Prayer Guide
Women's Prayer Guide for May 2012
LOOKING UPWARD
Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song. For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care. (Psalm 95:1-6)
As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the Lord is flawless. He is a shield for all who take refuge in him. For who is God besides the Lord? And who is the Rock except our God? It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect. He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he enables me to stand on the heights. He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze. You give me your shield of victory, and your right hand sustains me; you stoop down to make me great. You broaden the path beneath me, so that my ankles do not turn. (Psalm 18:30-36)
I will sing of your love and justice; to you, O Lord, I will sing praise. (Psalm 101:1)
(After reading the above verses, offer your words of praise and worship to God.)
LOOKING INWARD
Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge. (Psalm 51:1-4)
But my people have exchanged their Glory for worthless idols. (Jeremiah 2:11)
My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water. They have turned their backs to me and not their faces; yet when they are in trouble, they say, ‘Come and save us!’ (Jeremiah 2:13, 27)
Consider then and realize how evil and bitter it is for you when you forsake the Lord your God and have no awe of me, declares the Lord, the Lord Almighty. (Jeremiah 2:19)
Although you wash yourself with soda and use an abundance of soap, the stain of your guilt is still before me, declares the Sovereign Lord. (Jeremiah 2:22)
(Ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart and reveal to you any areas of unconfessed sin. Acknowledge these to the Lord and ask for forgiveness; then thank Him for His forgiveness.)
LOOKING AROUND
Pray for our morning worship services and those who will be leading us in worship and teaching us. Pray that those attending the worship services will come with open minds and hearts to learn how to live as followers of Christ.
Pray for the children’s programs for the summer including Power Up Clubs and Power Surge to be held July 29th – August 3rd. Begin praying that host homes can be found for the clubs and that the clubs will attract children who do not attend church. Pray for sufficient volunteers for all the summer programs.
The National Day of Prayer was May 3rd. Dr. David Jeremiah, National Day of Prayer Honorary Chairman, wrote the following that we should pray for our country regularly throughout the year:
Every good gift and perfect gift comes from you. You are a faithful God and your mercy endures forever. You have promised to bless the nation that trusts in you. Our currency proclaims “In God We Trust,” but in our culture we are far from you. In the words of the prophet Daniel, “We have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from your precepts and your judgments.” We come before you once more, seeking your forgiveness and mercy. You, O God, are our only hope… Hear our prayer and, for your honor’s sake, shine your face upon this nation. Give our leaders the desire to seek your wisdom and the courage to follow your guidance… and watch over the men and women of our armed forces as they sacrifice for the cause of freedom. We give you thanks for all you have done for us, and we earnestly pray that you will help us become, once again, a nation whose God is the Lord. In the name of your Son, and our Savior, we pray this prayer. Amen
Pray for a great outpouring of repentance, prayer and revival. Pray for increased devotion to God by our leaders and all citizens. Pray for our President and other national leaders. Pray for state and local elected officials. Pray for those serving in our armed forces both here in the United States and abroad. Pray for graduating students, those seeking jobs and those who are adversely affected by the economy. Pray for Christians in other parts of the world who are being persecuted for their faith.
Consider the words that Abraham Lincoln spoke on April 30, 1863 and pray according to how the Spirit moves you:
We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven. We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth, and power as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us! It behooves us, then, to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.
CLOSING
Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth. (Psalm 46:10)