Forty Days of Prayer Begins October 3, 2016
We will have available at the October 2nd services a document that provides the topic for each of the 40 days, with an appropriate scripture for each. People can pray individually, or, if they want to gather with others, they would be welcomed to do that.
Matthew 21:21
Jesus answered them, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only will you do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ it will be done.”
Romans 15:13
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
All scripture is from the New Revised Standard Version.
40 Days of Prayer
1. First fruits to God.
Proverbs 3:9 Honor the Lord with your substance and with the first fruits of all your produce;
2. Admiration and praise for God.
Psalm 150 Praise the Lord! Praise God in his sanctuary, praise him in his mighty firmament.
3. Asking God to forgive our sins.
Matthew 6:14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
4. Asking God to forgive the sins of those who have hurt you.
Luke 6:37 Do not judge and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.
5. Finding peace.
Proverbs 16:7 When the ways of people please the Lord, he causes even their enemies to be at peace with them.
6. Giving thanks to God.
1 Thessalonians 5:18 Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
7. Acknowledging that we are loved by God.
1 John 4:10 In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.
8. Your purpose in this church.
Mark 10:45 For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.
9. Families of this church.
1 Timothy 5:8 And whoever does not provide for relatives, and especially for family members, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
10. Pastor.
Psalm 78:72 With upright heart he tended them, and guided them with a skillful hand.
11. Religious leaders of Sunbury and the Susquehanna Valley.
Philippians 2:3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves.
12. Those who volunteer and support the church.
Galatians 6:9 So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we reap at harvest time, if we do not give up.
13. Employees of the church.
2 Timothy 2:15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved by him, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly explaining the word of truth.
14. Consistory
1 Thessalonians 2:8 So deeply do we care for you that we are determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you have become very dear to us.
15. Elders and Deacons.
Acts 14:23 And after they had appointed elders for them in each church, with prayer and fasting they entrusted them to the Lord in whom they had come to believe.
16. Those who work with our youth.
Psalm 25:5 Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long.
17. Music of the church.
1 Chronicles 16:9 Sing to him, sing praises to him, tell of all his wonderful works.
18. Outreach programs of our church.
1 Peter 4:10 Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received.
19. Homebound or those hospitalized.
1 Peter 5:7 Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you.
20. All people new to Christ and this church.
Romans 12:10 Love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor.
21. The children of the church.
Matthew 19:14 but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.”
22. Those who persecute Christians.
Matthew 5:44 But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.
23. Government leaders.
Matthew 20:26-27 You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them and their great ones are tyrants over them. It will not be so among you; but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant….”
24. Schools- local, public, private, and Christian.
Isaiah 54:13 All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the prosperity of your children.
25. Local nursing homes, family caregivers, and those who are ill or very aged.
1 Timothy 5:8 And whoever does not provide for relatives, and especially for family members, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
26. Staying strong in faith.
1 Corinthians 16:13 Keep alert, stand firm in your faith, be courageous, be strong.
27. Conduct and behavior of the church body.
1 Thessalonians 5:14 And we urge you, beloved to admonish the idlers, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with all of them.
28. Local churches, that we may work as one body in Christ.
Romans 12:5 So we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another.
29. The mission work of this church, and for missionaries, and their families.
Isaiah 6:8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I; send me!”
30. Deep appreciation for diversity of humankind and prayer for inclusivity.
1 Corinthians 12:15 If the foot would say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body.
31. All houses of worship, including those that are not Christian.
1 Timothy 2:1 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving be made for everyone.
32. Those in bondage to gangs or enslaved in other ways.
Galatians 5:1 For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
33. Those in prison.
Hebrews 13:3 Remember those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them; those who are being tortured, as though you yourselves were being tortured.
34. Those struggling with addiction of any kind.
Psalm 57:1 Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, until the destroying storms pass by.
35. Young children orphaned by war, violence, or natural disasters.
James 1:27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
36. Those who are homeless, hungry, or jobless.
Mathew 25:40 And the king will answer them; “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.”
37. Those who are grieving.
Psalm 116:8 For you have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling.
38. Hope in the Lord to increase.
Isaiah 40:31 but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.
39. Joy in the Lord to increase.
Psalm 28:7 The Lord is my strength and my shield, in him my heart trusts; so I am helped, and my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.
40. For God’s love and wisdom to spread all over the world.
Job 28:28 And he said to humankind, “Truly, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.”