Daniel Prayer Group: May
There will also be other times we will be teaching on prayer and having special prayer focuses. For example there will be one coming up later this month on the 17th… Check it out then!
At the bottom of each post there is a comment section. This is where you can send in a prayer request or answer to prayer or something that God spoke to you about. Just send your first name and age when posting. If you want to connect with me send me an e-mail to kkarise AT shaw DOT ca
O.K. Let’s start.
YOU SHALL BE MY WITNESSES IN JERUSLAEM AND IN ALL JUDEA AND SAMARIA , AND EVEN TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH (ACTS 1:8)
Taking this verse over the NEXT SIX MONTHS, we will pray in concentric circles. We will start by praying for ourselves and our families, then our church, then our city, then our province, then nation, and then the rest of the world. In other words we will take this verse and have it apply to our own “ Jerusalem ”. For me it would be from My family, to my church, to my city, Winnipeg , to Manitoba , to Canada and then to the world. What would it be for you?
O.K. let’s start. First of all there are different kinds of prayer. Let’s look at some that we can use to pray for ourselves and our family.
Supplication:
This is praying for our own needs. Right now grab a piece of paper. On it write some of the things that are on your heart that you would like to share with God. They could be concerns that you have, or things you are happy or unhappy about, or needs, whatever you like. It is between you and God. When you’re done, take some time to pray about these things.
Short, or “Arrow Prayers”:
During the day there are times that you may have a problem, or are in a difficult situation, and then you may say “God I’m stuck, please help me here.” Or you may have had a delicious tomato sandwich and are thankful and say “Oh God that was SOOOO good. Thank You for making tomatoes!” In other words, these are prayers that you say throughout the day, just like you would talk to your best friend. Through out this month consciously make a point of sending short arrow prayers, and see how you draw closer to the King. He LOVES to hear from His sons and Daughters.
Intercession:
What is intercession? The easiest way to explain it is that intercession is praying for others. Picture yourself standing beside someone and God standing on your other side. In intercession you take the concerns that person has and offer them up the God, like a go-between. It is not that they are not able to pray to God directly themselves, but in this case, you are praying on their behalf. Sometimes God may bring someone to your mind, if He does just say a short arrow prayer for that person. You don’t know what situation they may be in at that time where they need someone to “Stand in the gap’ for them. There are many stories of situations changed dramatically in a response to these prayers.
THIS MONTH’S PRAYER FOCUS
Families: If possible gather as a family to pray: 
Scripture verse: “And I will restore the hearts of the Father’s to the children and the hearts of the children to the Fathers. ( Malachi 4:6)
If you are in a school or church group you could still do this and designate someone to be the “dad” the “mom” the “brother’ etc. The following are just suggestions. Each family group is different so adapt the scenarios to fit your particular family.
A) Materials:
Before hand;
-gather objects that reflect a “dad”, eg some tools, a briefcase, a baseball cap etc.
-Gather objects that reflect a “mom”, eg an apron, a briefcase, etc.
-Gather objects that reflect a brother, or sister, both older and younger.
Holding the objects that reflect your “dad”, together think of some things he may need prayer for. The person that suggests the need comes and lays their hand on “dad.” Eg. Pressure to provide for family, time to spend with the family, problems that he may have, thanks for things that he enjoys and so on. If you are in a family setting, ask dad to share some prayer requests.
When ideas stop go to ‘Mom’. Have her wear an apron, or gardening gloves or hold a briefcase …depicting both home and outside work. Again together think of some of the areas she many need prayer for. Eg: Patience, time to rest, wisdom to care for her children, joy at work, how to juggle her work at home and work and so on. Then ask her for things that she would like prayer for.
Continue in the same vein with younger siblings. Again have objects that reflect younger children, and pray for the younger children’s needs. In a group setting have someone stand in for “Younger brothers or sisters” and ask for their needs and pray.
Then teens: have someone stand in for them or pray for the teen in your family. Mention how difficult it is to be a teen, the pressures and that they are between being young and older and are trying o find their place…
B) Pray for things that distract our communication in the family…Brainstorm. T.V., money, computers what ever is brought up. Ask how each of these is a distraction. Then talk about how we can encourage more interaction and how each of these things can be better used.
Pray : Ask God to help you better listen to one another and love one another. Look up 1John 4: 11
ACTIVITY 1: On a piece of paper write down all the names of your family members on he left of the page, one above each other. Leave a space between each one. This month ask Jesus to open your eyes to ways you can show love to them. Write down what you said, or did in response to God’s promptings.
ACTIVITY 2: Take a LARGE piece of butcher paper. In the center either draw or glue a picture of your self and your family. Around it write in small letters or type out and then cut and glue, prayer requests. It could be the ones you shared today. In another color, type out answers to the prayer requests, then cut and glue them around the requests. Each month you will be putting pictures of the areas of the world we are praying for that month. At the end of 6 months you will have a huge poster of what you have been praying for.
