Afternoon Prayer for Young Adult Women to Speak the Word of God Boldly and be Empowered to be His Witnesses, His Hands and His Feet

Afternoon Scripture

1 Timothy 4:12 NLT

Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity.

Afternoon Devotion

For as long as I can remember, I've loved music. The first thing I ever did in church or in front of any group of people was sing about God. I sang loud and proud. I was very young so I hadn’t acquired much fear and really didn’t care very much about what other people thought yet. I just knew that when I sang “This Little Light of Mine” it brought me joy and it seemed to bring joy to other people too. I was being a witness, based on what very little I knew about God. 

Think about the last time someone asked you to participate in church or mission work. Were you willing to step forward boldly? As young adult missionaries, we may feel that our lack of experience makes us unqualified to do certain things. Thankfully, young age does not prevent us from being an effective witness. People can learn and benefit from our unique experiences, however limited they are. If you witness with a pure heart, trust that it will be more than enough. 

Afternoon Prayer 

Lord, thank you for giving us a bold spirit. Keep doubt from interfering with your plans for us. Let the purity of our intentions and our love for you shine through in our conduct and in our mission work.  Amen. 

Sister Janice Burch

Young Adult Missionary

St. James AME Church, Johns Island, SC

7th Episcopal District

Morning Prayer for Young Adult Women to Speak the Word of God Boldly and be Empowered to be His Witnesses, His Hands and His Feet

Scripture: God didn’t give us a spirit that is timid but one that is powerful, loving, and self-controlled.  2 Timothy 1:7

Devotion:   As young adult women of God we are called to be bold and empowered.  The word bold is synonymous to daring, courageous, fearless, spirited, and confident.  We must be bold enough to tell others that although your situation looks unclear; God can do the impossible. Bold enough to pray for those that despitefully use us.  And bold enough to remain faithful to God and self when the world tells us just the opposite.  Being bold can be used in many ways but we must you our boldness as representatives of Christ.  In order for our boldness to be effective we must be empowered   To be empowered means to be given the authority or power to do something.  We receive empowerment by praying, fasting, and studying God’s word continuously.   Be EMPOWERED and be BOLD for we are fearfully and wonderfully made!

Prayer:  Most kind and merciful Father, thank you for the many blessings you bestow upon us. Father, I pray that you use me so that others will see You in me and draw closer to You.   Amen.

Submitted By: 

Sabrina Conner

Piedmont Conference Branch WMS Third Vice President

Seventh Episcopal District

Prayer for Stress Management During Our Daily Activities

I am a mother, wife, sister, and friend to many. I work fulltime and have a great calling on my life to be a Mental Health Counselor, which I am working towards. I’m blessed to have other gifts and talents that the Lord God has provided me. I, along with many other women, wear many hats. We fulfill many roles in a 24-hour period. That can be an enjoying and wonderful experience and some women do it with divine grace. Then on the flip side, it can be a stressful, worrisome, and grievous.  

Our day-to-day activities of work, school, mentoring, raising children, cooking, cleaning, preparing, studying, exercising, running errands, mission, and much more can take a toll on our physical bodies as well as our spirituals minds. As women of God, we have a greater influence and character we are to impress upon and display in the lives of others. This too, can be tiresome if we don’t have the energy to preserve our spiritual temples.

There are many scholars, articles, tools and tips that will describe to you ways on how to manage stress in your life. I’ve read MANY and agreed with some. Stress has been described in its many types, ways, roots, when, where, what, why and how. Though… trials, tribulations and triumphs have taught me that stress is the emotional and physical manifestation of good and bad stimulations upon a person’s mind. I am reminded of Jesus when he went to pray in Gethsemane (Matthew 26:36-56 ESV).

“And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”

Talk about STRESSFUL! Jesus was not only concerned with what was going on, he asked his disciples to be on guard while he went to pray in solitude just to come back to find them SLEEPING. HEY! What happen to the support system of friends when you need them? (Hint, Hint) Jesus was stressed, tired, upset and worried, but he did something many of us inadequately do when we are stressed; he went sincerely to the Father, released his burdens to him, and said…not as I will, but as you will.

As a woman, I can attest that when stress impresses upon my mind, and even yours, we can habitually think about all the things that are stressful at one time. Overloading the mind and spirit. We even become tire in thought because we overthink OUR WILL and not receive the WILL of God. We look to our friends and love ones asking them to pray for our strength when they too could be stressed or worst… ”sleeping” during prayer.

I appeal to you, let this mind be in you that was first in Christ Jesus (Philippians 2:5). We are to seek ye first the kingdom of God, and all his righteous and all these things will be added to us (Matthew 6:33). If Jesus didn’t go to the Father in prayer and released all his cares and concerns to him and said, “Not my will, but yours”, who knows what the turn out could’ve been. Speaking as a woman who has been stressed a time or two times over…Jesus could’ve came back and snapped on the disciples and been completely out of the will of God. Stress is just a hop and skip away from temptation!

