Equipping Ministry Intercession Ideas, August-September Part A
(See also downloadable Equipping Ministry Prayer Guide; Praying Through the Gifts at Your Church: A Spiritual Gifts Prayer Guide; and Equipping Prayer Guide—Praying Scripture for Your Congregation)
The following are prayer prompts you can send to your Equipping Ministry Prayer Team and/or to others in your midst who are passionate about prayer and gifts-based ministry and meaningful service for the health of the Body of Christ.
Please pray as staff and ministry leaders prepare for the Fall. Pray that each person is creative and intentional about inviting people of all age groups to engage in meaningful service. Pray that we are creative about how to best utilize volunteers as they age, approach retirement, perhaps travel more—meaning their schedules need to be flexible. As we engage younger people, pray that we keep in mind life’s demands and stressors—inviting them to serve in ways that are life-giving and help them to grow and flourish.
Please pray as we kick off a new year of ministry on [insert relevant date here]:
· That we would connect with each person’s passions and interests—by listening well.
· That we would genuinely care for them—by loving well.
· That we would offer them things to get involved with that would help them to grow closer to Jesus and deeper in community with others.
· That we would see getting people more engaged as an act of discipling them in their walk with Jesus—and consider it holy.
Pray that as we are aligning ourselves ourselves with Christ; loving and doing good to our enemies; giving to those in need (in secret); praying (in private); fasting (without drawing attention to ourselves); welcoming others; offering assistance and comfort; ministering to children; obeying Christ; lending without expectation of return; mirroring God’s kindness to the undeserving; for planting and watering; for doing good; for working and serving
that we would be growing into Jesus’ image and likeness more and more as individuals and as a church…in ways that are also obvious and attractive to those who visit and those outside our walls.
(Matthew 5:12, 46; Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18; 10:41-42; Matthew 16:27; Mark 9:41; Luke 6:23, 35; 1 Corinthians 3:8-14; Ephesians 6:7-:8; Colossians 3:23-24).
Pray that as we engage in deeds done in faithfulness to Jesus, that people would experience our service as love in action. May we be spurred on by God’s gracious and unfailing love for us. We are called God’s “co-workers” in His service (1 Corinthians 3:9). We are exhorted to serve or work with all our hearts—"wholeheartedly”--as if our service is directly to the Lord Himself, not just to those we are serving (Revelation 22:12; Ephesians 6:7-:8; Colossians 3:23-24). Pray that these things would be increasingly true of us.
We serve out of love. Ultimately, LOVE is the motivation—for following and obeying Jesus, for serving others, for caring for our neighbors, for engaging with the greater world: Pray that we would be a congregation marked by the love of Jesus.
[Continued in the next series of posts.]
Shirley Giles Davis, author of the God. Gifts. You. Your Unique Calling and Design workbook, Your Unique Design Class Guide, Your Unique Design Facilitator Guide, and Gifts-Calling-Purpose blog, is a consultant, coach, facilitator who has worked with faith-based organizations, nonprofit agencies, and executive leaders in a diversity of fields for over 35 years. She currently serves as Equipping Ministries Director at her church.
Photo © Shirley Giles Davis.
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