Prayers To Pray For Your Community

Prayers to pray for community could be the first step in changing the world.

Do you sometimes leave church and think to yourself, “How am I going to make a difference for Christ? I can’t fly to another country and love on orphans.”

Have you attended a local town meeting and said to yourself, “What use am I? I’m just a woman who works at a bank.”

Have you sat through a PTA meeting at your kid’s school and thought, “I can’t sew. I’m not crafty.”

Do you watch the evening news and think, “So sad all this violence. So disappointing all this scandal and corruption.”

Maybe you’ve left the voting poll and thought, “What influence do I have? I’m just one vote.”

You are certainly not alone. 

Many of us think there is nothing we can do to impact the world around us. Or we don’t know how. Or where to start. 

Sure the likelihood of you digging a water well in an impoverished country is slim to none, but you can pray for those who are called to a faraway mission field.

You may not have political privilege or financial favor, but you can pray for those in office who make the risky decisions and spending that impact your city or state. 
 
And you’re right. You are just one vote. But what if all believers stayed home on election day because they too feel they are just one vote? What if Christians didn’t cast a vote for the righteous candidate or the amendment that could determine the direction or the freedom of this country?

Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in selecting the appropriate candidate. Pray to understand amendments and proposed legislation. Thank God that you have the right and the freedom to cast a vote. 

Here are 5 areas that desperately need to be covered in prayer! 

This is how you can make a difference.

1. Pray to work with obedience, with a right heart and right attitude toward the task, co-workers, and supervisors

Soldiers don’t get tied up in the affairs of civilian life, for then they cannot please the officer who enlisted them. And athletes cannot win the prize unless they follow the rules. And hardworking farmers should be the first to enjoy the fruit of their labor (2 Timothy 2: 4-6).

Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything you do. Try to please them all the time, not just when they are watching you. Serve them sincerely because of your reverent fear of the Lord. Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and the Master you are serving is Christ. But if you do what is wrong, you will be paid back for the wrong you have done. For God has no favorites (Colossians 3: 22-25).

Father, thank you for the opportunity to work. Thank you for providing a way for bills to be paid and for food to be on the table. God, as I work today, help me to remember I work for you. Help me to prioritize my tasks. Partner with me as I field phone calls, solve problems, and collaborate with co-workers. Create in me a heart that works with honesty, patience, and integrity. Let people see you when they see me at work. In Jesus’ name, Amen.  

2. Pray for God’s people, the church, to be visible, to be vocal

Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of god’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ (Ephesians 4: 11-13).

And God has given us this task of reconciling the people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” (2 Corinthians 5: 18-20).

Thank you, God, for the body of believers who are called to serve you, who are proclaiming the Good News to all who will hear. From those who minister across the country to the men, women, and youth here at home, send us out to be a light in the dark. Send us out to speak life. Send us out to extend grace and mercy. Send us out to feed the hungry, to befriend the lonely, to find the lost. Open the doors of this church and fill it with the broken, the angry, the hurting. Let them find forgiveness and comfort here in the presence of the Holy Spirit. In Jesus’ name, Amen.     

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3. Pray for your neighborhood, your local community, to personify friendship, kindness, and compassion

How wonderful and pleasant it is when brothers live together in harmony! (Psalms 133:1).

Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all! (Romans 12:16).

Do not spread slanderous gossip among your people. Do not stand idly by when your neighbor’s life is threatened. I am the Lord. Do not nurse hatred in your heart for any of your relatives. Confront people directly so you will not be held guilty for their sin. Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against a fellow Israelite, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord (Leviticus 19:16-18).

Thank you, Heavenly Father, for where you have placed me at this time. Where I live is no accident. This neighborhood is my mission field, and I declare these streets are covered by the blood of Jesus. Satan has no power here.  Neighbor will embrace neighbor. The strong will stand for the weak. The young will respect the old. The capable will assist the unable. These homes will be safe havens of friendship, kindness, and compassion. No one will go hungry. No one will go unnoticed. Lives here will be changed in the name of Jesus. Amen!

4. Pray for your schools to be a hub where the character of Jesus Christ is on display by faculty and students

Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them. And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you (Ephesians 4:29-32).

Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma. Let there be no sexual immorality, impurity, or greed among you. Such sins have no place among God’s people. Obscene stories, foolish talk, and coarse jokes—these are not for you (Ephesians 5:1-4).

Father God, thank you for providing your son Jesus Christ as the example of how we should live. Holy Spirit, invade our schools. Break down barriers that divide and isolate our students. Unite administration and faculty. Stand guard at the doors and blow through the halls. Be the friendship and acceptance that every student longs for. Be the firm yet loving authority every teacher needs. Our classrooms belong to you, God, in the name of Jesus! Amen.  

5. Pray for the appointment of Godly supreme court justices, government officials, and local leaders

Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land (2 Chronicles 7:14).

Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear and celebrate his rule with trembling (Psalm 2:10-11).

For lack of guidance a nation falls, but victory is won through many advisers (Proverbs 11:14).

I thank you, Lord, that I live in the land of the free because of the brave. What freedom and privilege I enjoy each day without fear of persecution. Raise up God-fearing men and women to serve in state and local government. Promote those who are in right standing with you. Appoint the righteous to represent your people. Holy Spirit, speak to the leaders of this country. Instruct our heads of state. May their will bend to the influence of the Holy Spirit. May they serve with pure hearts and right motives. In Jesus’ name, Amen. 

So whether you are loving on orphans in a devastated country, bringing soup to a sick neighbor, or kneeling in your prayer closet, you make a difference for the kingdom of God.