We as women have a great counselor in times of stress. When we, as women start to think about all those things that we should be or could be doing or why this and that didn’t happen, all at one time, stress sets in. Stress management for the woman of God is the comfort of God’s grace and mercy because HIS yoke is easy and HIS burdens are light (Matthew 11:30). I appeal to you to ALWAYS go the throne of grace in times of stress to renew your mind (Romans 12:2). Jesus provided us this clear example of stress management doing his daily activities. We can’t perform to an optimal spiritual experienced if we allow stress to overcome us. We too, can do this because we have the spirit of God in us! Thank you Lord!

Prayer

Father God, as we humbly approach your throne, seeking your wisdom, will, grace, and mercy, through adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and supplication, we are ever thankful. We know we can come to you in times of stress, worry, and grief, releasing our cares unto you. Let us have the mind of Christ, the character of Christ and the spirit of Christ during stressful and joyful times in our lives. We have a mighty counselor, the Holy Spirit, who is certified through you and by you to counsel us. It is not our will, but your will, and we confidently know in spirit and mind that the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard our hearts and minds. Glory to God! Amen!  

Submitted By:
Nicole Redmond
Young Adult Missionary (YAM) chairperson for the NorthWest Texas Conference
Women's Missionary Society President Thomas Chapel AME, Copperas Cove, Texas

Prayer for the Holy Spirit to Revitalize the Faith of Believers Everywhere

Meditation Scripture

John 7:37-39 (NLT)

³⁷ On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! ³⁸ Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’”^[a] 39 (When he said “living water,” he was speaking of the Spirit, who would be given to everyone believing in him. But the Spirit had not yet been given,^[b] because Jesus had not yet entered into his glory.)

Meditation For The Day

The Dead Sea is so salty that it contains no fish and supports practically no life. What actually accounts for this unusual condition? There are absolutely no outlets! A great volume of water pours into this depression from the Jordan, but nothing seems to flows out. Inlets plus no outlets equals a dead sea.

This law of nature may also be applied to the child of God, and it explains why many believers are fruitless and lack spiritual energy. It’s possible for some people to attend church, listen to religious broadcasts, study the Scriptures, attend spiritual conferences, and continually take in the Word of God as it is preached from the pulpits, and yet seem lifeless and unproductive in their Christian lives. Honestly, these people are just like the Dead Sea. They have several "inlets" but no "outlets." To be vibrant and useful believers, that will spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ “Beyond the Walls” we must not only "take in" all we can, but we must also "give out" in service to others everywhere!

Faith is the bridge between us and our Higher Power. It is the bridge He has ordained for us. If all were seen and known, there would be no merit in doing right. Therefore, God has ordained that we do not see or know directly. But we can experience the power of His spirit through our faith. It is the bridge between God and us that we can cross or not cross, as we will. There could be no morality without free will. We must make the choice ourselves. We must make the venture of belief.

Without the work of the Holy Spirit through God’s Word, all would perish. May the Lord make us refreshing fountains where thirsty souls may drink. By the Holy Spirit, we possess the "water of life" and can be channels of blessings to those in need. The people to whom we serve, will have many spiritual, emotional, physical and psychological needs, they will need much strength.  Yet from hearts of love, let us pour out to others what we have first received from God. If we do, we will never become Dead-Sea Missionaries.

Prayer For The Day

Gracious God, we pray that we may choose to cross the bridge of faith. It is our prayer that by crossing that bridge we may receive the spiritual power we need to spread your Gospel throughout the world. Let the living water flow freely to others. As we are merely co-workers in Your service, use us for your glory. May we always continue to love and serve the Lord, and rejoice in the power of the Holy Spirit. AMEN

Submitted by:

Sister Sylvia C. Blake

Connectional WMS Member-at-Large

Prayer for Young Women and Girls Forced Into Early Marriages

 Scripture: 

Romans 8:18, 26   Suffering in Silence
18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.

Devotion

It is well known today that thousands of young girls are being forced into servitude and arranged marriages throughout our country and our world.  The lives that they are leaving behind are nothing compared to what they are going into against their will.  They are not allowed to be children anymore.  The idea of playing games, school or having the normal girly lifestyle is no longer a possibility.  They are forced to leave their families, mothers, fathers and siblings.  Some families are compensated financially but others are just taken without any regard for the family.  These marriages are not according to the word of God.  The suffering that is being endured causes them to internalize all of the pain and suffering.  As the scripture proclaims this suffering sometimes may be unbearable but the Glory that will be manifested through Christ will be revealed.  This imprisonment is not of God, not of Christ and has no spiritual basis at all.  The evil that is perpetrated on these young girls is unspeakable.  For their sake, they remain silent.  They cry to the Lord in their groanings to the Spirit.  

