26Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. ~ Romans 8:26 (ESV)
Sometimes my friends, I have trouble forming the words in my heart to speak with my lips in my prayers to God. Sometimes they come very easily, but sometimes they don’t. The beauty of being a Christian, though, is that the Holy Spirit lives within me, and when I lack the words I need to speak, the Holy Spirit is able to translates the feelings I have for the prayers I need to pray, and He does this for me. That is the message for today’s Prayers for the Week post. As you will see, in many of our prayers you may see that the words are hard to frame, but rest assured, the Holy Spirit knows what our heart is saying to us, and the Holy Spirit is interceding on our behalf. Please remember that the Holy Spirit is our link to God, to Jesus, and that it is one part of the Holy Trinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Ask the Holy Spirit for direction, for the path to take, and you will not be let down. Now, please pray with us our prayer requests and give God praise for the praises you see as well!
Prayer Requests and Praises…
- Please pray for friends of my friend Torri. Here is what Torri wrote on Facebook:Asking all of my friends to remember in prayer Jerry and Brittany in the loss of their sweet, angel daughter Leila. Leila passed away this morning just 6 weeks after her precious brother Hudson passed away. Please pray for this family that they would be comforted beyond all measure.Please pray with me:Heavenly Father, we turn to you in anguish, in grief, in sorry over the passing of Leila and her brother Hudson. Lord, we don’t know Your ways, and we will never fully understand Your ways, but Lord, we know that Your way is perfect, so we turn to You with our grief. Lord, please be with Leila and Hudson’s family, comfort them, strengthen them, give them Peace, Your Peace, which is the greatest gift in times like this. Lord, reassure them that they would know that their sweet Angels are now with Jesus, and that He is taking good care of them now. Lord, remind them that their children are in no pain, no sorrow, no anguish, and Lord, place in Jerry and Brittany’s minds great memories, the memories that they will carry with them the rest of their lives.
Lord, we don’t know why Leila and Hudson were called home so soon, we only know the hole that is left with their passing. Please be with Jerry and Brittany and all of their family, now and forevermore. It is in Jesus loving name that we pray. Amen.
- I wish to give God praise for the wonderful news that we heard — my friend Torri is engaged, and getting married! Please pray for God to be with Torri and Michael, to lead them in their steps, and to remind them to turn to Him together so that their marriage will be built on God’s solid foundation. Thank you for praying!
- Please pray for Ann Marie, the friend of my niece Stephanie. Ann Marie is having some health issues, so please pray for healing for her, and for Peace, Comfort, and Strength for her and all of her family and friends. Thank you everyone!
- Please continue to pray for Jim, the father-in-law of our friend Dee. The news is not good for him on the medical front, so please continue praying for healing, but in addition, please pray for his Peace, his Comfort, his Strength, and that of his family and friends. My friends, in Jim’s case, this may be a time where Dee, her husband Robert, and all of their family and friends may be having trouble forming the words to pray, but the Holy Spirit knows what is needed, and is interceding on their behalf. Please be with them in this hard time of tribulation in their lives.
- Please continue praying for my friend Sheila’s friend Kitty. Her health is slowly improving, so please keep that going with strong prayers for healing for her.
- My friend Heidi had a prayer request. Here is what she wrote:Can I ask a few friends to commit to praying for an unspoken request (aka a decision that needs to be made) today?
- Lastly, please continue praying for my wife Cindy’s cousin Lori, who is recovering from a stroke.
Thank you everyone for praying each and every week. I lift you all up in my prayers each night, and hope that you are feeling the Peace that comes from being prayed for. Now, let’s pray the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples to pray:
Our Father, who art in Heaven,
Hallowed by thy name.
Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done,
On earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the Kingdom, and the Power, and the Glory forever and ever.
Reader Julie has a prayer request. Here is what she wrote on Facebook:
You are a true blessing in a seemingly dark world! My request is for my husband, who will be preaching for the first time in about a decade. Thank you for being salt!
And my reply:
Thank you Julie! I will gladly pray for your husband — for his courage, for his nerves, but most of all, that God would use his mouth and his mind to speak the words that God wants him to say. I have no doubts that your husband will do great things for the Lord!
My cousin Michelle wrote this prayer request on Facebook:
A friend of a friends 13 yo boy is lost in the mountains, it has started snowing, I can only imagine what his mom is going through. He has survival training, praying The Lord keeps him safe and he is found quickly!
Please pray for his safe return!
Please pray for my friends Mike and Jane. Mike lost his father today, here is what Jane wrote on Facebook:
I feel that the VA hospital in Durham represented “home” to Mike’s dad.
He left his home in coal country Pennsylvania at the tender age of 17 to join the Army and the Army became his “family”. He went “home” last week and died peacefully early this morning. RIP Michael G. Oniffrey, Sr. – your battle is over.
Please pray for God’s Peace, Comfort, and Strength to descend upon Mike, Jane, and their family in their time of grief. Thank you everyone!
My friend Terri needs prayers for her daughter Jane. Here is what she wrote on Facebook:
Tomorrow morning, Jane will be having surgery at Children’s Hospital. Both of her eyes will be operated on – she’s been diagnosed with Dissociated Vertical Deviation. We’d appreciate your prayers! Thanks.
Please pray with me:
Healing God, we ask for Your Hands to guide the hands of Jane’s medical team tomorrow when she has her eyes operated on. Father, please be with her, allow Your Peace, Comfort, and Strength to descend upon Jane, her team of doctors and nurses, and her family and friends as they struggle to keep fear and doubt out of their minds. Grant them a measure of Faith strong enough to endure all that Jane goes through tomorrow, Faith in knowing that all will be well. Heavenly Father, we have seen evidence of Your Miracles on our fallen world — just take a look at the story of Baby Ryan, now over a year old, and able to come home, as proof of Your work in our lives. Lord, we know with You all things are possible, and we pray that Your Will would be for a successful operation and easy recovery for Jane, so that Your Glory may be displayed yet again for all the world to see. We ask these things in the wonderful name of Your Son Jesus. Amen.
Thank you for praying for Jane!
Thank you so much, Mike!
Exactly 3 hours until surgery time… Jane is still sleeping – we’ll wake her up in 25 minutes to get ready for the hospital. I certainly appreciate your prayer and all the others that are praying. :) ~Terri