“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” – Romans 8:18

“Everything that is done in the world is done by hope.”- Martin Luther King Jr.

Father God,

Thank you for stirring within Your Church in Miami.  Forgive us our sins: of comfort, of neglect, of arrogance, of greed, of consumption, of disregard, of pride; and so much more.  Forgive us for indulging our desires instead of listening in obedience to your Spirit.  Thank you for shaking us and making us ever more dependent on you.  Oh Father, fill us with the hope of our salvation and the joy of your kingdom and nothing else!  Let the world see your children rejoice when our jobs disappear;  when our health deteriorates; and when our earthly securities and resources seem to vanish.  Let the world and Miami-Dade see our dependance on you and hear us rejoice in You.  You have already provided all that we need in Christ.  Forgive us for desiring and clinging to anything else before Him.  We pray for ourselves, for our families, for our churches, for our neighbors, and for our city that you would stir uncontainable and contagious Hope.  Stir within us a Hope that banishes fear, idolatry, indifference, contention, jealousy, greed, hatred, and anything else that is not your perfect Love.

And then, Lord, have your way in Miami.

We pray in the grace and the authority of the Name of Jesus Christ.

So be it!

Romans 15:5-6 - ⁵May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, ⁶so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Father,

Give your Church in Miami one heart and one mouth.  May we glorify God in our unity as we follow Christ.  May praises to the Father ring out this week from your Church: From Homestead to Miami Shores; From Kendall to Carol City; From Miami Lakes to Key Biscayne;  From South Beach to Sweetwater; and all places between.  Be glorified across this city, Lord.  This week and always.

In Christ,

Amen

Father,

Father, we pray for peace – Your Peace – to come over this world.  We pray for the end of physical war and we pray for the families and friends who have lost loved ones in those wars.  We lift up those who are serving or who have loved ones serving in battle.  This week as we remember those men and women who have sacrificed their lives in the name of freedom, we give you thanks for people who obediently place themselves at the forefront of the battle.  Give us pause from our daily routines and let us reflect on the example they have left for us.  Give us understanding to know that there are battles worth engaging in.  We know there are wars across the globe.  Lord, we pray that you would grant us an understanding to know we are also constantly engaged in the spiritual warfare of your kingdom.  Father, remind us – Your Church in Miami – that Lives are in the balance, Families are on the brink, and Eternity is at stake.  Father, give us a wartime sensibility in our daily lives.  Raise our awareness.  Make us vigilant.   Convict us of our excesses and use our resources for your kingdom.  Grant us your protection and courage.  Remind us that as your church we are on the frontlines against an enemy who seeks to oppress, bind, and kill the people whom you love.

In the freedom and grace of Christ Jesus.

Amen

Father,

We pray, as your Church in Miami, that you not let us forget how short time is.  Let us not be so absorbed by the trivial things that we fail to realize your calling on our every moment.  Father we ask that you would instill us each with a profound sense of urgency to bond with other believers across this city and to live our lives as living sacrifices in the love of Christ.  We desire for you to create in this city a beacon of your light and love for the world.  May it start with our humble acceptance of each other.  May it continue with the tireless extension of our hands in love to those who long to know your peace and hope.  We pray this in the powerful and merciful name of Christ Jesus.

Amen and Amen

Father,

We come before you in the name of Jesus Christ who took all our sin upon himself so that we might be reconciled to you.  Its through that amazing grace and incredible mercy that we humble ourselves before you.  In you, through Christ, we find freedom, peace, hope, provision, security, forgiveness, healing and love.  You have begun in us, your Church in Miami, a new creation and you continue to transform each us when we seek you first and foremost.  We pray that you continue to pour yourself out across the city of Miami and continue to transform the people and this city.  We pray a special prayer this week over Miami Beach.  Anoint the City of Miami Beach with your Spirit and your glory.  Raise up your Church throughout the city and the country in prayer for Miami Beach this weekend.  Father, we ask this in authority of Jesus Christ.  Thousands of people will come to Miami Beach to partake in the Exxotica pornography convention.  Many of them think they are coming for fun, but Father you know the bondage that holds them.  These are children, mothers, daughters, fathers, brothers, and sons who you created and who you love unconditionally.  Forgive any judgements we, your Church, may make against them.  Instead, Father, break our hearts.  Let us pray together, in Christ’s love, for you to touch lives in Miami Beach this weekend.  Frustrate the plans of the enemy at every turn in the organization of this event.  Bind up his agents and prevent them from their assignments this weekend.  We pray that you create sanctuary and divine appointments all across Miami Beach this weekend.  We pray that power of Jesus Christ would set people free.  Thousands of people will come to Miami Beach held captive in the power of lust we pray that many will go home set free by the power of love – your unfailing and transformational Love.

