Pray then like this:

Our Father, who art in heaven,
Hallowed be Thy name.
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil;
For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.

Matthew 6:9-13

In prayer we come before our heavenly Father and speak with Him as dear children to their dear Father. The Lord’s Prayer gives us an outline of the things for which we pray as well as the promise that His Father will give us these things!

Our hymnal (Lutheran Service Book p. 294) uses this basic outline and provides suggested subjects of prayer for each day of the week. This is a wonderful pattern! Here I’ll show you that outline, and then outline some ways that you can be intentional about praying for those things each day.

Sunday: For the joy of the resurrection among us; and for the fruit of faith nourished by the Word and Sacraments.

Monday:For the joy to live in the promises of Holy Baptism; for one’s calling and daily work; for the unemployed; for the salvation and well-being of our neighbors; for schools, colleges, and seminaries; for good government and for peace.

  • What are the promises of Holy Baptism? Pray that God would give you each: Keep His name on you and make you His disciple; forgive your sins, rescue you from death and the devil, and give you eternal salvation; wash you from your sins and give you new birth through the holy Spirit; justification before God; become an heir, having the hope of eternal life; that the Old Adam in you should be drowned by daily contrtition and repentance, and that a new man should daily emerge and arise to live before God in righteousness and purity forever.
  • What is your calling and daily work? Plan out your work for the week ahead, praying as you do so according to what you heard in church today.

A man’s heart plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps.

Proverbs 16:9
  • Keep a list of people (especially men) you know who are out of work, or struggling in their work. Pray that God would give them strength and opportunity to provide for themselves, their families and the good of their neighbors.

let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need.

Ephesians 4:28
  • Pray for the good of the people you work with, and for the conversion of those co-workers who don’t believe in Jesus.
  • Keep a list of people in town you know who are struggling in any way, and for those you know who don’t know Christ. Pray for them by name.
  • Pray for our schools and their teachers: Little Lambs Preschool, the Gordon, Rushville, and Hay Springs public schools, Immanuel Lutheran School in Alliance, Chadron State College, Luther Classical College in Casper, Concordia University Seward, the seminaries in St. Louis and Ft. Wayne, the University of Nebraska system (add to the list other schools important to you and your family). And pray for any students you know at the schools by name. (Consider following the schools on Facebook to keep up to date on what is happening there).

Almighty and eternal God, we commend to You the care of our schools so that our children may grow in useful knowledge and Christian virtue and thus bring forth wholesome fruits of life.

Lutheran Service Book, Altar Book, General Prayer

Almighty and eternal God, bestow Your grace on ll nations of the earth. Bless especially our country, its inhabitants, and all who are in authority. Let Your glory dwell in our land that mercy and truth, righteousness and peace may abound in all places. Graciously defend us from all calamity by fire and water, from war and bloodshed, from plague and pestilence, from sedition and rebellion, from scarcity and famine, and from every other evil. Protect and prosper all who labor in their rightful callings, and let all useful arts flourish among us. Amen.

Lutheran Service Book, Altar Book, General Prayer

Tuesday: For deliverance against temptation and evil; for the addicted and despairing, the tortured and oppressed; for those struggling with sin.

Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,. casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhoood in the world. But may the God of grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

1 Peter 5:6-11
  • Consider your life against God’s commandments. You will probably notice that you can give a good answer to some of these questions, but others…not so much.
  • Make a note of the places where you have fallen short, or you know you are tempted in that direction.
  • Pray for these temptations specifically. Ask God to deliver you from evil.
  • Also ask Him to strengthen you in the virtue that is opposite from the temptation. For instance, if you know that you are tempted to laziness in your work, pray that God would give you zeal for good work that whatever your hand finds to do you might do it with all your might. If you know that you are tempted to take pleasure in telling the faults of others, or to leave out the whole truth from your stories to make yourself look better, pray that the Lord would teach you to bridle and control your tongue and change our hearts to bear good fruit.
  • Keep a list of people in your life whom you know struggle with addiction. Pray for that God would deliver them from that evil.
  • Do you know anyone caught in sin, struggling with spiritual evils, or who has given up hope in God’s love? Pray that God would deliver them from that evil.
  • Learn about the persecuted church in the world. Here is a good place to start learning. This is a magazine worth subscribing to for many reasons, but also each issue features updates on the persecuted church around the world. Here is a book that details the persecution of Christians in the former Soviet Union, and a movie based on the book.
  • Pray for those persecuted brothers and sisters you learn of by name, and for the persecuted church in general. Pray that the Holy Spirit would keep them steadfast in God’s Word, and curb those who by deceit or sword would rest the Kingdom from God’s Son. Pray that they would not lose heart, or fear those who can only harm the body, but remain faithful to a true confession of Christ unto life everlasting.
  • Pray that if God should place you in similar circumstances, He would strengthen you to endure to the end, always clinging to Christ.

