How to Pray the News: Praying by Prayer Type/Prayer Summary 30

Summary: Country of the Week: Qatar

Source: Link

The theme for this week uses the "hour of prayer" theme to pray by the type of prayer. A search on the internet will show a circle of prayer with 12 themes (each for 5 minutes) to add up to an hour of prayer. One that I have used has the following themes: 

1. Worship

2. Waiting on the Lord

3. Confession of Guilt and Sin

4. Praying Scripture

5. Watching

6. Intercession

7. Petitions

8. Thanksgiving

9. Song

10. Contemplation/Meditation

11. Listening

12. Praise

Now, I've edited these themes a bit for our purposes. The ones that I cut out are still important and valid ways to pray, but they don't fit in the theme of praying the news. So still wait on the Lord, pray Scripture, sing to God, take time for contemplation/mediation, and listen to what God is saying, but we will focus on the following 6 themes below. 

1. Worship God for His attributes and Praise God for His actions and Give Thanks: I combined these three into one category, because these are generally summed up in the PRAISE points in my blog. We worship God for His mercy in guiding rescuers to survivors of a disaster. We praise God for sending rain to put out a forest fire and lower the temperature in a heatwave. We are thankful/offer thanksgiving for answered prayers and good things happening in the world.

2. Lament: I added this category, because lament is SUCH a common prayer in the Bible that our prayer time would be incomplete without this. Lament is the brokenness and pain from living in a broken and sinful world. We lament for the people who are suffering, as well as those with hard hearts and stiff necks, who are not moved with compassion at these plights. We lament for the victims of these events, as well as the perpetrators who have caused such pain. We lament for those trusting in weapons and wars to protect them instead of trusting in God. We lament for those to lean on their own understanding and their own resources instead of depending on God. This is the category that breaks our hearts as we join with God in weeping with those who weep and mourning for those who mourn.  

3. Intercession (for other people)/Big prayers: Intercession, in its simplest form, is praying for other people. We ask: "Does this news story affect me?" and if the answer is no, then we intercede for those who ARE affected by these events. This is where we pray the big prayers for wrongs to be righted and for God's peace to rule in people's hearts and over the earth. 

4. Petitions (for yourself): Petitions involve praying for things that impact us and our lives. If we ask "Does this news story affect me?" and the answer is yes, then we will petition God for His will to be done in this situation that we (and others) are involved in. This is where you pray for things happening in your country, your state, and your region. I opted to post national news stories in this section, rather than publishing local stories that would indicate my location. 

5. Confession of Guilt and Sin/Repentance: We need to confess the things we are guilty of. We need to confess the sins in our hearts and lives, so that we can repent of them. The first step is to acknowledge the things we are guilty of. We must tell God the sins that have broken our relationship with Him. Some are sins of commission or the bad things that we have done. Others are sins of omission or the good things that we were commanded to do, but we disobeyed and didn't do them. The next step is repentance. If we confess and then do nothing to change, then we are still guilty. In order to be forgiven, we must CONFESS and REPENT. We must turn from our sins that we have acknowledged. So when we read about a disaster and are not moved with compassion, pray for this shortcoming in our lives. When we read about the result of a person's fear turning to hatred and finally turning to vicious actions, repent of the same fear and distrust in our own hearts. 

6. Watching: I almost cut this category, because technically, all prayers based on news headlines could fit into this category. When we watch, we take the things our senses observe and turn them back to God. So for this section, I encourage you to take a walk through your neighborhood and turn the things you see/hear/smell/taste/touch into prayer requests. For example, pray for the children you see playing. Pray for the neighbor you hear mowing their lawn. Pray for those who are hungry when you smell meat on a grill. Pray for those without access to clean water when you taste the water you brought with you (cuz good hydration is important). Pray for the people who have sat and who will sit on the bench you rest on. 

