On the first Thursday of May, our great nation celebrates the National Day of Prayer. As a faith-based organization, we proudly gather at our Henderson Administration Building's flag pole to pray each year. This year, staff member Amy Twilley, who also leads The Miracles choir, shared a beautiful prayer with the group that gathered, and with her permission, we are sharing it with you, our readers and supporters. You will see from the photo that she is reading her prayer, but she explained to the group that she wanted to think through her prayer in advance, instead of a spontaneous prayer. We appreciate her thoughtfulness and preparedness for this moment in time, and I hope you agree with us that reading it is equally as heartfelt and prayerful.
2 Chronicles 7:14
“… if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
Dear Father in heaven, we are your people and we humbly come before you today seeking your face, asking you to hear our prayers, asking you to forgive our sins, and to heal our land. We know that we can only approach your throne and present these requests in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We know that apart from Jesus Christ we are nothing, we have nothing, and we can ask nothing. So first and foremost, we thank you for sending your one and only son to pay for our sins by dying on the cross, for purchasing salvation for all who will believe that His death alone pays for their sins…not trusting in ourselves or our own good works, but trusting only in His perfect sacrifice and perfect work on our behalf. We trust in the power that raised Christ from the dead to give us life and to give us power to turn from our wicked ways. Forgive us for failing to trust you completely in all things, for worrying about things instead of trusting and praying and having faith the size of a mustard seed, for not loving you with our whole heart, mind, soul and strength, and for not loving our neighbor as ourself.
Lord we pray that you will heal our land….starting here at Baddour with us…..we pray that you would give courage and wisdom to our administration and staff here at Baddour, that you would increase our love of You and of each other, that you would continue to bless us and protect us and sustain us in Your power. We pray that you would bless Baddour in such a way that others would know that it could only be a work of God and they would then give praise and glory to Your name. I pray that You would bless each resident and their families this year. Bless the staff and their families. Give us strength for each day as we serve one another and You.
We pray for our town of Senatobia….that You would help our civil servants and elected officials to be God fearing, honest, wise, and courageous. We pray for our police, fire fighters, hospital staff and emergency workers….that you would bless them as they put their lives on the line to help our fellow citizens. We pray for the schools and the children and teachers – keep them safe. We pray for our churches and pastors to stand on the truth of God’s word – not on popular culture or politics. We pray they would be bold and courageous- always speaking the truth in love.
We pray for our state - Mississippi …. For our governor, congress, senate and representatives. Give them wisdom and courage to govern our state. Help them to be honest and make decisions based on Your word and what is right. Help us to truly be the “hospitality state” and the “buckle of the bible belt.” Continue to preserve and grant our religious freedom in all areas.
We pray you would bless our nation….we pray for the President and his staff, for congress and the senate. Give them true wisdom which scripture tells us begins with a fear of You. We pray for your will to be done on earth as it is in heaven….we ask you to deliver us from evil. We pray that you would send revival to our nation. We ask for your continued mercies. We pray that you would make us a Christian nation….one nation under God. That you would bless us with Your peace and protection. That our enemies – within and without our borders - would not be able to form any weapon against us. That we will truly be a light to the nations, a beacon of hope and truth, a protector of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, that You may receive the honor and glory due to Your name.
We ask these things in the holy and powerful name of Jesus Christ-
Amen