Top 10 for 2010
It is common for people to ask their pastor, “How can I pray for you?” That is always a tricky question for me. Do I tell the generic, obvious things that virtually every pastor should say or do I tell them what’s really on my heart? Honest prayer requests are vulnerable prayer requests. Here is my attempt to write an honest and vulnerable list of my top ten prayer requests for 2010.
Some of them may not make sense because I don’t have the time to give the context behind each request, but I will trust the Holy Spirit to fill in the gaps as you pray.
Top 10 for 2010
1. Pray for my personal holiness and the personal holiness of your staff.
Life is hard. Family is hard. Ministry is hard. My greatest need is less responsibility so that I can be more responsible with my walk. The greatest gift I can give to Highpointers is my ability to dedicate myself to prayer and the ministry of the Word (Acts 6:4).
2. Pray for the health and holiness of my family.
I know this is the standard request but I’m not saying it for that reason. I’m saying it because we are in a spiritual battle and the enemy constantly attacks me and my family in order to stop or slow the army called Highpoint Church. Pray for me, Karin, Mark and Annika to be strong enough to lead the battle and remain healthy at the same time.
3. Pray for Spirit-filled worship services.
Pray for Highpointers to take responsibility for our services by praying for our services. Pray Ephesians 3:20 into our services. Pray with great anticipation and expectation. Pray for our music and teaching to be in the power and demonstration of the Spirit. Pray for unbelievers and believers to respond with repentance and faith.
4. Pray for 200 baptisms.
First, I hope I’m wrong. I hope my prayer is too small. I’m praying a number because I want to be a good steward and ask God to give us more this year because we were faithful with 108 last year. Pray for people to give us the privilege of helping them understand their decisions, go public with their decisions and get grounded in their decisions by going through the Ignite classes.
5. Pray for us to improve connection at Highpoint.
The body of Christ is not a crowd of people attending services together. The body of Christ is composed of friends loving one another inside and outside the church. Friendship is a non-negotiable for personal discipleship and corporate health.
6. Pray for the Ignite classes and for the launch of M-28: The Mission.
We must disciple new believers as well as existing believers. Pray for us to quit making excuses for our immaturity. Pray for people to be decisive and to commit to becoming men and women of God. Pray for the classes to effectively produce true disciples/soldiers of Jesus Christ.
7. Pray for Highpointers to truly become addicted to God’s Word.
People cannot and will not be able to do this apart from the movement of the Holy Spirit. Pray for the Spirit of God to convict and inspire. Pray that people will repent of their addiction to the world and replace it with an addiction to the Word. Give people the ability to change their morning routines for the purpose of reading the Word of God to know the God of the Word. It is impossible for me to adequately communicate the importance of this spiritual discipline/addiction.
8. Pray for the influence and impact of imperfect.tv.
Pray for God to give us great stories to capture and retell for the glory of God. Pray for God to expand the influence and impact of imperfect.tv. Give us the ability to reach people we couldn’t reach otherwise. I pray that you will use the stories to save throughout Memphis and around the world. Pray for the personnel and resources to grow and improve this ministry.
9. Pray for the resources for strategic staff positions and future home.
Gut-level honesty, additional staff and a future home are huge needs. We need to body to grow spiritually, numerically and financially to meet these needs. Please pray for these needs to be met sooner rather than later. It is very difficult to not grow weary in doing well. There is much more urgency and intensity in my feelings than these words can convey.
10. Pray for local and global missions:
We made great strides last year in our commitment to local missions: single parents, Overton High School, Celebrate Recovery and Memphis Union Mission. I believe God said, “Well done, good and faithful servants,” to us this past year but now I believe He is giving us more responsibility. Pray for our ability to improve these ministries by adding more leaders, more volunteers and more resources. Pray for God to give us vision and wisdom in global missions as decide upon strategic partnerships and build into those relationships and ministries.
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