Dear Good Shepherd Church Family,

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church is preparing to embark on a prayer journey over the next 40 days. Your pastors and staff are excited to be walking together with our Savior Jesus Christ and with our church family on a journey of transformation this year.

Our prayer for you this year is that you will use this devotional as a daily prayer guide to help you grow deeper in your faith and strengthen your covenant relationship with God. We are also praying for the Holy Spirit to use this devotional to assist Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in seeking the will, wisdom, and discernment of where God is leading us!

Our hope for you is that you will find a time and place to let God’s Word impact and influence your life. We pray that the Lord Jesus will reveal Himself to you as you pray and seek Him over these 40 days of prayer. We ask the Holy Spirit to come and saturate your heart with the truth of Jesus Christ, that your encounter with the Savior each day will reveal the love of Jesus more fully in your life.

If you have a heart for revival and have been longing for the presence of Christ to be manifested in your life, family, church, and community, please pray through this prayer guide with hope. Take time over the next 40 days to be centered in God’s Word and abide with our Savior as we seek His will in our lives both individually and corporately. Read and pray with the expectation that God will use this prayer guide to open your hearts and reveal His love for you more fully. We pray that your heart and soul turn to Christ with an even greater depth of love, devotion, and longing for Him.

A dedicated team of prayer warriors prepared the prayers for each day. We extend our many thanks to Gale Stringham, Patty Johnson, Chris Hopkins, Terrilee Fitz, Ann Miller, Cleone Larson, Kate McGuire, Vanessa Gonzales, Glenice Coward, and Barb Nelson.

As we are taught in 1 Thessalonians 5:17-18, “Pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” Let us take time over the next 40 days to use this Prayer Guide, and in addition, to join in praying,

Our Lord and our God, You are our first love. We ask You, as Your church, to help us to be faithful to You. Give us ears to hear Your Holy Spirit. Speak Your wisdom and knowledge to us, so that we, filled with Your Holy Spirit, and with love for You and for one another, know how You want us to move forward as a church at this time. Help us hear Your voice louder than the voices of fear, louder than the voices of anger, and more clearly than any voice of confusion, so that, together, we can love You with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, and love our neighbors as ourselves.

May the Holy Spirit fill you with God’s love and grace as you fall more deeply in love with our Lord Jesus Christ who is our Immanuel.

Pastor Susan Westland