40 Days of Prayer 2023

40 Days of Prayer Introduction

January 1, 2023

Welcome to our third year of the Alliance’s 40 Days of Prayer! This prayer guide features daily devotionals and prayer prompts designed to lead you into the presence of God, cry out to Him in prayer, and listen for His still, small voice. This year’s prayer emphasis will focus on the various aspects of the Lord’s Prayer. The aim of this 40-day focus is to fix our gaze on Jesus; remember who He is, what He has done, what He has given us to do, and what He asks of the Father on behalf of those who call on His name. “Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.” –Jeremiah 29:12 As we anticipate how the Lord will fulfill His promise to His people during this year’s 40 Days of Prayer, we believe there is power in praying together. Let’s step into this prayer experience with the anticipation that we will encounter the living God and fix our eyes upon Him. Let’s pray with faith-filled expectancy that the Spirit of God will do great things in, among, and through us to the glory of Jesus Christ. Keep the faith! Terry D. Smith Vice President for Church Ministries

Prayer As Worship

January 1, 2023 • Pastor Gary Barber • Luke 11:1–2, Matthew 6:9

Happy New Year! Welcome to the first worship service of 2023 at The Oaks Community Church. We are glad you have chosen to worship with us. We are joining scores of Christian and Missionary Alliance churches all across the United States in beginning the year with 40 Days of Prayer. We will have 6 Sundays where we focus on prayer by studying the Lord’s Prayer. Today Pastor Gary Barber is preaching on “Prayer as Worship.” May God richly bless you and give you a greater understanding of His love for you and His plan for your life. Be sure to open the Worship Guide by pressing the link below. You can also download and print it if you wish. And press the link “I Am Watching Today!” and it will open your messaging app. We would love to know you are watching with us. Send us your name and email address. And if you have any questions or need prayer press that link also. It will send a text that will be given to one of our pastors/ministers, and be kept private. Be sure to give us your name so we can contact you for follow-up. God bless you.

Week 1 Devotionals: Prayer as Worship

January 1, 2023

Prayer is our invitation to commune with God Himself and in its purest form, begins as worship simply by addressing Our Father in heaven. We acknowledge His place in the world and our lives. We honor His name and His power. The spoken words to a loving Heavenly Father are a testament to His authority and divinity. Our prayers are futile if they are directed toward any other entity. We worship our Father when we acknowledge His rightful place on the throne, and we express our faith in a sovereign God when we make known our requests. To pray is to worship.

Prayer As Kingdom Partnership

January 8, 2023 • Pastor Jose Doniz • Matthew 6:10

Welcome to The Oaks Community Church. We are glad you have chosen to worship with us. We are joining scores of Christian and Missionary Alliance churches all across the United States in beginning the year with 40 Days of Prayer. We will have 6 Sundays where we focus on prayer by studying the Lord’s Prayer. Today is the second Sunday and Pastor José Doniz is preaching on “Prayer as Kingdom Partnership.” May God richly bless you and give you a greater understanding of His love for you and His plan for your life. Be sure to open the Worship Guide by pressing the link below. You can also download and print it if you wish. And press the link “I Am Watching Today!” and it will open your messaging app. We would love to know you are watching with us. Send us your name and email address. And if you have any questions or need prayer press that link also. It will send a text that will be given to one of our pastors/ministers, and be kept private. Be sure to give us your name so we can contact you for follow-up. God bless you.

Week 2 Devotionals: Prayer as Kingdom Partnership

January 8, 2023

The Kingdom is where the King rules. Dallas Willard describes the Kingdom as “God in action.” A large portion of Jesus’ teaching was about His Kingdom—defining it, describing it, parables that illustrate it. The people of God’s Kingdom can participate with Him where we live, work, play, and worship—but are we? Do people see our Alliance churches and Alliance members partnering with King Jesus so that His will is done? May the focus of our prayers release God’s Kingdom and reveal!

Prayer As Petition

January 15, 2023 • Pastor Calvin Guillory Jr • Matthew 6:11

Welcome to The Oaks Community Church. We are glad you have chosen to worship with us. We are joining scores of Christian and Missionary Alliance churches all across the United States in beginning the year with 40 Days of Prayer. We will have 6 Sundays where we focus on prayer by studying the Lord’s Prayer. Today is the third Sunday and Pastor Calvin is preaching on “Prayer as Petition.” May God richly bless you and give you a greater understanding of His love for you and His plan for your life. Be sure to open the Worship Guide by pressing the link below. You can also download and print it if you wish. And press the link “I Am Watching Today!” and it will open your messaging app. We would love to know you are watching with us. Send us your name and email address. And if you have any questions or need prayer press that link also. It will send a text that will be given to one of our pastors/ministers, and be kept private. Be sure to give us your name so we can contact you for follow-up. God bless you.

Week 3 Devotionals: Prayer as Petition

January 15, 2023

This week, we will be focusing on prayer as petition. The Scripture says that our Lord is our Heavenly Father who knows all our needs even before we ask Him. Yes, that is one of the reasons Paul says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (Phil.4:6). 1 John 5:14 says, “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.” As we ponder over prayer as a petition, our focus is to meditate on God’s faithful nature to hear our petitions, His justful nature to validate our petitions, and His sovereignty to fulfill our petitions. What is our role and action as we bring our petitions to Him?

