Prayer News | Where Christians Pray Through the News
x

Prayer List: Suicides Increase Among the Jobless


suicide-depression

Newsmax reports, “Suicide rates are soaring, according to federal data released last week. Especially in economically depressed states and job-starved regions like upstate New York.” Stagnating wages and lost jobs are blamed for this tragedy. The suicide rate jumped in Alabama’s Walker County when coal mines closed.

Here’s a scary fact: “Suicide kills more middle agers than flu, pneumonia, and diabetes combined.”

Prayer List

* Pray for people contemplating suicide to get emotional and financial support.
* Pray for pastors, priests, counselors and family members to have discernment in dealing with people that are suicidal.
* Pray for the unemployed to find obtain new employment.
* Pray for struggling business owners to make wise business decisions.
* Pray for people surviving paycheck to paycheck to be able to save money and get out of the financial hole they are in.

Recent Prayer Lists

* Prayer List: IMB Loses 983 Missionaries
* Ship Sinks Causing Possibly 500 Deaths
* Earthquake Kills 300 in Ecuador

x

Prayer List: IMB Loses 983 Missionaries


IMBconnecting
In February Baptist Press reported that 983 missionaries with the International Mission Board had resigned their positions or taken voluntary retirement. The mission agency was forced to reduce its workforce after experiencing six years of large budget deficits.

Prayer List

* Pray for the Holy Spirit to move mightily among the church plants and new converts served by these retiring missionaries.
* Pray for the retiring missionaries to find new jobs and opportunities to share the gospel and make disciples.
* Pray for increased funding for missionaries to be sent to unreached people groups.
* Pray for the International Mission Board’s leadership to have discernment in making future business and outreach decisions.

Recent Prayer Lists

* Ship Sinks Causing Possibly 500 Deaths
* Earthquake Kills 300 in Ecuador

x

Prayer Focus: Ship Sinks Causing Possibly 500 Deaths


CNN reports, “As many as 500 migrants may have died when a large ship sank in the Mediterranean last week between Libya and Italy, the United Nations refugee agency said Wednesday.”

The disaster occurred while smugglers moved the migrants from one ship to another.

Prayer List

* Pray for the Holy Spirit to comfort the families and friends of the deceased and missing.
* Pray for any survivors still at sea to be rescued.
* Pray for new housing and safety for the refugees seeking a new place to live.
* Pray for human traffickers to not cause harm.

x

Prayer Focus: Earthquake Kills 300 in Ecuador


ecuador

BuzzFeed reports, “More than 300 people have died and over 2,000 injured after magnitude-7.8 earthquake struck the coast of Ecuador Saturday, prompting a state of emergency across six provinces.” The Associated Press also reports that “as many as 5,000 people may need temporary housing after the quake destroyed homes, and 100,000 may need some sort of aid.”

Prayer List

* Pray for the Holy Spirit to comfort the families and friends of the deceased.
* Pray for the healing for the injured.
* Pray for housing for the homeless.
* Pray for businesses to recover from natural disaster.
* Pray for Christians to assist the earthquake victims and meet their physical, emotional and spiritual needs.

x

Prayer Focus: Earthquakes Strike Pakistan, New Zealand and California


Reuters reports, “Six people were killed across northern Pakistan although there appeared to be no widespread damage after a strong earthquake rattled major cities across South Asia at the weekend, authorities said on Monday.”

Recent earthquakes also struck in New Zealand and in the United States (California).

Prayer List

* Pray for the Holy Spirit to comfort the families and friends of the deceased.
* Pray for the healing for the injured.
* Pray for property owners to recover from destruction caused by the earthquakes.
* Pray for Christians to assist the earthquake victims and meet their physical, emotional and spiritual needs.

x

Prayer Focus: 265 Active American Soldiers Committed Suicide in 2015


USA Today reports, “The Pentagon reported Friday that 265 active-duty servicemembers killed themselves last year, continuing a trend of unusually high suicide rates that have plagued the U.S. military for at least seven years.”

Prayer List

* Pray for soldiers struggling with post traumatic stress disorder to obtain emotional support from their families, friends, neighbors, churches and chaplains.
* Pray for the Holy Spirit to comfort depressed soldiers.
* Pray for military families grieving because a family member committed suicide.
* Pray for chaplains, counselors, military commanders and family members to have discernment in how to respond to a suicidal soldier.