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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Prayer for Westhaven Elementary and MSCS
14 Let all that you do be done in love.” 1 Corinthians 16:14 Tonight we lift up Westhaven Elementary in Whitehaven to the Lord. The school is located at 4585 Hodge Road. Principal Amber Stroble is a Memphis-Shelby County Schools grad and has worked in the school since 2016. The school page is found here: https://schools.scsk12.org/Page/13578…
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14 Let all that you do be done in love.” 1 Corinthians 16:14
Tonight we lift up Westhaven Elementary in Whitehaven to the Lord. The school is located at 4585 Hodge Road. Principal Amber Stroble is a Memphis-Shelby County Schools grad and has worked in the school since 2016. The school page is found here: https://schools.scsk12.org/Page/13578
The school requests our prayers. Lord, we pray for stability and consistency in the school building. We pray that the halls be filled with joy. We pray teachers and staff are encouraged in their work. We pray parents find caring partners in preparing their children for the world.
Lord, we pray for positive role models and volunteers to pour into those young minds. We pray you keep evil away from the school grounds. We lift up the community surrounding Westhaven, that peace be in men’s hearts and Godly love flow forth from the women.
Lord, our schools need You, even if we are no longer allowed to promote you directly. May the lives of our professionals and educators be witness of Your glory.
Lord, we lift up the search process for the next superintendent for Memphis-Shelby County Schools. May you bring the right person to lead this important part of our community. Set aside petty jealousies and resentment. Cast out discouraging voices. Lord, bring a truth teller and consensus builder that can help facilitate student growth and vibrant schools. In Your name, amen.
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New Life
“We waste our lives when we do not pray and think and dream and plan and work toward magnifying God in all spheres of life.” — Don’t Waste Your Life by John Piper New life is all around. Several friends and colleagues have welcomed new children recently. Their routines are upended by nighttime feedings and…
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“We waste our lives when we do not pray and think and dream and plan and work toward magnifying God in all spheres of life.”
— Don’t Waste Your Life by John Piper
New life is all around. Several friends and colleagues have welcomed new children recently. Their routines are upended by nighttime feedings and dirty diapers. They are reaching different levels of exhaustion and performing tasks with seemingly half the brain cells they had before this newborn arrived. And it’s beautiful.
God didn’t have to create us. Why would He? Why would He offer freewill? He already was and is God. We’re not needed. This thought may be outside theology, but maybe He created the desire for us to have children because you find a different understanding of love when you have a child. He wants us to know what that feels like, and I thank Him for that. And those loves closest to us and can hurt us the most, but we still try.
I started this entry with a John Piper quote. The older I get, the more I think about life from the inside out and living with purpose. I have to change, and can only do so through God’s grace, before I can be aligned with the Holy Spirit to impact the world around me. I fail daily, but I keep trying.
Tonight, Lord, I pray for this community. I pray for new parents that are struggling to adjust to a life beyond themselves. I pray for strength and endurance for those days and nights when they feel they have nothing left to give. We lift up labor and delivery nurses at Germantown Baptist, Methodist, Regional One, and St. Francis who guide new mothers and calm anxious fathers. We pray for those doctors, OB/GYNs, NICU nurses, and other medical staff trained in caring for new lives, that you grant them wisdom, courage, and skill.
We thank you Lord, for getting a taste of Your love through our own parenthood. May we love our children and raise them up in Christ. We pray for youth that don’t have the support at home that fellow Christians may be positive influences on their life. We pray for parents struggling with their own issues, that they seek you and find help. Lord, if we live life only for ourselves, what’s the point? May we seek to love one another and form a new Jerusalem today. In Your name, Amen
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Calling Peters
[15] When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.”[16] A second time he said to him, “Simon, son of John, do you love…
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[15] When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.”
[16] A second time he said to him, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.”
[17] He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” And he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.
[18] Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you girded yourself and walked where you would; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish to go.”
