February 1-6: Read Psalm 29; "The Lord gives His people strength; the Lord blesses His people with peace" (Vs 11) Lord God, we pray that You will give Your strength to Your people—Your church—around the world. And we pray that strength will be blessed with Your peace, the peace that passes understanding...the peace of Jesus Christ. And we pray that strength and peace for our own congregation, for our presbytery, our synod, and our General Assembly.

February 7-13: Read Luke 5:11; "Don't be afraid," Jesus told Simon, "from now on you'll be catching people!" (Vs. 10) Jesus, forgive us our fear, especially the fear that has held us back from sharing Your life-changing love. Forgive us for holding back. Forgive our churches for our lack of concern and energy for evangelism. Help us this very week to follow Your lead, and may our trust in You grow ever stronger.

February 14-20: Read Luke 9:28-43; "This is My Son, the Chosen One; listen to Him!" (Vs. 35) Gracious God, how we long to see and hear a glimpse of Your glory. Could it be that we do not see that glory because we do not listen to You? Forgive us for reading or hearing Your Word and letting it go in one ear and out the other. Forgive us for failing to take Your Word seriously when we make those daily ethical decisions we are called to make. We know that attentiveness and obedience will open our eyes to see more of You. Help us to do what we know is right.

February 21-27: Read Romans 10; This is the message of faith that we proclaim: if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. Lord God, we confess that too often there has been a disconnect between our mouths and our hearts. Even in our congregations, and in our denomination, there has been a disconnect between our hearts and mouths. Forgive us. Lord. May our hearts be so filled with faith in Jesus Christ that our mouths will overflow with words of gospel truth...inside and outside of the church. We ask this not for ourselves alone, but the church and for Your kingdom.

February 28: Read Luke 13:31-35; "...I will complete My work." Jesus, we spend much of our times worrying about our work, and how we will get it all done. Help us to remember Your perfect work of sacrifice leading to our salvation. And help us to remember that You are always working through Your Holy Spirit. Lord, complete Your work in us...in ourselves, our families, our congregations, our presbyteries, our synods, our denomination, other church families around the world. This week we pray for YOUR work to be done, and we ask for the wisdom and strength to join You where You are working.

Prayer For Those Struggling With Sexuality
by Melany Hamilton

Gracious God, we know that our society is filled with people who struggle with sexual sin and confusion. We confess that those who are our brothers and sisters in Christ engage in the same struggle, and often without our support and help. With humility and compassion, we lift them up to you. They are your children. They are our neighbors, our brothers and sisters.

We ask for a special anointing of your Holy Spirit upon the eyes and ears of those who struggle with issues of sexuality. Anoint their eyes to see compassion as well as conviction upon our faces. Anoint
their ears so that in the midst of all the words spoken, they will hear your Word—Truth that promises to set us free, Love that never lets us go, Hope of lives filled and transformed by your Holy Spirit.

We pray that all of us will see and hear Jesus, who did not and does not come to condemn and leave us in our sins, but to bring mercy, salvation, transformation, and restoration. May we all see and hear Jesus, who died on the cross to forgive our sins, including sexual sins, and to reconcile us to God.

Come, Lord Jesus. Amen.