Prayer Guide

January 3, 2025

A new focus for a new year

2024 is history. 2025 has yet to be written. How shall we live? Moses, a man who had such intimacy with God that it is written, “The Lord used to speak to Moses, face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend” (Exodus 33:11), gives us the answer: “So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12 NKJV). We can’t coast through life; there’s only way to coast—downhill. Instead we must be focused, intentional.

We as a church have embraced a focus, a frame to see life through. It’s our mission: Love God. Love People. Share Jesus. Make Disciples. As you pray for yourself, Bellevue, Memphis, and the Mid-South today, let me encourage you to pray for new eyes to see that familiar path.

Our prayer guide is shorter this month. That’s on purpose. The prayer focuses go along with the four facets of our mission, and they are all essential—none are optional.

There are some things that are optional on a car that you might buy: There are different types of interiors, sound systems, and engine sizes. You can pick and choose. Do as you please. It’s up to you.

There are some things that are not optional. They are essential if you are to make it down the road: an engine, four wheels, a steering wheel, and a transmission. If you don’t have these things or if they aren’t all in working order, you are in for a problem.

The four areas below not optional for a Christian or for a biblically faithful church. If you are a Christian who wants to please God, you are expected (unlike a car) to be growing better and better each year. As you pray, ask the Lord where you are in these areas. Are you going forward, sliding backward, or stuck in the muck and mire of business, indifference, or sin? As you are praying for yourself, make sure to pray for others, for your church, and for Memphis. Each of the areas below are the will of God for every Christian, every church, and the city of Memphis. The Bible verses are given to give you light and feed your soul.

Pray to love God in a new way

While love is not merely emotions, your emotions tell a story. Like the gauges on a car, they give you information about what is happening under the hood. When is the last time you wept tears of brokenness before the Lord? When is the last time you raised your hands in worship? When is the last time you found yourself grinning in the presence of God because of His goodness, His grace, or what He did for you or revealed to you? Do you belong to Him—hook, line, and sinker?

“You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” Deuteronomy 6:5

“Now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require from you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the LORD’S commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today for your good?” Deuteronomy 10:12–13

“You shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams; for the LORD your God is testing you to find out if you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.” Deuteronomy 13:3

“Love the LORD, all you his saints! The LORD preserves the faithful but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride.” Psalm 31:23 ESV

“‘Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?’ And he said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.’” Matthew 22:36–38 ESV

Pray to love people in a new way

Read these words slowly. They are probably familiar, but allow them to sink in: “People DON’T CARE how much you know UNTIL they KNOW how much you care.” Do people know you love them? Family, friends, church members, people you work with, people you encounter? Do you communicate that with your eyes and your smile? When is the last time you initiated a hug? Someone once well said, “The only thing silence communicates is confusion.” You can do the right thing, but without love it’s like a nice car on the side of the road that has no gas. It’s impressive but useless.

“This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” Matthew 22:38–39 NLT

“Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” John 13:35 NLT

“This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.” John 15:12

“Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.” Romans 13:8 ESV

“For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” Galatians 5:14 NLT

“If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing.” 1 Corinthians 13:1–2 NLT

Pray to share Jesus in a new way

Bro. Steve often asks us, “When is the last time you won someone to Christ? When is the last time you tried?” We look for things that we value. Looking to buy a home? You notice the “For Sale” signs. Looking for a sale on a sofa? You’ll look for sales in a store or you’ll Google, “Best price on a sofa” daily. Are you looking for opportunities to share Jesus? If you aren’t looking, that reveals something about your heart and your values. It reveals something about how closely you are or aren’t following Jesus.

“And he said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.’” Matthew 4:19 ESV

“These were his instructions to them: ‘The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.’” Luke 10:2 NLT

“I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.” 1 Corinthians 9:22b–23 ESV

“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.” 1 Corinthians 15:3–8 ESV

“But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.” 1 Peter 3:15 ESV

Pray to make disciples in a new way

In the Great Commission Jesus did not command us, “Go therefore and be disciples.” No. He commanded us, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations … teaching them to observe all that I commanded you” (Matthew 28:19–20; emphasis added). The command is to make disciples (that includes evangelism) who make disciples who make disciples. In other words, if your disciples are not multiplying disciple makers, you aren’t fulfilling the Great Commission. This is not an option. This is obedience. Disciples don’t make themselves.

“God blessed them; and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.’” Genesis 1:28

“All the commandments that I am commanding you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the LORD swore to give to your forefathers.” Deuteronomy 8:1

“‘But you, O mountains of Israel, you will put forth your branches and bear your fruit for My people Israel; for they will soon come. For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn to you, and you will be cultivated and sown. I will multiply men on you, all the house of Israel, all of it; and the cities will be inhabited and the waste places will be rebuilt. I will multiply on you man and beast; and they will increase and be fruitful; and I will cause you to be inhabited as you were formerly and will treat you better than at the first. Thus you will know that I am the LORD.’” Ezekiel 36:8–11

“I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will place them and multiply them, and will set My sanctuary in their midst forever.” Ezekiel 37:26

“Jesus came and told his disciples, ‘I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you.” Matthew 28:18–20a NLT

“You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.” John 15:16

“The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” 2 Timothy 2:2

Pray for Memphis

Rather than simply reading the words of Bro. Steve’s “Prayer for Memphis,” please take time to verbally pray for our city, using this prayer as a guide:

Heavenly Father, thank You for Memphis. Thank You for strategically locating our city in the middle of this nation so we can be a catalyst for revival and spiritual awakening. Please pour out Your Spirit on Memphis, Shelby County, the Mid-South, and beyond. Help every Christian and every Bible-believing, Jesus-loving, Gospel-preaching church to love God, love people, share Jesus, and make disciples. Demolish every demonic stronghold of pride, violence, racism, poverty, crime, sexual immorality, drug abuse, sickness, religious formalism, fanaticism, legalism, liberalism, and traditionalism. Replace those with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, blessing, mercy, grace, hope, healing, liberty, and freedom. Destroy the stronghold of religion in Memphis that has a form of godliness but denies the power thereof. Give us churches that believe in the Bible and preach salvation only in Jesus Christ. Let Your Kingdom come and Your will be done in Memphis on Earth as it is in Heaven. Bring pastors, lay leaders, and congregations together as we pray for this city. Bless our governmental leaders, schools, and economy. Please send good jobs to Memphis. Keep casinos, strip clubs, and occult activity out of Memphis. Do a work of revival in Memphis that can only be explained by Your presence and power, and do it all for Your glory. Call Your people to fervent, united, visible, extraordinary prayer. May the latter glory of Your Kingdom in Memphis be greater than the former, and please grant Memphis Your peace. Do exceedingly and abundantly beyond all that we can ask or think. In Jesus’ name, amen!

Pray for political leaders

We have been commanded to pray “for kings and all who are in authority” (1 Timothy 2:2).

• Pray those who are saved will lead with righteous values and share the Gospel of Christ with other political leaders.
• Pray the pressures of leading will cause lost politicians and judges to call on Jesus to be saved.
• Pray for the newly elected officials who will be taking office this month.