[19] (This he said to show by what death he was to glorify God.) And after this he said to him, “Follow me.” John 21:15-19 – RSVThe work we have to do is not easy. We are attacked by the adversary, full of doubt, cast about. We are unsure of our footing. We watch evil prosper. We watch good men and women fail.
We see two young men expelled from the legislature. We see lives gunned down by those who no longer had hope in this world. We see reckless behavior on our city streets. We see a general incivility, applauded, and disrespect for our fellow man and life.
Tonight, Lord, I pray for those sinners who proclaim Christ, those who feel they have disappointed the Father, to know that they are loved. As Peter was reinstated, may they know that we are never too far gone to be separated from the love of Christ. In fact, they will be welcomed back by the Good Shepherd.
We lift up Memphis and pray for a spiritual awakening. We pray for church bodies and the body of Christ to come together in ways that show the world Your awesome love and glory. We pray for that love to spill over into our lives. We pray for the body of Christ to be caught doing something good like the ways elementary schools celebrate their students with joy.
Lord, we pray for the redemption of abandoned buildings, like the Sterrick Building downtown, and the work of Stuart Harris. May these shells of former greatness be revived. Lord, our city needs boldness and imagination. We need folks to step out in faith and do big things because You are not a boring God. Lord, in seeing new life come back, may it be an encouragement to those wondering if this life is all there is.
Lord, I pray for additional writers to cover this city in prayer through this website and for guidance in how to go forward. I’m feeling run down and lacking in my ability to post consistently. May it never be a post to be seen, like a pharisee on a Jerusalem street corner, but a true seeking of You for the children of God in Memphis and the surrounding area. Bring forth fellow believers to walk together. In Your name, Amen.
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Broken Hearts
“The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” Psalm 34:18 The headmaster for my boys’ school included this verse in his passage today after learning of the tragedy at The Covenant School in Nashville. It’s not the first time he’s reminded us of these words. Lord, we call…
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“The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” Psalm 34:18
The headmaster for my boys’ school included this verse in his passage today after learning of the tragedy at The Covenant School in Nashville. It’s not the first time he’s reminded us of these words.
Lord, we call on You tonight. We lift up the brokenhearted in Nashville and mourn with them. We grieve with them. We pray your mercies upon them. Children killed and adults murdered. Lord, we ask “why”? Lord, we ask why you let these events happen.
We are reminded of the fallen nature of man, how sin is death, and then, when drying our tears, that Your Son, Jesus Christ, defeated sin and death. We don’t know how you will be present in this situation, but we pray that You are and we feel Your presence.
Lord, yesterday, our congregation heard the message of revival at Asbury. We pray for that same spirit, the Holy Spirit, to bring revival to all. We need Your light and Your truth. Lord, our neighbors are believing lies that they aren’t good enough, that they are born in the wrong bodies. May we love all of our neighbors so that they know they are children of God. Quiet the voice of the evil one. Deliver us from evil. In Your name, Amen.
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Acorns again
1-2 God claims Earth and everything in it, God claims World and all who live on it. -Psalm 24:1-2 The Message Lord, tonight we lift up the malls of Memphis. Once places of thriving commerce, many are avoided now by both customers and businesses. Oak Court Mall is in the news for being foreclosed on. Lord, redeem…
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1-2 God claims Earth and everything in it,
God claims World and all who live on it.-Psalm 24:1-2 The Message
Lord, tonight we lift up the malls of Memphis. Once places of thriving commerce, many are avoided now by both customers and businesses. Oak Court Mall is in the news for being foreclosed on. Lord, redeem the land of Oak Court Mall. May it be used for community benefit.
We pray Lord for those who you have given vision and ability to transform landscapes and remake places, to use those gifts for the betterment of our city and our neighborhoods. We pray for the work to be done with the Creator in mind.
May the next owner of Oak Court Mall seek You first in determining its purpose.