand.” The Lordanswered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has made the right choice, and it will not be taken away from her.”
Luke 10:38-42
Lord God, what is it that is distracting Your people today? What keeps us from just being with You? What has us accusing Your heart of not caring?
I pray for the distracted ones Lord, and I ask that You help us focus our attention on You. I pray that we will begin to turn from our many tasks, and make our way to Your presence. Whatever is distracting us Lord, I pray that it will fall away as we turn our attention to the better choice. May all distractions take a back seat to You. I pray that politics will get off of the stage and stop clamoring for Your spotlight. I pray that finances, world events, and even our health issues will move out of our way so that we can see You clearly.
Forgive us Lord, for when we have judged Your heart. Forgive us for demanding that our tasks, and the many things we are worried about, be Your priorities. Forgive us for assuming that You don’t care just because things are not being done according to our plans. Forgive us our accusations against our brothers and sisters who choose being with You, over doing for You.
Forgive us Father, for welcoming You in, and then choosing to stay busy. Forgive us for believing that preparing for Your presence is more important than being in Your presence. Forgive us for finding our tasks more important than hanging on Your every word. Forgive us, God, for making it about us.
Lord, would You heal our distractions, and bring us to Your feet?
“And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.”
Acts 4:31
Father, we are in need of a filling – a place shaking filling of Your Holy Spirit. Fill us up, I pray, and send us out to speak Your word, to be light in the dark. I pray that in every corner of the earth, Your Church will begin to fill up with Holy Spirit power!
I pray that You will pour out Your Spirit, stirring dreams and visions and prophecies in Your people. I pray that we will be led by Your Spirit, that we will walk in Your Spirit, and that Your Church will be visible fruit-bearers of Your Spirit, walking in greater and greater measures of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
I pray that our homes, our marriages, our families, our workplaces – in every place and in every relationship – we will bear evidence of Your Spirit within us.
I pray for a fresh move of Your Spirit, a fresh outpouring, to bring both power and conviction to the Body of Christ. May Your Spirit not be quenched in Your people, Lord, but may we instead match the very rhythm of our steps to the steps of the Spirit of God. I pray that we will once again walk in the healing, delivering, power of Your Spirit – healing the sick, breaking off oppression, lifting the downcast, setting captives free. Rid us of our programs designed to entertain. Strip us of our need for the attention and approval of men. Reduce us again to be lovers and followers of Jesus who pray for the boldness to do what You call us to do. May we be emptied of wise and persuasive words, and filled with the power of Your Spirit.
Father, I pray that You will begin to move through our congregations with the power of Your Spirit, cleansing us of what makes us lethargic and lukewarm, and breathing on the flame within us so that a passion for Your truth and Your ways will burn in us again. May we abandon all that is not of You, everything we have invented to make us feel religious, everything that pacifies our flesh while quenching Your Spirit. Come like fire, and burn the hay and stubble of fruitless works, works done by us and for us. Wake us from our slumber, Lord, by the shaking of Your Holy Spirit.
“Our Father in heaven, Your name be honored as holy. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
Matthew 6:9-10
Father, in heaven. Seated on Your throne. Unmoved, unchanging. Surrounded by the angels crying “holy!”. You are the undisputed King of all creation, holder and keeper of eternity. There is none like You, and before You every knee will bow and every tongue will acknowledge You. (Romans 14:11) I pray we will not lose sight of our Father, in heaven. I pray that we will remember that You are enthroned above the earth, and that we are small and You, o God, are great. Instill in us a reverence again, Lord, and a right understanding of Your sovereignty, power, and majesty. May we stand in awe of You and be filled with wonder over our Father in heaven.
I pray that the name of our God would be holy on our lips, that we would not cause it to be profaned, or common. I pray that Your people will speak Your name with reverence and honor, and I pray that we will speak it to every sickness, every disease, for there is healing in Your Name. (Acts 3:16) No other name saves us, and no other name causes demons to shake. There is power and authority in Your Name, and I pray we will remember. I pray that Your Name will not become just a name, but the whole of the reason we approach the throne of God at all. I pray that Your people will regard the holiness of Your Name and that it will be honored among those who do not know You.
