Each month, our Prayer Ministry Team offers a specific prayer focus, working under the belief that communal prayer is a powerful and world-changing exercise.

January Prayer Focus
January marks the beginning of a new year! Let’s take the opportunity to grow our faith in 2025 by developing and participating in spiritual disciplines. Disciplines? Sounds stiff and boring – but they are NOT! The term spiritual disciplines is a generic way of talking about the activities we do in order to open our hearts and minds to more of God’s grace – these disciplines help us spend time with the Holy Spirit and grow a deeper friendship with Jesus. Now THAT is a great way to begin the new year – as a closer friend of Jesus!

Ask God to motivate you to Grow your faith:

• Mark 11:22-23 – Then Jesus said to the disciples, “Have faith in God. I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart.
• 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 – Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.
• Romans 15:13 – I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Spiritual Disciplines to Grow Your Faith:

Read, Meditate on, Study the Bible
“Your word” refers to the Bible – we are instructed to know the Bible so well, that God’s word will be “hidden in” our hearts, in other words,  the wisdom, instructions, and love found in the Bible should become a regular part of our thoughts because we are so familiar with them.

• Psalm 119:105 – "Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path."
• Hebrews 4:12 – "For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires."
• Psalm 119: 1-3, 11 – "Joyful are people of integrity, who follow the instructions of the Lord. Joyful are those who obey his laws and search for him with all their hearts. They do not compromise with evil, and they walk only in his paths... I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.” 
• Joshua 1:8-9 – "Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
• Revelation 1:1-3 – "This is a revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants the events that must soon take place. He sent an angel to present this revelation to his servant John, who faithfully reported everything he saw. This is his report of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. God blesses the one who reads the words of this prophecy to the church, and he blesses all who listen to its message and obey what it says, for the time is near."
• 2 Timothy 2:15 – "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth."
  

Pray By Speaking to God

• Jeremiah 29:11-13 – "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."
• Matthew 6:6-8 – "But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you. “When you pray, don’t babble on and on as the Gentiles do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him!""
• Luke 18:1 – "One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up."
• Philippians 4:6-7 – "Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus."
• Matthew 26:41 – "Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!”
• Mark 11:24-25 – "I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours. But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too.”

Pray By Listening For God’s Voice/Message

• Psalm 46:10 – “Be still, and know that I am God!”
• Isaiah 55:3 – “Come to me with your ears wide open.  Listen, and you will find life.  I will make an everlasting covenant with you.  I will give you all the unfailing love I promised to David.”
  

Listen for Guidance

• Romans 8:9-15 – "But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.) And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God. The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you. Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live."

Listen for Your Identity In Christ

• Romans 8:14-17 – "For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering."

Ask God’s Spirit to Pray FOR You When Words Won’t Come

• Romans 8:26-28 – "And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will. And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them."

Meditate and Pray the Scripture, Listening for God’s Message Especially For You
 
We pray with Scripture, meditating on it, opening yourself to the message of love God has for you that day.  We are not reading for information or learning.  We are reading to enter into the presence of God to listen for a specific love-message God wants to show us through a particular passage of Scripture that moment.  Following is one way to pray the Scripture:

Choose a passage of Scripture.  Then take a few moments of quiet to still your mind and focus on God. Breathe in deeply, and breathe out slowly, focusing your mind on God’s presence with you. Read the passage aloud twice, in a slow deliberate fashion.  Allow the Holy Spirit to teach you in your heart by listening for any word, phrase or image that draws your attention.  Return to a period of silence and listen.

Then, read the passage aloud again.  As you hear the passage again, notice if the Holy Spirit shows you a new word or image or if the same one that bubbled up before has its meaning deepened.  Talk to Jesus about what you are hearing, thinking, and feeling.  Be honest with God; express your emotions or accept that nothing is coming through. Be sure to WAIT and LISTEN for God’s response. Ask Jesus to show you how this word or passage relates to your everyday life; is God nudging you toward a specific action? Follow the Spirit’s invitation to move deeper, allowing God to teach you in your heart.

Read the passage aloud a third time. Rest, enjoy time basking in the presence of God.  Sink into peace and savor the message you have been given. Let go of thoughts and words, just relax and rest with God. (I like to visualize sitting in the lap of Jesus)

Close in prayer. Pray as God leads.