SPEAKER_00: Welcome to day 15 of our 21-day prayer journey as a church.
SPEAKER_00: Hearts Prepared is an opportunity for us to join together as we ask the Lord to prepare our hearts for what He has for us.
SPEAKER_00: Today, our focus is on asking the Lord to give us all hearts to serve our family and lead our family to know the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Joshua 24, 15 says, As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Let's join together in praying over, for, and with our families.
SPEAKER_00: Dear Heavenly Father, today I thank you for the gift of family.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for the people you have placed in my life, for my spouse, my children, my parents, my siblings, and every relationship that you have entrusted to me.
SPEAKER_00: Whether my family is large or small, close by or far away, I recognize that family is a gift from you.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, today I place my family into your loving hands, just as Joshua boldly declared, as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: That is the desire of my heart.
SPEAKER_00: Father, I pray that that will begin with me.
SPEAKER_00: Help me to become the faithful follower of Jesus that you have called me to be.
SPEAKER_00: Before you transform my family, would you transform my heart?
SPEAKER_00: Help me to love as Christ loves.
SPEAKER_00: Help me to forgive quickly.
SPEAKER_00: Help me to speak with grace.
SPEAKER_00: Help me to lead with humility, and help me to serve with joy.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, make my home a place where Jesus is honored.
SPEAKER_00: May your word be what guides our decisions.
SPEAKER_00: May prayer be a first response.
SPEAKER_00: May worship be heard in our home.
SPEAKER_00: May forgiveness be practiced among us.
SPEAKER_00: May peace rule in our hearts and home.
SPEAKER_00: May your presence fill every room of our home.
SPEAKER_00: Father, strengthen marriages.
SPEAKER_00: Protect husbands and wives from division, from bitterness, temptations, selfishness, and discouragement.
SPEAKER_00: Teach couples to love sacrificially, to communicate honestly, to forgive generously, and to remain faithful to one another.
SPEAKER_00: May every Christian marriage reflect the love between Jesus Christ and his church.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, I pray for parents today.
SPEAKER_00: Give them wisdom as they lead their children.
SPEAKER_00: May your holy word be our guide.
SPEAKER_00: Help parents to model authentic faith.
SPEAKER_00: Give them patience when parenting is difficult.
SPEAKER_00: Help them discipline with love and truth.
SPEAKER_00: May they never grow weary of planting seeds that will one day bear eternal fruit.
SPEAKER_00: Father, I lift up our children and grandchildren before you.
SPEAKER_00: Draw them to yourself at an early age.
SPEAKER_00: Protect their hearts from the lies of the enemy.
SPEAKER_00: Guard their minds in a world filled with confusion.
SPEAKER_00: Surround them with godly friendships and wise influences.
SPEAKER_00: Give them a love for your word.
SPEAKER_00: May they know Jesus personally, not simply because of their parents' faith, but because they have placed their own trust in Him.
SPEAKER_00: As your word says in Deuteronomy 6, help us to diligently teach your truth to the next generation.
SPEAKER_00: May conversations about you happen naturally in our homes.
SPEAKER_00: Help us to see teachable moments where we can point them to your ways, Lord.
SPEAKER_00: When we rise, when we walk through the day, when we eat together, when we lie down at night, may Christ always be at the center of our family life.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, I pray for those whose families are hurting today.
SPEAKER_00: Bring healing, reconciliation, and forgiveness where needed.
SPEAKER_00: Bring hope into seemingly hopeless situations.
SPEAKER_00: Bring comfort where there is pain.
SPEAKER_00: Bring restoration to broken hearts.
SPEAKER_00: Father, for those praying for a spouse, a child, a parent, or another loved one who has wandered from you, I ask that you would continue drawing them to yourself.
SPEAKER_00: Father, would you convict them of their sin?
SPEAKER_00: Open their eyes to the truth of the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: Surround them with believers who will lovingly point them to Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: May they experience the kindness of God that leads them to repentance.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, help me to never stop praying for my family.
SPEAKER_00: Help me to see where you are working even through the struggles.
SPEAKER_00: Strengthen my faith to trust your timing.
SPEAKER_00: Help me faithfully plant seeds while trusting you for the harvest.
SPEAKER_00: Father, protect our homes from spiritual attack.
SPEAKER_00: Guard us from anything that will pull our hearts away from you.
SPEAKER_00: God, would you protect our marriages, protect our children, protect our conversations, protect our priorities?
SPEAKER_00: May our homes become places where Christ is welcomed and the Holy Spirit is free to work.
SPEAKER_00: Help us choose what honors you.
SPEAKER_00: In the entertainment we consume, the words that we speak, the attitudes we display, and the priorities we pursue.
SPEAKER_00: May we build our homes upon the solid foundation of your word.
SPEAKER_00: We recognize today that relationships are important.
SPEAKER_00: Help me love my family well.
SPEAKER_00: Help me be present with my family.
SPEAKER_00: Help me encourage them toward Christ every day.
SPEAKER_00: Father, I also thank you for my church family.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you that through Jesus you've adopted us into one spiritual family.
SPEAKER_00: Help us love one another sincerely, carry one another's burdens, pray for one another faithfully, encourage one another daily.
SPEAKER_00: May Forward Church become a family where every person is known, every person is loved, every person is cared for, and every person is challenged to grow in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Finally, Lord, I surrender my family completely to you.
SPEAKER_00: They belong to you, God, so I give them to your care.
SPEAKER_00: I trust your plans, your promises, your goodness.
SPEAKER_00: May every member of my family come to know, love, and faithfully follow Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: May future generations declare the greatness of God because of what you begin in our family today.
SPEAKER_00: And may it be said of our home, our home, as for me and my house we will serve the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: I pray this in the powerful name of Jesus, through whom by faith I am adopted into your family.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Well, I hope you'll take some time today to pray by name and over each and every member of your family.