Lord, I cry out for Your Kingdom to come today. I pray that in my home, Your Kingdom will come. In my workplace, Your Kingdom come. In Your Church, Lord, Your Kingdom come! Come, Lord, and rule and reign here today, in me. In my heart, may Your Kingdom come. Make us a Kingdom people, God, a people not of this world, a people who will not settle for earthly kingdoms.
Oh Father, as it is in heaven, let it be here. Your will be done on the earth. In my life. In my marriage. In my heart…Your will and not my own. I pray that in Your Church, Your will be done. In this nation, and the nations of the earth, Your will be done. I pray Your people will have the courage and the humility to die to their own will, to their own plans and designs and dreams, and cry out with sincere hearts for the will of God to reign over us. I pray that we will choose to trust Your will above our own, to trust that Your will is good and right.
Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Forgive us Lord, for when we have spoken such a prayer by rote, as just words to say, and not as a total surrender of our own will. I pray that the weight of this prayer would press upon us until we gladly release all things to the supremacy of Your will.
“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. “
1 John 3:1
“All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.”
Matthew 11:27
Lord, I lift up the fatherless ones today, and I ask that You would reveal Your Father’s heart to them. For those who were not fathered well, I pray they will come to know that they have a good Father in You. I pray they will come to know Your kindness, mercy, and comfort.
I pray that You will heal the father wounds in Your body, and bring a fresh revelation of the Father’s love. Teach us to forgive our own fathers, and teach the fathers to repent. I pray for reconciliation wherever possible, and that You will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers (Malachi 4:6).
I pray that every wrong picture of You that has been painted by an earthly father will be destroyed in the minds and hearts of Your sons and daughters. I pray that every lie, every misconception, and every wrong perception the enemy has planted about You will be torn down, and that the truth of who You are as our Father will be revealed. I pray that, in place of distance, we will know Your nearness; instead of a quick temper, we will find You to be slow to anger and full of compassion for us. For those who have been abused, I pray that You will speak tenderly to them, bind their wounds, and let them experience Your perfect love for them. I pray for deep, deep healing for them, and a restoration of faith in the Father’s heart.
I pray that every obstacle, every barrier that has been erected between the hearts of Your children and the heart of their heavenly Father will be torn down. I pray for those who have left Your house and are returning to You in repentance, that they will find Your arms open wide to them.
Lord God, restore the hearts of the children to receive the love of their Father.
“From the tents of God’s people come shouts of victory: “The LORD is powerful!””
Psalm 118:15
“But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
1 Corinthians 15:57
Lord, You are our victorious God! I pray that joy will fill Your people today as we celebrate Your victory over death and the grave. I pray that heaven will hear the shouts of victory coming from the Church today, for by Your power You have risen Christ from the dead and You will raise us from death by that same power!
I lift up those in Your family who are living defeated today, and I ask for a fresh breath of Your Spirit to fill them Lord, for a fresh revelation that their God is a victorious God and therefore, we are a victorious people. I pray that any mindset of defeat would be changed to a mindset of victory by a revelation of Your power. I pray that all who feel conquered by life right now would be reminded that they are more than conquerors in Christ, and that You always lead Your people in a triumphal procession, for our Christ is always and continuously triumphant! I pray that this will not just be a vague spiritual concept, but will become a truth rooted deep within Your people, Lord.
Stir joy in Your people today, joy that will last past the day. I pray the disciples’ joy upon seeing their risen Lord would be ours. I pray that as the eyes of their understanding opened to the truth, so will ours. I pray that just as joy overtook their mourning, joy will overtake ours.
Father, I pray that Your people will fight from victory and not for it, because we have placed our trust in You, our God of victory. May our faith increase in this hour, Lord. May we stand firm, trusting that You are victorious, trusting that You have overcome. Wake us up Lord, to the truth of Your victorious, undefeatable nature.
Today, I pray that the darkness will quake at the sound of shouts of victory resounding from the tents of God’s people! I pray that from this point on, we will not cower in fear of defeat, in fear of being overcome by evil, in fear of death. I pray we will rise up as the victorious, overcoming people of the one true God, the God who conquered death and the grave, who rescued us from the dominion of darkness and who leads us in His triumphal procession!