The Lord hears them as clearly as He hears us when we pray out loud.  Their families may be in danger, if they complain out loud.  The lives are in jeopardy if they are resistant to their captors.  But we know the power of Prayer!

Prayer

Dear Yahweh Lord, Jehovah, we come to you on behalf of our sisters who can’t speak for themselves. They are fearful for their lives and the lives of their love ones.  We lay out before you and cry Abba Father, our Provider, give them strength.  We cry from our inner most parts. Jehovah-Raah, be their shepherd and guide them through these valleys of darkness.    We cry from the depths of our soul.  Jehovah Rapha, please heal and deliver them.  We intercede with moaning and groaning that connects us to the Holy Spirit on their behalf.  We may be free but are not truly free in our minds so we cry out for ourselves too. Father give them all the peace that will sustain them and help them to endure.  Jehovah Nissi , we ask for divine intervention with their captors that they may  see YOU in them and allow them to be set free.  Jehovah Shammah, You Oh Lord are there with them, protecting them and strengthening their minds and bodies to endure.  Jehovah Jireh, continue to provide their every need.  We thank you in advance for hearing, delivering and being just that kind of Lord God Almighty.  In Jesus name.  AMEN.

Submitted By:

Evangelist Valerie Bates

Newman A.M.E. Church

Pontiac Michigan

Michigan Conference

4th District

Prayer for Healing and Strength to Endure the Challenges That Come With Lupus

Scripture

John 11:4.  When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” 

C. S Lewis states best in The Problem of Pain, “We are, not metaphorically but in very truth, a Divine work of art, something that God is making, and therefore something with which He will not be satisfied until it has a certain character. Here again we come up against what I have called the “intolerable compliment.” Over a sketch made idly to amuse a child, an artist may not take much trouble: he may be content to let it go even though it is not exactly as he meant it to be. But over the great picture of his life—the work which he loves, though in a different fashion, as intensely as a man loves a woman or a mother a child—he will take endless trouble—and would doubtless, thereby give endless trouble to the picture if it were sentient. One can imagine a sentient picture, after being rubbed and scraped and re-commenced for the tenth time, wishing that it were only a thumb-nail sketch whose making was over in a minute. In the same way, it is natural for us to wish that God had designed for us a less glorious and less arduous destiny; but then we are wishing not for more love but for less.”

I was diagnosed Lupus six years ago. My grandmother and aunt suffered from it, so I should have had an understanding of what it was. I did not. Once I began to realize that this pain is real, I had feelings of denial, anger and even depression and grief.  Lord, what did I do wrong? Why do I have to feel this way? After I got over those initial feelings, reality began to set in. I knew I would not be the same person I once was. Some days I have to ease out of bed instead of just hopping up. I have to be very careful not to over extend myself and I try to avoid stress at all costs. It seems hard as we as young women lead very busy lives. But this is what I do to keep my mind healthy and to remain positive.

Take everything to God. Seek His counsel in everything! In too much pain to get out of bed? Allow Him to be your refuge from the pain. Feeling down because you’re unable to do the things you used to?  Don’t dwell on your limitations. Call His name. He’s a wonderful counselor and comforter.  

Get rid of the Debbie Downers. You know who they are.Those people that always bring negativity to everything they do, thus changing the mood of everyone around them.  A chronic illness can take a lot out of you. Surround yourself with positive people. I can’t tell you enough how negative and toxic people can drain your mind and body. They are not good for you or your health.

Volunteer.  Share your time, talents, and gifts with your church and community. You have a lot to contribute to this world! Being able to share your experiences withothers can be very rewarding. Not to mention, interaction with others can build self-worth and offer a sense of belonging.

Let it go.  You may feel let down by your family, your friends, and maybe even your church.  Forgive them and move on. You’re going to hear comments like, “You don’t look sick.” Or “You can’t have that, you’re too young.”Or my favorite, “I wish I can stay in bed all day.” Most people mean well and are actually trying to pay you a compliment.  Did you understand chronic illness before you suffered from it? Just let it go. It’s not worth your time and energy to get angry. I know it’s easier said than done, but for your well-being, let it go. Forgive and move on.

Prayer

Lord, today I pray that you help those that suffer from Lupus and other invisible and chronic illnesses. I pray that You bring restoration and healing into their being. Please provide the strength needed to face today sothere will be no worries tomorrow.   Amen

Jennifer Ellis
Episcopal Member-at-Large
5th Episcopal District