Tonight, as in the past couple of years, I will be offering a prayer of blessing on the Trout Festival. I don’t exactly know what I am supposed to be blessing and maybe I should have asked, but what should I be praying over our community for these few festive days? Or, more broadly, what would or should my prayer and your prayer be for this community God has placed us in?
- Our prayers ought to always include that those who don’t know Jesus would come to know Him. And, specifically, that you and I would be used by God to share the Gospel with them and that we would be bold and have the words to say.
- Marriages come to mind as the second thing we ought to be praying about for our community. Healthy marriages have a huge impact on our community. When spouses are communicating well and serving each other well, God is glorified and families are healthy.
- The kids of our community definitely need to make the list. Every day they head into a world that many of them don’t see themselves adequately prepared for. They deal with bullying, insecurity, lack of family support, drugs, alcohol, sex, and wanting to be accepted.
- We need to pray for teachers because they are impacting our kids daily.
- Pray for our village leaders.
- Pray for God to clearly put you in the place He wants to use you and the wisdom to see what it is He wants you to do, and the courage to do it.
Let me offer the things I think we should be praying for, as it pertains to our community.
God has much to say about prayer in His Word.
- “The prayers of the righteous are powerful and effective.” (James 5:16)
- “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.” (1 John 5:14)
- “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.” (Romans 8:26-27)
Wherever you may be at 6:00 pm tonight, lift our community up in prayer. If you don’t know what to pray for, ask the Spirit to tell you. If you aren’t sure God is listening, check your heart, because He listens to those drawing near to Him. And let’s see how He answers.