Featured Prayer Resource: Seek God for the City

“I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one. So I will pour out my wrath on them and consume them with my fiery anger, bringing down on their own heads all they have done, declares the Sovereign Lord. ” —Ezekiel 22:30-31, NIV

When you look around your city or town, do you see humble hearts, God-fearing leadership, purity and holiness of life?  Or do you see evils like injustice, anti-Christian values, poverty, and the like?  When you listen to the news, does it feel like cities across our country are becoming closer to God or moving further away?

Many believers sense that we are in a position similar to that of Israel in Ezekiel’s day – a nation under pending judgment, a judgment that will be withheld only as God’s people pray for repentance and revival.  Have you ever wanted to pray effectively for your city and for the nation but haven’t known how to pray specifically?  Are you looking for a way to pray that is hopeful and God-centered, rather than focused on all the problems in our society?

Good news!  Waymakers sponsors an annual prayer campaign during the season of Lent called Seek God for the City.  They produce a helpful daily prayer guide, featuring specific areas of prayer for God’s glory, for specific population segments in our cities, and for the nations of the world.  In addition to the printed guide, they produce an app for both iPhone, Android, and Kindle Fire devices.  The guide is also available in Spanish and is accompanied by a downloadable children’s prayer guide to be used as a family resource.

I’ve used this prayer guide for several years and find it a meaningful Lenten discipline to raise prayer beyond private concerns to pray for our cities, our nation, and the world.  The guide has exposed me to praying for different key population segments, as well as praying over specific issues.  I highly recommend it not only as an individual prayer discipline, but as a prayer campaign for churches.  Check it out!