SoBe it

Lord,

We are thankful for the abundant blessings You have bestowed on America.  Our forefathers looked to You as Protector, Provider, and the Promise of hope.  But we have wandered far from that firm foundation.  May we repent for turning our backs on Your faithfulness.

We pray that this great nation will be restored by Your forgiveness.

From bondage, You grant freedom.

Through Your own sacrifice, You offer salvation.

From the state of despair, You offer peace.

From the bounties of Heaven, You have blessed – not because of our goodness – but by Your grace.

You have given us freedom to worship You in spirit and in truth as Your holy Word instructs.  May our lives honor You in word and deed.  May our nation acknowledge that all good things come from the Father above.

President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed that our nation should set apart a day for national prayer to confess our sins and transgressions in sorrow, “yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon… announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord.”

“We have vainly imagined in the deceitfulness of our own hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own… we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God who made us!  It behooves us then… to confess our national sins and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.”

Help us to pray earnestly for our president and leaders who govern, that they will humble themselves and seek Your guidance so that everything we do will shine the light of Your glory in a darkened world.

May our prayers as a people and a nation be heard and blessed for such a time as this.  We make this plea in faith, believing in the mighty name of Jesus our Lord.

Amen

*by Franklin Graham for National Day of Prayer

Father,

We pray together as Your Church in Miami – the Bride of Christ – whom you have placed here in this city right at this moment.  We come before you humble in our sinfulness and insufficiency.  We also come before you joyfully grateful for your grace and mercy and the redeeming sacrifice of Christ by which we are washed clean.  It is in the authority of his Name that we pray with expectancy for the city of Miami.  We pray with expectancy that you will hear us.  We pray with the knowledge that you love the people of Miami mightily and that you desire for them to experience that love; and that you desire for them to know the healing and the abundant life that accompanies it.  We pray with expectancy that you will reconcile this city back to you.  We pray with expectancy that you will heal broken lives throughout Miami.  Touch this city and fill it with the amazing fragrance of your presence.  We ask this with expectancy not because we can affect change, but because we know that you can.

We know that you will.

In the authority and grace of Christ Jesus,

So Be It

Lord God,

May we, your church,  fall before you.  Remove the blindness from our eyes so that we may see.  Allow us to see your Kingdom at work around us throughout this city.  Allow us to see the Enemy at work in the city around us so that we would be vigilant in pursuing your ways, Lord.  Let us not sit in comfort pursuing our own interests while the Enemy destroys the families and lives of people whom you love.  Let us not be content in these last days to be so absorbed with ourselves that we can’t see the world around us which Jesus Christ came to save.  Forgive us our sins, Lord.  Cover us with your grace, mercy, and forgiveness so that we could be used in your Kingdom work here in Miami.  Align our sight to where you are at work in this city.  I pray that as Your Church in Miami we do not hesitate to be agents for you.

So Be It

Great are you, Lord and worthy of praise!

Across Miami people are being reconciled into relationship with you.  Build your Church in Miami, Father.  Fill this city with new life as your Spirit rains down in the lives of those of us who once were dead but now are alive in Christ.  Let us go out this week (and every week) with the echoes of angels’ songs of praise ringing in our hearts.  Use your Church, Father, to restore this city, her people, to you.  Let us be willing and expecting to be used by you as your light in Miami so that those who are lost may soon be found.  Humble us in awareness of your grace.  Embolden us with the power of your love.  Let your Church in Miami spring forth in new life and cover this city with power of your love.  We ask this in the authority of the name of Christ Jesus.

So be it!

Father God,

Make us sad.  Don’t allow us, your Church, to become so busy “getting ready” for Easter that we miss the pain around us.  Give us a glimpse of Your sadness as you watch your children in Miami die in sin while your church makes plans for spring break or beautiful Easter events.  Let us each have just a small taste of the hopelessness and sorrow that Christ took upon himself on the cross.  But, Father, protect us from despair with the reminder of your absolute love and faithfulness.  Take us to a place of sadness but let us emerge with authentic joy in the knowledge of the resurrection of Christ.  May we go out into the world this week empathetic and acutely aware of the need for your healing and peace all around us.  May we go out into Miami this week with sad hearts but with eyes reflecting the joy of Christ and mouths proclaiming His peace.

So Be it.