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God”.
Ephesians 6:10-17
Father, I pray that in this day, in the growing darkness, You will teach Your people how to fight the battle for which You have equipped us.
I pray that we will not war with our own strength and power, but in Yours. Help us lay down our fights with flesh and blood, and take our stand against our true enemy. Give us eyes to see the difference.
I pray that in this hour, Your Church will stand her ground, fully covered in the armor of her God, shielded by faith, wielding the sword of Your Spirit well.
I pray that every stronghold the enemy has established in Your body will come down, in the Name of Jesus. Every lie that has crept in, may it be overcome and cast out by those willing to bring down the sword of Your Word against it. Every evil being called good and every good being called evil, torn down in Your Name.
I pray for a renewed thirst for Your Word, God. I pray we will look first and always to the scriptures for what is true. I pray that every other source of “truth” that we turn to will fade to the background, and our plumb line will once again be the very words You have spoken.
I pray for our homes, our marriages, Lord, that Your truth will come against every lie sown by the enemy. I pray that we will turn away from our battles with one another and come together against the works of darkness in our families. I pray that every effort at disunity and enmity within the marriages of Your people will be thwarted in Your Name. I pray that we will again fight for and not against one another.
I pray that in every place occupied by Your people, resistance to the devil will rise up. I pray that we will awaken from our slumber, submit to You and see the enemy flee. (James 4:7)
Train us Lord, to demolish the strongholds established by the evil one, to take our thought lives captive to obedience to Jesus. May we cast out every thought that does not express truth. I pray that we will not conform to the world’s thinking, but will have our minds renewed by Your Word. (2 Corinthians 10:3-5; Romans 12:2)
Lord, the enemy is prowling. Seeking to devour. He is a liar and the father of lies, coming to kill, steal and destroy Your people. But You have come! You came to destroy his works, and to give us abundant life. So I pray that we will rise up, sober, alert, and fully dressed for the battle, with swords ready to cut through every lie, every stronghold. And I pray we will rise up praying, calling forth the will of our God on earth as it is in heaven. (John 10:10; 1 Peter 5:8; Matthew 6:10)
For every seed of hate being sown by darkness, I pray the children of the light will uproot through love. In every place where division and discord are ruling, may Your people bring the spirit of unity and peace. Wherever there is death and decay, pour us out there as the salt of the earth. Send us with the light of Christ within us to light up the darkness. Teach us to love and care for those who have been oppressed and overlooked.
And in every storm, in every hard place we walk, may our praises be heard ringing out. I pray that Your people will raise their voices in praise and worship, exalting the name of Jesus through every valley, every wilderness place, and in every prison cell they are found.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
John 3:16
“When He had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.”
John 19:30
Thank You for such love, Lord. Thank You that it was not Your desire that we would perish in our sins. Thank You that the atonement is finished, and eternal life is given to those who believe and truss in Your Son’s finished work on the cross.
Help me walk worthy of the price that was paid for my sin. Help me to never take it for granted, but to always see it with gratitude, with humility and wonder – to see it for what it is – You took the punishment for my sins so that I could live. Oh Lord, what kind of love is this?!
I pray Lord, for the strength to walk in the it is finished gospel. Help me to stop trying to redeem myself from my sins, to stop trying to earn eternal life, to stop trying to be my own savior. I pray for a resting to come to my soul, a resting in the truth that redemption is finished.
And I pray for courage for Your Church, Lord. Courage to preach the whole gospel, as it is written. I pray that we will not soften it or water it down, but that we will boldly put forth the truth that all who will not believe Jesus, and who will not put their trust in His finished work of redemption, will perish.
Give us hearts that break at the thought, Lord! Set a fire in Your people that burns for those who are perishing, a fire of urgency to reach them with the truth that can save them. I pray for a great revival in Your Church, a revival of the gospel message, and a desire to see it go forth into the nations, into our workplaces, our neighborhoods, and yes, even into our churches.
Karla Jo Wasion 