How do you pray for your church?

Lord, I pray for my church that we pursue lost people as Jesus did (Luke 19:10), that we evangelize our circles of influence (Acts 1:8), that we worship God in Spirit and truth (John 4:22–24), that we love God with all our hearts, minds, souls, and strength (Deut. 6:5; Luke 10:27), that we all become more like Jesus (1 Peter 2:21), that we all become radical followers of Jesus (Luke 9:23–26, 57–62), that we grow strong in faith, believing God for great things (Rom. 4:20–21; John 14:2), that we become disciples of others, teaching all the things that Jesus taught (Matt. 28:19–20), that we learn to pray fervently and effectively (Heb. 4:16; 1 Thess. 5:17; 1 Tim. 2:1–2), that we preach the Word (2 Tim. 4:2), that we encourage one another daily (Heb. 10:25), that we surrender our bodies as living sacrifices (Rom. 12:1–2), that we quit being children and grow up in our faith (Heb. 5:12–14), that we no longer live for ourselves but for Jesus (2 Cor. 5:15), that we quit loving the world (1 John 2:15–17), that we become a glorious Church without spot or wrinkle (Eph. 5:27), that we be holy (Matt. 5:48; 1 Thess. 4:3, 7; 1 Peter 1:16), that we be sexually pure (1 Cor. 6:19–20), that we share, break bread, and fellowship together (Acts 2:42–46), that we challenge, train, equip, send, and support missionaries (Acts 13:2–4, 16:5–10), that we be filled with the Holy Spirit (Eph. 5:18), that we raise our children in the training and instruction of the Lord (Eph. 6:4), that we not forsake meeting together (Heb. 10:25), that we aggressively minister to “little ones” (Matt. 19:14), that we identify and exercise our gifts (1 Cor. 12; Rom. 12; Eph. 4), that we sing to the Lord (Col. 3:16), that we remember to give thanks in everything, good or bad (1 Thess. 5:18), that we give cheerfully and liberally (2 Cor. 9:6–10), that we trust God to heal our bodies (James 5:14–16), that we confess to one another our faults, failures, and weaknesses (James 5:16), that we are prepared to give a reasoned answer about our faith (1 Peter 3:15), that we resist the devil so that he flees (1 Peter 5:8–10; Eph. 6:10–18), that we forgive one another and make restitution (Matt. 6:14–15; Eph. 4:29–32), that we partake of the Lord’s table in a worthy manner (1 Cor. 11:26–30), that we follow the Lord in baptism (Matt. 3:14–17), that we love one another so intensely that the world sees and believes (John 13:35).

–Adapted from a list developed by Rev. Richard LaFountain. For more prayer guides developed by Richard, go to prayertoday.org.