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
-
Love Letter to My Brothers
A LOVE LETTER TO MY BROTHERS A man was drinking with his father. As they talked about life and adulthood the father said,“Never forget your brothers! They will become very important over time. No matter how much you love your wife, or your children, you’re going to need your brothers!” “Remember when I speak of…
Read the full prayer
A LOVE LETTER TO MY BROTHERS
A man was drinking with his father. As they talked about life and adulthood the father said,“Never forget your brothers! They will become very important over time. No matter how much you love your wife, or your children, you’re going to need your brothers!” “Remember when I speak of your “(Brothers)” I mean ALL men who are attached to you.”
“Sometimes you must contact them, perhaps go out with them, do things with them, because someday you will need them!” The brother locked those words inside him. He kept in touch with his Brothers. Over the years he made many friends. Some came, some went, but over time he understood what his Father meant. The World, Time, Nature and Life presents their changes and mysteries in a mans life, but your true Brothers always remain. After all of the years that I have lived on this earth, I have learned that:- Time goes by.
- Life happens.
- Children grow up.
- Distance separates.
- Passion decreases.
- The heart breaks.
- Our parents die.
- Favors are forgotten.
*Jobs come and go. - Careers do end.
BUT….Your Brothers are always there, no matter the distance between you. A Brother is never too far away to be reached. When you have to walk through a lonely valley and have to do it for yourself, the Brothers of your life will be around you, encourage you, pray for you, push you, intervene for you, and wait for you with open arms at the end of the road.They will walk by your side… or even carry your load.
Grandfathers, Fathers, Brothers Grandsons, Nephews, Cousins, Uncles, Fathers-in-law, Brothers-in-Law, and Friends…They are all your “Brothers” and they are God’s blessing in life!
Send this on to the “Brothers” who continue to give meaning to your life. Amen…
“A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity.” Proverbs 17:17
-
My Refuge
Psalm 7[a] A shiggaion[b] of David, which he sang to the Lord concerning Cush, a Benjamite. 1 Lord my God, I take refuge in you; save and deliver me from all who pursue me,2 or they will tear me apart like a lion and rip me to pieces with no one to rescue me. 3 Lord my God, if I…
Read the full prayer
Psalm 7[a]
A shiggaion[b] of David, which he sang to the Lord concerning Cush, a Benjamite.
1 Lord my God, I take refuge in you;
save and deliver me from all who pursue me,
2 or they will tear me apart like a lion
and rip me to pieces with no one to rescue me.3 Lord my God, if I have done this
and there is guilt on my hands—
4 if I have repaid my ally with evil
or without cause have robbed my foe—
5 then let my enemy pursue and overtake me;
let him trample my life to the ground
and make me sleep in the dust.[c]6 Arise, Lord, in your anger;
rise up against the rage of my enemies.
Awake, my God; decree justice.
7 Let the assembled peoples gather around you,
while you sit enthroned over them on high.
8 Let the Lord judge the peoples.
Vindicate me, Lord, according to my righteousness,
according to my integrity, O Most High.
9 Bring to an end the violence of the wicked
and make the righteous secure—
you, the righteous God
who probes minds and hearts.10 My shield[d] is God Most High,
who saves the upright in heart.
11 God is a righteous judge,
a God who displays his wrath every day.
12 If he does not relent,
he[e] will sharpen his sword;
he will bend and string his bow.
13 He has prepared his deadly weapons;
he makes ready his flaming arrows.14 Whoever is pregnant with evil
conceives trouble and gives birth to disillusionment.
15 Whoever digs a hole and scoops it out
falls into the pit they have made.
16 The trouble they cause recoils on them;
their violence comes down on their own heads.17 I will give thanks to the Lord because of his righteousness;
I will sing the praises of the name of the Lord Most High.Our city mourns. We struggle with the death of Tyre Nichols. We wonder how policemen could be so brutal, so awful, when they are entrusted with protecting us. We question why these events, these tragedies, occur, keep occurring.
But we have a righteous God who loves us. He showed us by sending his Son. He promises to be our refuge, our shield. Even when we can’t see, He can.
Lord, may Your Holy Spirit be present in Memphis, in this city we love. Work through Your children. May Tyre’s death not be in vain. May we ask hard questions and root out evil. Cleanse the hearts of men. Give us strength when we see injustice to carry on. Give us wisdom and discernment for how to move forward. Fill our hearts with love that we may be an extension of the Kingdom.
Lord, we call on You to save us, to deliver us from evil. We have great needs and few laborers. Awake Your body to the call of Christ in our community. May we be a Holy Spirit-led community.
With this ice storm, protect those who must be outside in it. Prevent power lines from falling and pipes from bursting. Protect those on the roads. In Christ’s name, amen.
-
Not Ours to Avenge
19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. Romans12:19 The Tyre Nichols video will be released tomorrow. It is bad. A man is dead. Five police officers are charged with 2nd Degree Homicide. A…
Read the full prayer
19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. Romans12:19
The Tyre Nichols video will be released tomorrow. It is bad. A man is dead. Five police officers are charged with 2nd Degree Homicide. A friend from Atlanta texted me to say she was praying for Memphis. There’s an undercurrent of fear that riots may occur. The DA and other law enforcement leadership are making statements condemning the acts of the police officers. There is no presumption of innocence right now.
