May 23

We worship You on this final day of Mayday! Mayday! as our Immanuel. We stand in awe that You would leave Heaven’s throne, confine Yourself to a woman’s womb for nine months, submit to the human birth process, then enter time and space in order to be with us! Because You love us! You…Elohim, El Elyon, I AM, Adonai, Jehovah Rohi, Jehovah Elohe Abothekem, Jehovah Tsaba, Jehovah Nissi…became flesh and made Your dwelling among us. We have seen Your glory in the face of Jesus Christ, full of grace and truth.³ Who could imagine such love that devised redemption’s plan? And You did this when we were still in our sin and rebellion against You! We cannot keep silent! We worship You! We shout Your names! We praise You! We thank You! We glorify You! We love You! And we know we can face whatever this day holds, and whatever the next day holds, because You face it with us.

We are not alone in these dark and dangerous days. You are with us! And You are our inside God!

I worship You as _____

I thank You for_______

So now, with our faces turned towards the sky, and our eyes fixed on Jesus, and our hearts bowed before the Cross, we intercede for Your Body… for fellow-followers of Jesus … for the Church… for each other…for our families…for ourselves.

We lift up to You the pastors and elders of our churches. We ask first and foremost that You would give them each a fresh touch from Heaven. Revive and refresh their personal relationship with You. Give them a hunger and thirst for Your Word. When they open it to read, speak to them through it before they ever give it out to others.  Meet them in prayer.  Whisper Your love and insights and wisdom into the ears of their hearts. Make them strong for The Battle.  Heal them of wounds that have been inflicted in the fight. Would You stir their hearts to be shepherds of Your flock? You are the Chief Shepherd.⁴ Give them an eagerness to be like You…to guard, protect, instruct, exhort, teach, comfort and care for those You have entrusted to them.  Bring them an encouraging word today. And when they grow weary in their well-doing, open their eyes to the eternal significance of their service.  Give them a deep desire to persevere until they reap the harvest.⁵

I lift up my_________

We also dare to pray that You would expose the wolves in sheep’s clothing who pretend to know You, serve You, and speak for You, but in fact are thieves and robbers.  They lead people away from faith in Your Word.  They sow doubts about Your goodness and holiness. They imply Your cross is not a vital necessity because there are other ways to You.  They destroy the very faith they pretend to promote. Therefore, they rob people of eternal life, salvation, forgiveness, freedom, wholeness, peace, joy, and all that You offer us through simple faith in Jesus Christ. We pray against them and their influence.  Weaken their voices. Confuse their words. Reveal their hypocrisy. Draw a sharp contrast between them and the true shepherds so that people will know and recognize the difference.

I pray against__________

We pray for our churches. How have we become so self-absorbed? So legalistic? So liberal? So dead and lifeless? When did we stop loving You and obeying You and sharing You with those around us?  When did the Light of Your truth grow dim and the trumpet call of the Gospel become muffled? We acknowledge that one day we will stand before You and give an account for the way we have lived our lives.  We shudder to think of what You would say if we—not just our nation, but we, Your people, the church—had to stand before You today.

We are the church. And we humbly implore You to accept our confession and repentance during this Mayday! Mayday! Distress Call for Prayer on behalf of Your Body.  Fill us with Your Spirit, then overflow through us into our churches so that Life and Love become contagious, and revival breaks out. Put holes in the darkness all around us as Your churches become Lighthouses that show lost people how to navigate the treacherous waters we are in, and lead them to the safety of Your Ark…even our Lord Jesus Christ. In this time of confusion and deception, open the eyes of the world to the authenticity of our faith, so they know where to go with their questions. And when they come to us, give us Your heart of love to receive them just as they are, and Your wisdom to give them the Answer they seek.

I pray for my church___________

We pray for our families.  Father God, we ask You for what we know Your heart’s desire is.  Please.  Bring every single member of our families to a saving knowledge of Jesus before judgment comes, either at Your return or at their death. We will refrain from giving You suggestions on how to do this, but we ask You to do it.  We know in answer to Abraham’s prayer, You didn’t save everyone, but You did save His family.  You sent Your angels to drag them out of danger.⁶ If You would do it for Abraham, then in answer to our prayers which we offer in the name of Your Son and our Savior, Jesus Christ, would You please do it for us? Save our loved ones. Snatch them from the fire.  Drag them out of their sin.  O God of mercy, we can hardly bare the thought of going to Heaven without them.  We give You permission to do whatever it takes to get them there.

