Prayer focus on Social Strongholds

At the Day of Prayer we identified and prayed for four Social Strongholds: Families, Additions, Victims and Stormont.

Families

Our Father in heaven, may Your Name be honoured in our families.

May Your kingdom come into our homes.

May Your will be done in our lives and the lives of our children.

Meet our physical needs and let us see Your blessing.

Heal our relationships and forgive us as we forgive those who have sinned against us.

Guard us in times of temptation, and deliver us from the plans of the evil one.

Build Your kingdom and manifest Your glory in our homes and in our land.

Addictions

Father, we are thankful for Your mercy and Your abounding love. In the Name of Your Son our Lord Jesus Christ, we come ourselves and on behalf of our families and communities who are bound by many strongholds and strategies of the Evil One. 

In Your Name Lord Jesus, we confess that we have partaken of sins associated with addictions.

Together we ask that by the blood of the cross and the power of Your Holy Spirit You will have mercy on us and set us free from all addictions to follow You in fullness of life. As your church give us courage and strength as we now take our stand against them.

Father, may your Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth and Love pursue us all, may He rest on us and fill us. May He protect us from the illusions and the false inspirations that addiction encourages and feeds off. Set us free to recognise Your presence, to see clearly, and walk in Your ways.

We ask that You would disarm these destructive forces in our society.  We ask that You will dispense Your holy angels to fight on our behalf and for our children and future generations. Amen

Victims

Lord thank you that you are a God of justice, grace and mercy, help us to be like you in sharing that grace, mercy and justice to others.

Lord as we pray for victims we acknowledge that in our failure to reconcile our past and in our failure to take responsibility for sin in the church we have caused a deeper pain and wounding in many victims in our communities. We are sorry for our lack of love and compassion, our silence, our inaction and indifference. Father have mercy on us, forgive us and help us to be Your instruments of healing, reconciliation and peace. We choose to love and bless in the way You love and bless us.

Father as you bring release from the hurts we have caused to each other and freedom to those who are in bondage to past hurts and pain may those who are victims find comfort, peace, healing and acceptance.

Lord we ask that the cry of the victims would not just be heard but listened to. May they also find the true justice, understanding, support and breakthrough they are looking for. AMEN

Stormont

Lord open up my heart and mind to your grace, so that a tide of forgiveness may flow through me.

Cleanse my own bitter stained heart, and forgive me for my wrong attitudes and sins, as I forgive others who are different from me for their attitudes and sins.

Father help me to share the grace you have shown to me with others who are different from me, but who’s hurt and brokenness is as valid as mine.

May we all get to revel in your love, forgiveness and grace, undeserving sinners, rescued from our past enmities.

Pour out you Holy Spirit upon us as we respond to your forgiveness and grace, and may our voices resound with the words of Psalm 124 “Like a bird out from the net we have broken free, we have been saved from destruction.”

Lord we ask that your incoming tide of grace would lift the politicians that need it most, the ones who hark back to bad times and who carry personal hurts and grievances.

Free from the anchor chains of the past those who play old tunes and who wave old banners of conflict, and those who celebrate battles and violent acts that took innocent lives.

Lift political parties and their electorate, up out of the mud, safely around the rocks, and put us on course for a peaceful future together.