Prayer for strength

Abba...this is a really hard time of year for so many.

Some are experiencing the first round of holidays and feasts without a loved one...
whether through death or a need for reconciliation.

Some are going through serious illness.

Some are experiencing great financial hardship.

Some are locked into bondages and/or addictions.

Abba, please touch each one, especially those who are reading this prayer and their loved ones.

I lift them all up to You, Abba.

You can bring healing...

Dear God,
I pray for those who struggle with alcohol or other drugs. Please let them know how much you love and care for them.

Please don’t let them bury themselves in guilt and shame. You are a God who forgives. You are the God of the second chance and even of the third and fourth chance.

Help those in recovery find a job. Give them an employer who understands addiction and will make it possible for them to work and still be able to attend recovery meetings.

Give them real friends who will love and respect them and hold them to the standard of staying clean and sober.

Bless them with a sponsor who will both encourage and challenge them to do their step work.

Abba...I sense many heavy hearts today. Hearts that are burdened and weighed down by what they are seeing and experiencing.

For some, it seems as if the world is closing in on them and coming against them at every turn. Nothing they are trying to do turns out well and some are even wondering in their hearts where You are in all of this. They are battling discouragement as they walk in the way they believe You have sent them. They are trying to minister to others with seemingly no to little success. They are being faithful, yet wondering if You might actually have abandoned them. They so need Your reassurance and a sense of Your Presence.

Below are Psalms you may want to read or pray for protection:
Also see: Prayer for Protection

Psalm 16
Preserve me, O God:
for in thee do I put my trust.
O my soul, thou hast said unto the LORD,
Thou art my Lord: my goodness extendeth not to thee;

But to the saints that are in the earth,
and to the excellent, in whom is all my delight.
Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another god:
their drink offerings of blood will I not offer,
nor take up their names into my lips.

The LORD is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup:
thou maintainest my lot.
The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places;
yea, I have a goodly heritage.

Abba, You are so amazing. Your love for us in nothing short of incredible. Thank You for touching us and for filling us with Your Spirit. Thank You for considering us worth saving. You could have allowed rebellious mankind to stay separated from You for eternity, but instead, You made a way for us to run into Your throne room. You made a way for us to be cleansed. I praise You and thank You for that.

Abba, You have children who are facing losses...losses of loved ones, losses of homes, losses of jobs. Please comfort them, Abba, and help them to remember that You care for all of Your creation...from the tiniest of creatures we are unable to even see to the crown of Your creation...mankind. Please bring reconciliation where it is needed. Bring forgiveness. Bring Your healing Shalom.

God [Almighty, all loving, all knowing Redeemer]
grant [give, provide, impart to] me the serenity [peace of mind, tranquility]
to accept [willingly receive] the things I cannot [am unable to] change [alter, modify],

Abba...I know that our adversary loves to use fear to try and get to Your children. He will use all kinds of fear in an attempt to cripple us and interfere with our kingdom work. I thank You that none of these things change Your love for us...for Your love is not based upon our performance...or upon whether or not we are still afraid in any areas.

The adversary wants us to be afraid of many things:
that You will reject us (although You said You would never leave us or forsake us)
that we are somehow not good enough (which we actually aren't...but that does not matter)
that You will not meet our needs (although we have food, shelter and clothing and tend to mix our needs up with our wants)

Do you lack confidence when you pray? Learn how to powerfully pray with assurance and trust.

All of us have become like something unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; all of us wither like a leaf, and our iniquities carry us away like the wind! Isaiah 64:6

Holy Father, Almighty God,
We feel our weakness, our ignorance, our deep corruptions. We meekly knock at mercy's gate. Regard us in tender love--for Jesus' sake. Bend down Your ear--and grant Your smile.

We are blind--be our light.

We are ignorant--be our wisdom.

Intercession might be defined as love on its knees in prayer for others. It is pleading to Father God on behalf of the needs of someone else. Another way of looking at intercession is that you are standing in the gap for someone else. That is, you are identifying with the sins of those you are in prayer for, asking God's forgiveness and mercy on their behalf.

Intercession can be one of the most exciting, creative and rewarding experiences in your Christian life. In your prayer closet, you can pray
around the world. Although intercessors are not often publicly rewarded or recognized for their service, they are a vital part of any growing church or ministry. Their faithful dedication to intercession creates a foundation that allows the Lord to work in mighty ways.