Week of Prayer

Last year, in January, our church did Ten Days of Prayer. We spent that time each evening working together in prayer for our community, our church, our families...we really wanted to experience the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

We continued the year with several prayer themes. We did a prayer retreat, a weekly Bible study, had prayer points in the bulletin each Sunday, and an article on prayer in each monthly newsletter.

I really feel like my prayer life has improved a lot in that time. I'm excited that our church is doing it again this year.


This year, we are doing just one week--seven days of intensely seeking God. Our Pastor has called us to pray three times a day. Spend time in the morning & midday in prayer, and then come together as a group to pray in the evening. Last night, someone said they had the distinct impression that God was waiting to give each of us a wrapped gift this week. It's our job, if we want to know what that gift is, to unwrap it through prayer. That's exciting!

I talked it over with my husband on our drive home. We both had different responses to that mental picture. He is excited to get something--something special and meant just for him. I, however, thought about the detail--we all know that God gives good gifts. But the fact that it was a wrapped gift...that meant something to me. When we, as the giver, give a wrapped present it usually means two things:

1. We care about the person we are giving the gift to, and...
2. We are excited to give the gift!

Maybe this hit me differently because I'm the primary gift giver in our family--and I'm the sole gift wrapper. At Christmas, my husband "helped" me wrap the presents while watched movies together. His role? Handing me the next roll, the tape, the ribbon...etc. Hahaha!

But, I see it as confirmation that God cares about us enough to take the time to pick out a specific gift for each of us, and to wrap it up nicely. He wants to see the joy on our faces as we peel off the wrapping paper and discover what's inside!

Some resources I recommend:

Live a Praying Life by Jennifer Kennedy Dean (Or really any of her articles or ideas. She has a great website here.)

The Assemblies of God put out an app--yes an app--on prayer just recently. It's called the 7:14 app, based on 2 Chronicles 7:14, which says, "if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land."

Within the app, you can read a devotional or a daily Scripture verse, keep a list of things to pray for, and even keep track of how often you've prayed (especially handy if praying daily is a new habit for you). You also get a sense of camaraderie because you can see when others around the nation are praying!

YouVersion also has a great app with some Bible reading plans. You can do a search within the app on Prayer and a lot will come up. Some to consider:

• Authentic Prayer from James MacDonald-7 days
• Prayers of Jesus-10 days
• Teach Me to Pray-32 days