Prayer As Confession

January 22, 2023 • Pastor Gary Barber • Matthew 6:12–15, 1 John 1:9, Luke 6:37

Welcome to The Oaks Community Church. We are glad you have chosen to worship with us. We are joining scores of Christian and Missionary Alliance churches all across the United States in beginning the year with 40 Days of Prayer. We will have 6 Sundays where we focus on prayer by studying the Lord’s Prayer. Today is the fourth Sunday and Pastor is preaching on “Prayer as Confession.” May God richly bless you and give you a greater understanding of His love for you and His plan for your life. Be sure to open the Worship Guide by pressing the link below. You can also download and print it if you wish. And press the link “I Am Watching Today!” and it will open your messaging app. We would love to know you are watching with us. Send us your name and email address. And if you have any questions or need prayer press that link also. It will send a text that will be given to one of our pastors/ministers, and be kept private. Be sure to give us your name so we can contact you for follow-up. God bless you.

Week 4 Devotionals: Prayer as Confession

January 22, 2023

Confession is crucial to the Christian life—both as repentance before God and as forgiveness between one another. Scripture is clear: God desires mercy. His loving kindness and mercy toward us abound; therefore, we must extend mercy toward others. This week, the devotionals will guide us through the confessional aspect of prayer, discussing the love that leads us to forgive as we have been forgiven.

Prayer As Spiritual Warfare

January 29, 2023 • Pastor Gary Barber • Matthew 6:13, 1 Corinthians 10:7–13, Ephesians 4:26–27

Welcome to The Oaks Community Church. We are glad you have chosen to worship with us. We are joining scores of Christian and Missionary Alliance churches all across the United States in beginning the year with 40 Days of Prayer. We will have 6 Sundays where we focus on prayer by studying the Lord’s Prayer. Today is the fifth Sunday and Pastor is preaching on “Prayer as Spiritual Warfare.” May God richly bless you and give you a greater understanding of His love for you and His plan for your life. Be sure to open the Worship Guide by pressing the link below. You can also download and print it if you wish. And press the link “I Am Watching Today!” and it will open your messaging app. We would love to know you are watching with us. Send us your name and email address. And if you have any questions or need prayer press that link also. It will send a text that will be given to one of our pastors/ministers, and be kept private. Be sure to give us your name so we can contact you for follow-up. God bless you.

Week 5 Devotionals: Prayer as Spiritual Warfare

January 29, 2023

2 Chronicles 20:12 is interesting: “Our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” Three armies had surrounded the Israelites. Understandably, they were tempted to be afraid, discouraged, overwhelmed, and worried. You can feel it in their words, their pleas. Often, we do not know what to do. Other temptations in the form of the devil’s spiritual attacks can seek to neutralize us and drain our spiritual life. When we are faced with personal troubles or attacks from the evil one, when the devil tries to dump all kinds of evil temptations on us, we can stand strong. Christ will lead us on into victory.

Prayer As An Expression Of Hope

February 5, 2023 • Pastor Gary Barber • Matthew 6:13, 1 Chronicles 29:11, Ephesians 3:20–21

Welcome to The Oaks Community Church. We are glad you have chosen to worship with us. We are joining scores of Christian and Missionary Alliance churches all across the United States in beginning the year with 40 Days of Prayer. We will have 6 Sundays where we focus on prayer by studying the Lord’s Prayer. Today is the sixth Sunday and Pastor is preaching on “Prayer as an Expression of Hope.” May God richly bless you and give you a greater understanding of His love for you and His plan for your life. Be sure to open the Worship Guide by pressing the link below. You can also download and print it if you wish. And press the link “I Am Watching Today!” and it will open your messaging app. We would love to know you are watching with us. Send us your name and email address. And if you have any questions or need prayer press that link also. It will send a text that will be given to one of our pastors/ministers, and be kept private. Be sure to give us your name so we can contact you for follow-up. God bless you.

Week 6 Devotionals: Prayer as Expression of Hope

February 5, 2023

When we look around this fallen world, we see and hear so many incidents that seem so unjust and evil. If we let those things sink deep into our minds, we can easily fall into frustration and even have our faith come down with doubts and questions about the future. As children of God, this is where we are called to deepen our roots in His Word and grow in our faith. As the Word says in John 15:5, abiding in the relationship of Jesus is the key for us to have hope in this world as Jesus has promised that He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end: “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” We need to believe that our Lord is in control of everything in our life. Hence, prayer becomes an expression of hope. So, how do we use our personal and corporate prayer time as an expression of hope? In what ways could prayer effectively build believers to become His witnesses in this fallen world?

The Oaks Community Church

This prayer guide features daily devotionals and prayer prompts.

40 Days of Prayer Introduction

January 1, 2023

Prayer As Worship

January 1, 2023 • Pastor Gary Barber • Luke 11:1–2, Matthew 6:9

Week 1 Devotionals: Prayer as Worship

January 1, 2023

Prayer As Kingdom Partnership

January 8, 2023 • Pastor Jose Doniz • Matthew 6:10

Week 2 Devotionals: Prayer as Kingdom Partnership

January 8, 2023

Prayer As Petition

January 15, 2023 • Pastor Calvin Guillory Jr • Matthew 6:11

Week 3 Devotionals: Prayer as Petition

January 15, 2023

Prayer As Confession

January 22, 2023 • Pastor Gary Barber • Matthew 6:12–15, 1 John 1:9, Luke 6:37

Week 4 Devotionals: Prayer as Confession

January 22, 2023

Prayer As Spiritual Warfare

January 29, 2023 • Pastor Gary Barber • Matthew 6:13, 1 Corinthians 10:7–13, Ephesians 4:26–27

Week 5 Devotionals: Prayer as Spiritual Warfare

January 29, 2023

Prayer As An Expression Of Hope

February 5, 2023 • Pastor Gary Barber • Matthew 6:13, 1 Chronicles 29:11, Ephesians 3:20–21

Week 6 Devotionals: Prayer as Expression of Hope

February 5, 2023