“But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.”
Jeremiah 29:7-8
20 Ways to Pray for Your Neighbors During Lent
Prayer can be hard! Especially when it’s about things that aren’t foremost on our minds. We want to make it a little bit easier by providing concrete suggestions of ways to pray for our neighbors.
Hope for San Diego invites you to pray with us through these 20 topics during the 40 days of Lent, asking God to bring renewal and hope and healing to every one of our neighbors, especially the most vulnerable.
Ask God to help us be as concerned about the poor and vulnerable as He is (Psalm 146:7-8; Psalm 34:18).
Thank God that He identifies himself with the poor and became poor so that we might be spiritually rich and ask Him for deeper gratefulness for this gift of grace (2 Corinthians 2:8-9).
Pray for victims of sex trafficking, that more would be freed from their oppressors and that survivors would find healing in the arms of the Lord. Ask that Hope for San Diego affiliates Generate Hope and Alabaster Jar Project would be effective instruments of grace in the lives of those beginning the journey of healing.
Pray that Christians would reflect God’s character by our sacrificial care for “the least of these” (Matthew 25: 31-46), especially children served by our affiliates Safe Families and Restoration 225.
Ask God to bring renewal and healing to the brokenness of our city so that all people can thrive – spiritually, emotionally, physically, and socially (Isaiah 53:5; Jeremiah 31:25; John 10:10).
Ask God how you can be an instrument of His grace to heal the needs right in our backyard (Micah 6:8; Matthew 25: 34-40).
Ask God to show you who in your life needs a demonstration of neighborly care (Luke 14:12-13; Phil 2:4-8).
Pray for the strangers in our midst who are struggling to establish themselves in American culture. Pray for Hope for San Diego affiliate, World Relief, to equip Christians to care for the needs of those to whom our country has offered refuge (Deuteronomy 10:18-19).
Thank God that “by his wounds we are healed,” and petition God on behalf of the spiritually wounded in San Diego, that they will experience healing at Easter (Isaiah 53:5).
Ask God to help you live out your faith and put it into action through tangible expressions of Christ’s love (I John 3:17-18).
Pray that the under-served in our city – whether they are homeless or enslaved or sick or hungry – would be connected with the essential resources they need.
Pray for God to heal the physical, emotional, psychological wounds of the most vulnerable in our city (Matthew 11:5).
Ask God to open our eyes to the ways the poor are spiritually rich, to help us serve with humility, and to learn from those we serve (James 2:5).
Pray for those working among the poor, the under-served, and the oppressed, that God would replenish them for their important work (Jeremiah 31:25).
Pray that those living in homelessness would find resources to address the underlying factors that contribute to their situation. Pray for Hope for San Diego affiliates, Solutions for Change and the San Diego Rescue Mission to help solve homelessness for many.
Pray that as we practice our faith in works of service, skeptics around us would see a living faith and would be persuaded to consider the claims of Jesus (James 2:26).
Pray for the many refugee and immigrant students who are struggling to learn English and working to gain the educational foundation they need for success in this country. Pray that tutors at Hope for San Diego affiliates San Diego Refugee Tutoring, A Step Beyond, and Casa de Amistad would provide supportive relationships and mentoring.
Pray for volunteers during 40 Days of Service, that they would serve out of gratitude for how God has poured out His grace into their lives, and that grace would overflow into the lives of those they serve.
Pray that God would show you how you can be more generous with your time, talent, power, money, and resources to serve others who live without those gifts (Luke 14:13-14; Deuteronomy 15:7).
Pray that God would bring peace to conflicts within our city and our world, and that individual Christians and churches would act as peacemakers (Matthew 5:9).
Want to pray with your family? Download our prayer calendar for Lent here.