I pray for the salvation of my ______________

In the meantime, until You save our families, would You please use us to save someone else’s family? Give us a sensitivity to Your Spirit so that we follow His lead, go where He directs, speak to whoever He brings across our path, say what He brings to our minds and lips? Give us the joy of being the answer to someone else’s prayer as we lead their loved ones to trust in Jesus. Living Word of God, in these days of turmoil and fear, hopelessness and helplessness, sinfulness and wickedness…in these days of bad news, don’t let us be silent! We have Good News!  Compel us by our gratitude for the Cross, our love for our Savior, our compassion for a broken world, to open our mouths and just give them Jesus!

I pray for the salvation of ______________

We ask that You would increase within us a magnificent obsession to know You in a personal, intimate, love relationship.  Give us a spirit that rejects religion…that does not settle for knowing about You, or going through the motions of rituals and traditions and ceremonies and calling that faith.  Lead us to embrace You fully at any cost.

Open the eyes of our heart that we might live with eternity in view.  Keep Heaven continually on our minds so that this world loses its appeal. Strengthen the ties of faith that bind us first to You, then to each other. Fill us with Your power so that we overcome our addictions, bad habits, sinful temptations, and half-hearted discipleship.  Instead, give us miracles in answer to prayer.  Answer these Mayday! Mayday! prayers.  Not for our own credit, but so that the world may know that our God is God, and You answer the prayers of Your people when they cry out to You.

Bring us back to Your Word. Give us ears to hear Your voice. Drive us to our knees in prayer. Confront us with the seriousness of the times in which we are living. Wake us up! Don’t let us be caught by surprise at The End.

Compel us to come back to the Cross and lead others there by our own example. Before it’s too late. Blessed Immanuel, in a world of lonely, frightened people, give us a heart that is broken with the things that break Yours.  Give us an enlarged heart for a lost and dying world…for people You love…for Your Gospel…for Your Son…for Your Word…for You. Use Your church…use us…use me…to make an eternal difference in the lives of people all around us.

We humbly, boldly ask that You give us the attention of our friends, neighbors, co-workers, classmates, even our enemies, so that they see our example and…
…They want to know You because they know us.
…They place their faith in You because we are trustworthy.
…They believe You because of what we say, and the way we say it.
…They know You love them because we love them.
…They know You can give them victory over sin because we demonstrate it.
…They have hope because we are so genuinely confident.
…They come to You for freedom from the power of sin because we speak the Truth…in love.
…They have peace because we are not afraid.
…They look to You as the solution for what’s wrong because we are looking to You. Now.

I ask________________

Grow us up into men and women who reflect You in all we say and do.  Cleanse, refine, and purify Your church so that when the last trumpet sounds, and we are caught up in the air to meet You, we will be a radiant, glorious Bride, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.⁷  Remake us into a Bride worth waiting for over 2000 years.

We are pleading with You for that supreme purpose.  We long to be a Bride fit for our Bridegroom.  We long desperately for an outpouring of Your Spirit on us, on our families, on our churches, and on our nation.

O Holy God…beloved Immanuel… look on Your people who are called by Your Name. Hear our prayer. Listen to our distress call. Have mercy on us. Let the Fire of the Holy Spirit fall fresh on us! Grant us another great spiritual awakening! Before it’s too late, and we provoke You to anger.

On this day before the Feast of Pentecost, send down Your Spirit in fullness! Captivate us by Your love!  Rend our hearts with deep conviction and sorrow for our sin!  Draw us back to the foot of the Cross. Plunge us beneath the fountain filled with blood, drawn from Immanuel’s veins. Then raise us up to live our lives filled with Your Spirit. By Your grace.  In Your power. For Your glory. Until our faith becomes sight and we see You face to face!

I plead with You for ___________

Even so, come Lord Jesus. Do not delay, O my God.⁸ We need You. Now.