SCRIPTURE. REFLECTION. PRAYER FOR OUR CITY.
Let’s pray
for Memphis.
join us in lifting up the city we love, block by block.
THE PRAYER JOURNAL
Prayers for Memphis
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Shine a Light
9 Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but whoever takes crooked paths will be found out. Proverbs 10:9 Lord, we lift up Memphis to You. May our elected and appointed leaders in government walk in integrity. May Mayor Harris and Mayor Young lead with You in mind. We pray that those in positions of authority seek You…
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9 Whoever walks in integrity walks securely,
but whoever takes crooked paths will be found out.Proverbs 10:9
Lord, we lift up Memphis to You. May our elected and appointed leaders in government walk in integrity. May Mayor Harris and Mayor Young lead with You in mind. We pray that those in positions of authority seek You first in all of their dealings.
Forgive us of our sins, Lord. We are quick to anger. Our pride is bruised easily. Fortify us from ourselves. Our identity comes from You Father. Remind us of that. In Christ’s name, amen.
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Vacation Bible School Season
37 “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.” Summer has begun. School is out. A joy for children. A strain on working parents. The season of vacation bible school. Thank God for these opportunities to provide children…
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37 “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.”
Summer has begun. School is out. A joy for children. A strain on working parents. The season of vacation bible school. Thank God for these opportunities to provide children with a nurturing environment to learn about our Creator. Thank God for the thousands of volunteers across the mid-south that will shepherd loud, active, joyfully noisy children between locations. Thank God for the Elmer’s glue and glitter that will begin in a container, and like the Holy Spirit, find its way into dark and forgotten spaces all over the city.
Dear Lord, we lift up these vacation bible schools at local churches.
https://www.2pc.org/event/23070928-2024-06-03-vacation-bible-school-2024
https://www.gracestlukes.org/news/posts/vacation-bible-school
https://www.hopepres.com/hope-for-kids
https://www.christchurchmemphis.org/kids
https://www.stlouischurchmphs.org/vacation-bible-school
And these are just a few. You know where doors are open.
Lord, bless this time for the children and the volunteers. May Your joy be everpresent. May the love of Christ be shown and known by those in attendance. Open up the heart to gospel conversations at a young age. Lord, use this time to show these children and adults how to love one another and encourage one another in Christ.
Lord, grant the volunteers endurance during the day and restful sleep each night. May they be filled with the Holy Spirit and invigorated by the Word. May the children develop lifelong friendships centered in Christ. May this time be a chance for the Word of the Lord to be heard and accepted.
Bless the other staff and volunteers behind the scenes, preparing meals and snacks and cleaning up. Bless the parents who sign their children up. May there be a joyful noise in the city this summer!
In Christ’s name, amen.
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Build in Us a Righteous Heart
16 Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honored his name. 17 “On the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty, “they will be my treasured possession. I will spare them,…
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16 Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honored his name.
17 “On the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty, “they will be my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as a father has compassion and spares his son who serves him. 18 And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not. – Malachi 3:16-18
Lord, we confess our many sins to you tonight. Gossip at work. Lustful thoughts. Greed. Selfishness. All these sins and many more occur when we try to be You, to replace You, to honor ourselves above all. Forgive us Father.
Lord, build in us a righteous heart. May the Holy Spirit abide in us. May the church be a source of healing and renewal because You are there. Breathe life into our churches as you awaken hearts and minds. May we heed calls for repentance and turn from our evil ways.
Lord, speak truth to us, Your people. May we stand for what is good and right, celebrating and lifting those actions and activities up to You. Grant us courage and protection when we take a stand against this world and the brokenness in it. May we seek to correct or rebuke in love.
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Summer Prayer for Memphis
18 “Of what value is an idol carved by a craftsman? Or an image that teaches lies?For the one who makes it trusts in his own creation; he makes idols that cannot speak.19 Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Come to life!’ Or to lifeless stone, ‘Wake up!’Can it give guidance? It is covered with gold and silver; there is no…
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18 “Of what value is an idol carved by a craftsman?
Or an image that teaches lies?
For the one who makes it trusts in his own creation;
he makes idols that cannot speak.
19 Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Come to life!’
Or to lifeless stone, ‘Wake up!’
Can it give guidance?
It is covered with gold and silver;
there is no breath in it.”20 The Lord is in his holy temple;
let all the earth be silent before him.Habbakuk 2:18-20
Lord, we pray from deliverance from our idols tonight. We pray for their spell to be broken. We seek You, Lord, and ask that we may follow You. May the Holy Spirit be poured out into the streets of Memphis. Lord, we pray for revival. We pray for Your Word and Truth to penetrate the strongholds of darkness in Memphis. May your redemption stories be made known to those caught in downward spirals. We praise God for the work in Camelot Homes. We praise God for Muslims and Christians reading the Bible together. Lord, we praise God for your sons and daughters seeking Your will for their lives and their city every day.
Lord, equip Your people to reach the lost. May the work being done to awaken congregations cause dry bones to come alive. We pray for the first responders that they may be covered in Your protection. We pray that athletic coaches embody the love of Jesus during this spring sports season. We pray for an activation of the youth during the summer for productive activities when school is out.
Lord, we lift up Memphis Athletic Ministries, the Kroc Center, and all of the church Vacation Bible Schools, to be filled with excited children. Prepare their hearts for the love of Jesus. Lord, for the secular summer camps, we pray for the Christians there to stand out as exceptional leaders, caring and strong, role models for the youth. Open doors for opportunity, that children recognize what they can be.
Lord, soften hearts and prepare them. Lord, may we chase souls for Christ and not the comfort of our couch. May we argue with the Word of God and not political talking points. May we put on the armor of God and wage war with the adversary daily, that our neighbor may live. Do it in the streets of Frayser and Raleigh. Do it in Soulsville and Westwood. Do it in River Oaks and Chickasaw Gardens. Do it Whitehaven and Germantown, Arlington to Olive Branch. Lord, you have believers walking in all of these communities. May the Holy Spirit guide them into the paths of those who need to know You. In Christ’s name, amen.
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We’re Back
Thank you to DH, a good friend, for helping get the site back up and working. We continue to lift up Memphis in prayer. We continue to seek the good and be the good in the city. We continue to pray for the HOly Spirit to turn the hearts of our neighbors and cleanse our…
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Thank you to DH, a good friend, for helping get the site back up and working.
We continue to lift up Memphis in prayer. We continue to seek the good and be the good in the city. We continue to pray for the HOly Spirit to turn the hearts of our neighbors and cleanse our own.
We are in Babylon, waiting on the New Jerusalem. May we seek to honor God as Daniel did. Amen.
“8 But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way. 9 Now God had caused the official to show favor and compassion to Daniel, 10 but the official told Daniel, “I am afraid of my lord the king, who has assigned your[c] food and drink. Why should he see you looking worse than the other young men your age? The king would then have my head because of you.”
11 Daniel then said to the guard whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, 12 “Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. 13 Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see.” 14 So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days.
15 At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food. 16 So the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead.
17 To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds.
18 At the end of the time set by the king to bring them into his service, the chief official presented them to Nebuchadnezzar. 19 The king talked with them, and he found none equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; so they entered the king’s service. 20 In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom.
21 And Daniel remained there until the first year of King Cyrus.”
Daniel 1:8