Hello, hello! I’m thrilled to have you take part in the prayer challenge! I hope God is fueling your heart, fanning hot the flame that will create fervent prayers on behalf of those you love.
There’s some important prep work you and I need to do before the challenge, though, and that is making sure our hearts are right with God. This happens in three key ways:
1.)Confess and forsake known sins. Psalm 66:18 tells us, “If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.” If you’ve been harboring sin in your life, why not spend some time accepting God’s invitation to restore relationship with Him through repentance?
2.)Ask God to reveal hidden sins. We learn from the Bible (in Psalm 19:12, for example) that we often don’t recognize our sin as being sinful. Many times we’re quick to attribute our sin to a personality quirk or a weakness, instead of realizing it is sin we need to confess and forsake. The Lord doesn’t want these sins to remain hidden, though. Spend a few quiet minutes before Him with a sincere heart, asking Him to show you areas of hidden sin. I can promise that He will do so!
3.)Re-surrender your life to God. This is as simple as doing whatever He tells you to do following confession and repentance. Perhaps it’s to get rid of a source of temptation. Maybe it’s to ask forgiveness from a person you have wronged, either intentionally or unintentionally. It could also be taking action to remedy a sin of omission (something you should be doing, but aren’t), like giving financially to your local church or willingly serving those in need. Whatever He tells you to do, do it.
After making sure our own hearts are ready to storm the gates of heaven in the next few weeks, here are a few reminders about how we should pray.
How to Pray
Pray with faith. If we don’t believe that God is mighty enough to answer our prayers and kind enough to want to answer them, we shouldn’t waste our time praying. Why would we even want to pray to such a god? Let’s commit to following Abraham’s example, of whom Paul said that no unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, and that he remained fully convinced that God was able to do what He promised. (Romans 4) Lord, we believe! Help our unbelief.
Pray with awareness. As you pray over the next few weeks, keep in mind that each of the Scriptures I share is part of a greater context. Some of God’s promises are conditional, and in those situations we do well to pray that the conditions would be met so God’s promise can be fulfilled. Many of His promises are intended for His children, those who have been saved by the blood of Christ. If your prayers for this challenge are on behalf of an unsaved friend, keep in mind that your primary prayers for them should be that they would come to God through faith in Christ for salvation. Use the verses I provide as a springboard, and modify your prayers as the Holy Spirit leads.
Pray with maturity. It’s important to remember that God sees a much bigger picture than we do. Romans 8:28 is a well-beloved verse telling us that all things work together for the good of those who love God. But God’s idea of “good” is much different from ours. In fact, He defines “good” for us in the very next verse: that we would be conformed to the image of His Son, Jesus Christ. So for example, while my idea of “good” might be for Him to heal my friend, I must realize that His plans are infinitely better than mine, and if He chooses to use my friend’s illness to bring them to salvation, or to reveal more of Himself to them, or to refine them in some other way that will make them more like Jesus, that is the ultimate good that can come from my prayers. Yes, we pray for healing; we pray for provision; we pray for protection. But we do so without dictating to God how He should answer.
Pray with confidence. Hebrews 4:16 tells us to come boldly to the throne of grace, so let’s join hands and come to Him with assurance, not in our own merit but in the merit of the One who died so that we might have unhindered fellowship with our Father through prayer.
I hope those tips are helpful to you, friend, as you prepare for this critically important season of prayer in your life.
A Gift for You
I’m excited to share something else with you: I’ve created an awesome bundle of printable prayer resources JUST for this challenge! The kit includes more than FIFTY pages of goodies, but the must-have item is your very own Praying for My Friends journal. The journal is the perfect complement to the email challenge, sharing tips for prayer and plenty of room to write the Scripture, pray over it, and journal about how you see God answering your prayers.
The bundle also includes 5 exclusive pages of wall art and a bookmark about prayer, all designed specifically to help you saturate your mind and heart with Scripture on the subject of prayer. Oh, and it comes with four note cards, as well–the perfect way to let your friends know that you’re praying for them.
So this deluxe set of printable resources regularly sells for $24, but I’m thrilled to offer it to you at just $10. That’s almost 60% off the regular price! This special deal is only available to those who are brave enough to take the challenge, as a small way I can cheer you on and say, “Well done!”
***Click here to grab your bundle, and don’t forget to use coupon code 10FRIENDS to access this top secret price of just ten bucks. ***
That’s all for now! Click here to navigate to the main page and find Day 1 of the challenge.
