Cru staff: Please see my personal note in NOTES.

Praying More Consistently for Your Ministry Partners

I’ve tried over the years to be more attentive to our ministry partners’ prayer needs. I’ve got my radar up when a new idea comes my way. Here’s what I’m doing now.

I’m Praying for You by Nancy Guthrie

A friend bought me a copy of I’m Praying for You: 40 Days of Praying the Bible for Someone Who Is Suffering by Nancy Guthrie.

All the chapters have verses, a teaching, and prayers. Some of these prayers have a QR code so you can copy the text and paste it into a message to your friend.  Nancy lists all forty chapters on her web site.

How to use this book:

Here’s an example. Chapter 8 is “I’m praying that God will make you fruitful.” The QR code copies this prayer:

“I’m praying John 15:1–2 for you today, asking God to keep you securely connected to Jesus, the true vine, even as the pruning he is doing in your life is painful. I’m asking him to take great care in the cutting so that your life will bear bountiful fruit for him.”

Always personalize and adapt the prayers. It might not fit the person’s situation exactly.

If you like, find a graphic of the verse online to include with your message.

And then:

• Text.
• Email.
• Use wisely on social media. Your prayer may be too personal for a public place.
• Open DaySpring for verses and ecards. Share their graphics directly to email or Facebook with your personal message.

Phone Calls

When I receive a letter or notice a need through social media, most of the time I call “right away.”  A phone call means a lot more than an emoticon or a short comment on their social media.

Written Prayers

I always ask for prayer requests when we send out a fund appeal. This week, we received two prayer requests for salvation.

• I decided to create a meaningful prayer (through some online searching).
• I created an attractive half-sheet with a graphic, verse, and this personalized prayer.
• Mike and I prayed over this prayer.
• I recorded that we received the prayer and that we prayed.
• I enclosed the half-sheet in our thank you note (for their response to our fund appeal).

Here’s the prayer and the verse:

Father Almighty, Lord of all Creation, we pray for Jay to know you. We pray for his eyes to be opened to see, his ears to hear, and his heart to know You. Crack open the door and break into his life. We pray for Jay to see “the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Cor. 4:4). We pray he will discover Your great power and protection, living into Your glorious promises for Your people. Thank you, Lord, that You will speak into his heart and help him see your glory. Amen.

“I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in His holy people, and His incomparably great power for us who believe.” – Ephesians 1:18-19 (NIV)

I’m hoping our ministry partners will feel cared for. Taking these steps has also cemented the prayer needs in my head so I’m more likely to pray again.

What do you do to steward the prayer requests you receive from your ministry partners?

NOTES:

• I had two hospitalizations before Cru22, so we did not go to Milwaukee last week. My cardiologist is recommending an ablation in September to correct my irregular heartbeats. These hospitalizations and tests as well as family and MPD tasks will take most of my time until the end of the year.
• I’ll post when I can on this blog and on GodFullyKnown.blog. These will be brief and irregular articles probably until 2023. Thanks for your love, prayers, and encouragement. I will follow-up on the Tell a Better Story meetup from Cru22. Stay tuned.
• The photo is by Ümit Bulut on Unsplash