Wednesday: For marriage and family, that husbands and wives, parents and children live in ordered harmony according to the Word of God; for parents who must raise children alone; for our communities and neighborhoods.

Dearly beloved, we are gathered here in the sight of God and before His Church to witness the union of this man and this woman in holy matrimony. This is an honorable estate instituted and blessed by God in Paradise, before humanity’s fall into sin.

In marriage we see a picture of the communion between Christ and His bride, the Church. Our Lord blessed and honored marriage with His presence and first miracle at Cana in Galilee. This estate is also commended to us by the apostle Paul as good and honorable. Therefore, marriage is not to be entered into inadvisedly or lightly, but reverently, deliberately, and in accordance with the purposes for which it was instituted by God.

The union of husband and wife in heart, body, and mind is intended by God for the mutual companionship, help, and support that each person ought to receive from the other, both in prosperity and adversity. Marriage was also ordained so that man and woman may find delight in one another. Therefore, all persons who marry shall take a spouse in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust, for God has not called us to impurity but in holiness. God also established marriage for the procreation of children who are to be brought up in the fear and instruction of the Lord so that they may offer Him their praise.

Lutheran Service Book “Holy Matrimony,” p. 275
  • This is an area of life particularly under attack by the devil, the world, and our sinful nature. Study God’s Word in order to see what He actually created us for, and where He has promised to bless us in our lives.
  • Read the Table of Duties from the Catechism, especially on husbands, wives, parents, and children.
  • Are you married? Keep a list of things to pray for on behalf of your spouse: things to give thanks for, struggles and frustrations they are undergoing in body, mind, and soul. You probably know your spouse better than anyone else in the world, and so are better equipped to pray for them than anyone else!
  • Do you have children? Pray prayers of thanksgiving for their triumphs and accomplishments. Pray for them in their struggles. Pray that God would lead them not into temptation, but deliver them from evil. Pray that they remain steadfast in their faith. Pray for their future spouse if they are young, and their family they have if they are grown.
  • Are you single? Pray that God would strengthen you against temptation to unchastity. Pray that at the proper time God would provide you with a Godly, believing spouse. Pray for the families in your church and community. Pray that God would show you ways to be of service to others. Don’t spend too much time alone, but seek out the company of fellow Christians for fellowship and service.
  • Do you know any single parents? There is always tragedy involved. It might mean a spouse has died, it might mean a spouse has sinfully deserted his or her family, it might mean someone has fallen into the sin of fornication. The work of Jesus is to deliver us from sin, death, and the power of the devil, to rescue us from every evil of body and soul, possessions and reputation. Pray for these people and their children, that this work would be done among them also.
  • Pray for the marriages at church and in the community. Give thanks with them in things like the births of children, anniversaries, etc. When you know that a couple is experiencing difficulties, pray for them.
  • Children are a blessing from God. Ask Him to teach you always to give thanks for the gift of children, and not to make remarks and crude jokes (“You know what causes that don’t you?”).
  • Keep a list of all the people who live close by to you and pray for them by name.
  • Pray for events happening in the community, that God would bless us through them.
  • If you are aware of strife within the community or neighborhoods, pray that it would be resolved in Godly ways.

Thursday: For the Church and her pastors; for teachers, deaconesses, and other church workers; for missionaries and for all who serve the Church; for fruitful and salutary use of the blessed Sacrament of Christ’s body and blood.

Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

Matthew 28:18-20
  • Pray for your pastor and his family.
  • Pray that God strengthen his knowledge of the Bible and give Him faithfulness to God’s Word. Pray that God give him strength and zeal to faithfully instuct both young and old in the Christian faith. Pray that he would always be glad to forgive the sins of those who repent. Pray that God make him faithful in ministering to the sick and the dying. Pray that God would help him to have a constant and ready ministry centered in the Gospel. Pray that he would honor the Office of the Holy Ministry with a holy life. Pray that he would be diligent in his studies of the Scriptures and the Lutheran Confessions. Pray that he would be constant in prayer for you.
  • Pray for the churches, pastors and church workers of our district.
  • Pray for the work of our monthly mission project.
  • Learn about the Missions of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. Pick some of the mission organizations and individual missionaries and pray that the Kingdom of God would continue to grow in our world.
  • Remind yourself of the blessings of Holy Communion and pray that you and your brothers and sisters in Christ would faithfully receive them.

Friday: For the preaching of the Holy Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ and for the spread of His knowledge through the whole world; for the persecuted and oppressed; for the sick and the dying.

  • Read one of the accounts of Jesus Crucifixion: Matthew 26-27; Mark 14-15; Luke 22-23; John 17-19.
  • In those chapters are many prayers that Jesus prays for you as He goes to die for your sins. Pray that those prayers that find their yes and amen in the cross and empty tomb would be answered in your life.
  • View images of your Lord’s suffering and death.
  • Pray that because God loved the world in this way, that He sent His Son to die for our sins, so that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life, that this Gospel would continue to be proclaimed in all the world, and that the Holy Spirit would still convert people by this good news.
  • Review your prayers earlier from the week for the persecuted and oppressed, pray for them again that they might know the comfort of the Holy Cross.
  • Keep a list of people you know who are sick or dying, beginning with the people in our bulletin each week. Pray that Christ would bless them by His holy wounds, and that with Him, we would commend ourselves into the Father’s hand.

Saturday: For faithfulness to the end; for the renewal of those who are withering in the faith or who have fallen away; for receptive hearts and minds to God’s Word on the Lord’s Day; for pastors and people as they prepare to administer and receive Christ’s holy gifts.

  • Read the Bible Readings for the upcoming Sunday. (Find them here or in the church’s email newsletter
  • Read the guide for preparing for the Divine Service
  • Pray that the seed of Good’s Word would find good soil in your heart and grow up bearing much fruit.
  • Pray for your pastor, that God would give Him understanding of the Word, and of the needs of the people at church, so that the Sermon would hit its target, so that God’s people would be instructed in the teachings of the Christian faith, that false teachings would be reproved, that Christians would receive training in righteousness, that sinful living would be corrected, that anxious and troubled hearts would find consolation, and that the congregation would be strengthened in the faith of Christ unto life-everlasting.
  • Keep a list of the people you know who have stopped attending church regularly, or have ceased to come at all. Pray that God would seek out His lost sheep and bring them home.
  • Pick one of these people and call and invite him or her to church tomorrow.
  • Pray and meditate on one or both of these prayers:

Merciful God and Father, most heartily do I thank Thee that by Thy grace I have been permitted to pass through another week, approaching a few days nearer the hour of death. With heartfelt sorrow I confess unto Thee that in the past week I have manifoldly sinned, both consciously and unconsciously, against Thee, and merited Thy just wrath by the doing of evil as well as by leaving undone the good I might have done. Lord, have mercy upon my transgressions according to Thy never ending grace, and let me enjoy the precious benefits of the passion-week of Thy beloved Son; that I may honor and praise Thee here and to all eternity. Amen.

Heavenly Father, I praise Thee that, by Thy grace, I have been permitted to put another week of trials behind me, and have not been cast away in my sins together with the godless. O Lord, my God, Who ordainest and changest times and seasons, change also my heart and mind, by Thy Holy Spirit, that this week may mark a true change of time for me, to turn me from my former impenitence, my love for the world, and my lusting desires, unto Thee alone, through faith and love, so that if this had been my last week on earth, I might lay aside this corrupt and sinful life, and put on the incorruptible, holy life in Christ. Amen.

Wilhelm Loehe, Seed-Grains of Prayer