Heavenly Father I give You honor and praise. I praise You for the life You have created and the fact that You made all of us unique and gave each of us different abilities and spiritual gifts. I praise You for the beautiful world You created with just the right pitch to give us seasons, just the right mixes of gases so that we can breathe, just the right amount of water both fresh and salt so that we can survive. I praise You for giving us the ability to think, choose and build. I praise You for wanting a relationship with us.
Holy Spirit I come before You today humbled by the responsibility of praying over so many churches, ministry teams and pastors. Having grown up in a pastors home I realize the huge responsibility these men and women bear. I also understand the weight of being a leader and responsible for not only feeding Your sheep but leading them to become kingdom builders, helping them to grow their spiritual muscles and abilities so that they can live life in front of their neighbors which allows Your Holy Spirit to witness through them. I pray today that You would bless each pastor, assistant pastor, worship leader, office administrator, part time and retired pastors. I pray You will encourage their heart and let them know they are not alone in this journey. Let them know we pray a covering over them so that they can withstand the temptations that they are weak in. Help them to know that many of us silently give them our support and our daily prayers so that they can be renewed daily in their own walk of life. Holy Spirit bless those who lead over children ministries for they have the extra weight of shaping young minds and spirits to not only instruct but to love on and demonstrate how to trust in You when the world does not and scoffs.
Holy Spirit remind us of what Paul was preaching when he sent his letter to the Ephesians 6:10—Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Ephesians 6:18—Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. Ephesians 6:12—For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Help us as we join in unity to keep each other accountable to fight the good fight and to love people, hate sin, live life completely as Yours to do with what You need to do to build Your kingdom. We live as heirs to Your kingdom, but we live as Christ, humbled and serving our fellow man. In Jesus’ name, amen.