Worship/Praise/Thanksgiving

Summary: PRAISE: Some people have welcomed refugees into their homes
Source: Link
Summary: PRAISE: Nigeria secures the release of kidnapping victims
Source: Link

Summary: PRAISE: 275,000 people in Missouri gain access to health care
Source: Link

Summary: PRAISE: Samoa will have its first female prime minister
Source: Link

Lament

Summary: Pray for those grieiving the death of Haiti's president after he was assassinated, even as we pray for a peaceful transition to their next leader
Source: Link and Link and Link and Link and Link and Link and Link
Summary: Pray for those grieving the 13 people killed when a fuel tanker exploded in Kenya
Source: Link

Summary: Pray for those who are grieving a lack of diversity and representation in governments and organizations
Source: Link

Summary: Pray for those grieving the 30+ people killed in monsoon rains in Mumbai and thr 110 in a western state in India
Source: Link and Link

Summary: Pray for those grieving the death of a 13 year boy in Singapore
Source: Link
Summary: Pray for those grieving the 12 people who died due to flooding in China

Source: Link and Link and Link

Summary: Pray for those grieving the dead from the Florida condo collapse
Source: Link and Link

Intercession (for other people)/Big prayers

Summary: Pray for the flood victims in Europe as well as those involved in clean-up and rebuilding
Source: Link and Link and Link and Link
Summary: Pray for people in places experiencing virus outbreaks, as well as places attempting to keep out the virus while letting in visitors
Source: Link and Link and Link and Link and Link and Link and Link and Link and Link and Link and Link and Link and Link

Summary: Pray for the people getting vaccinated, as well as those making decisions on who is eligible for vaccines. Pray for medical and other essential workers to have access to vaccines. Pray for students and workers to follow their school/work vaccination rules
Source: Link and Link and Link and Link and Link and Link and Link and Link and Link

Summary: Pray for India's virus widows, who lost a spouse in the pandemic
Source: Link

Summary: Pray for places opening up in the midst of the pandemic, as well as those frustrated by travel bans affecting them
Source: Link and Link and Link and Link and Link and Link
Summary: Pray for people to follow government and health guidelines in the pandemic. Pray for those vandalizing vaccination centers to be held accountable for their actions
Source: Link and Link

Summary: Pray for restaurants workers to receive fair wages, benefits, and polite customers. Pray for people to treat workers with dignity and respect
Source: Link

Summary: Pray for peace in Sudan. Pray for peace in Ethiopia
Source: Link and Link

Petitions (for yourself)

Summary: Pray for a decrease in gun violence in the US. Pray for people to learn how to solve problems non-violently
Source: Link and Link and Link
Summary: Pray for those affected by wildfires in the US/Canada
Source: Link and Link and Link and Link

Summary: Pray people to repent of hate & anger that led to the Capitol Riot, even as we pray for them to face the just consequences of their actions
Source: Link and Link and Link and Link and Link

Summary: Pray for people being held prisoner without being convicted of a crime or having been sentenced to prison. This applies to prisoners in Guantanamo, as well as poor defendants unable to afford bail
Source: Link

Summary: Pray for eligible voters to be able to vote. Pray for just voting laws to be passed
Source: Link and Link
Summary: Pray for communities which have been hit hardest by the virus, particularly black and brown neighborhoods
Source: Link

Summary: Pray for workers expected to work 80+ hours a week in high temperatures for low pay. Pray for workers to be treated humanely and to be able to earn a living wage
Source: Link

Summary: Pray for men to treat women with dignity and respect (and for women to do that same with men). Pray for people to realize and accept that no one "owes" them romantic interactions. Pray for sexual harassment towards restaurant staff to be stopped and for workers to be protected by laws
Source: Link and Link

Summary: Pray for an end to racism
Source: Link
Summary: Pray for workplaces to ensure safe working conditions for their workers
Source: Link

Confession of Guilt and Sin/Repentance

What do you have to confess and repent of in the lament, intercession, and petitions sections? 

Watching 

Take a walk through your neighborhood and pray for what your senses notice.