We’ve seen injustice. We’ve seen power abused. Some of our brothers and sisters in Christ have experienced it in ways that I’ll never know or ever understand.
Lord, tonight I pray for The Holy Spirit to fill Memphis and take up residence. We are a hurting people, an angry people, and a scared people. We don’t know how to respond. We pray for peace and for justice. We pray that the Nichols family can find comfort in You. We pray for forgiveness, of our reactions and fears, and ask that You guide our thinking.
Lord, we pray for those in authority and directly tied to this death. May they seek You first. May you grant them wisdom and discernment. May the Mayors, Capt CJ Davis, Steve Mulroy, and Ben Crump, in their capacity, be Holy Spirit-led.
In this darkness Lord, bring Your light. We don’t know how You are working behind the scenes. May we, your people, be drawn to you. Give us courage to face the days ahead. Protect us with Your glory. Calm the angry and channel destructive behavior and desires into creation for Your kingdom. In Your name, amen.
-
Preparing for Battle
26 “So do not be afraid of them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. 27 What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. 28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the…
Read the full prayer
26 “So do not be afraid of them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. 27 What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. 28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.[b]30 And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. – Matthew 10:26-31
This website was formed to pray for the city before we organized prayer walks in the city. The goal and hope is cover the entire city in prayer, united in Christ. We’ve had conversations and interest. I would be lying if I don’t sense both fear and excitement. What does revival look like?
That’s what we’re asking at my church. Many believers are asking for the same thing. With each day passing and new tragedies, we call upon God to deliver us. We want and desire to be part of His work.
So Lord, confirm our direction as we seek You while lifting up Memphis. Are our hearts in the right place? Is the Holy Spirit moving among Your people? How are we to bring light to the darkness?
Jesus tells the apostles, “You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.” (Mat 10:22.) He doesn’t sugarcoat what’s ahead. As our friend Nathan Cook reminded us, we are going up against the gates of Hell. Actively seeking and building for the Kingdom is an act of rebellion in this world. We know our prize and the victory is already won.
In His Name.
-
Courage for Memphis
Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm. He said: 2 “Who is this that obscures my plans with words without knowledge?3 Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me. – Job 38:1-3 It feels like a spiritual battle right now in Memphis. It may feel like this where you live as…
Read the full prayer
Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm. He said:
2 “Who is this that obscures my plans
with words without knowledge?
3 Brace yourself like a man;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me. – Job 38:1-3It feels like a spiritual battle right now in Memphis. It may feel like this where you live as well. I’ve been reading Job and in all the trials, you have to remember that it wasn’t God’s doing, but Satan’s, and God was proving that Job was blameless and would not blame God. All the trials were evidence of iniquity according to Job’s friends. Wise, earthly wisdom they offered. I could see myself telling him the same. However, his tribulation was not a judgment or response to sin. It was the adversary trying to win an argument with God that his righteous follower would curse him when the hedge of protection was removed. God knew Job would not. But still, I wonder, why would God allow these trials?
When I look around Memphis this week, I’m asking that. We had four elders of Harvest Church die and the lone survivor seriously injured in a plane crash, an attempted abduction of a young woman in a “safe” neighborhood in East Memphis, shots fired at a man trying to scare off car thieves by honking his horn, stories of random shootings in Frayser, and more. I witnessed blatant shoplifting from Target on Poplar today for home goods. When leaving the store, I stopped a police officer pulling into the parking lot to ask if she was responding to the the theft. She said “no”. When I asked “How it was going out there?” she responded by saying, “I think it’s going to be bad when they release the video.” She’s referring to the death of Tyre Nichols, beaten by police after running during a traffic stop and then dying of his injuries, according to initial reports.
I read these verses and am reminded that I don’t know God’s plan. That doesn’t make evil right, but I don’t know what’s occurring in the spiritual realm, just like Job and his friends didn’t know about the conversation between God and Satan. Are these current trials we face being used to wake us up from our slumber? Are we driven to our knees to seek God in these moments? Will the power of prayer be used to transform a city in way that would never happen without this current run of evil? I don’t know how God will use these days, but I pray we ask Him how we are to respond.
Lord, we do not know Your ways, but we know You are sovereign. We pray for an end to the evil and wrongdoing around us. We repent of our own sin and we seek Your forgiveness. Lord, work in us a new spirit, one abiding in the Holy Spirit, that our lives reflect your glory and bring light to the dark corners of our community.
Lord, Memphis is our home and we mourn with our brothers and sisters. We pray for peace and comfort for the Harvest Church family and the continued recovery of Kennon Vaughan. We pray for the young lady and community shaken by an attempted abduction. We pray that the perpetrators be brought to justice. We also pray for justice, Lord, for the truth to come out and justice to be served in the death of Tyre Nichols. We pray for the police, whose job it is to serve and protect, to be the best of man and not the worst. Lord, we need them to be the best of humankind. We pray for calm, wisdom, and restraint in the days following any public release of the Nichols arrest. We pray that those planning to do harm under the cover of this tragedy be thwarted. We pray for healing for the family. We pray for caring and discernment among city leaders. We pray for forgiveness.
Lord, may You remind us that you are Our Father and we are Your children in the days to come. Love us. Care for us. Protect us. In Your name, Amen.