This year I am praying

Easter is an amazing season.  I am so looking forward to the creative gospel presentation at our church (I have had a sneak peek and it is going to be incredible). But on a bigger scale, I can't wait to hear about all the unique ways different churches all over the world are celebrating Easter.

There is something about Easter that people are just more open to coming to church.  And as the Church, we will proclaim the gospel to each and every person who comes through our doors.  The Enemy knows this too.  He will attack in every way he can to stop us.

He will attack our families in any way he can.  If he has to attack our health, our outlook on life, or even our attitude towards each other, he will.  He will try to distract those who are far from God and have had someone invite them to church.  He will do anything he can to stop people from hearing the gospel, and anything he can to stop me from praying.

Sometimes, I forget this.  It's like I get so bogged down in the day to day affairs.  While my husband is working extra hard this week, I am trying to maintain all the actual details.  I just get sidetracked.  Not this year. 

I'm taking today to focus on really praying.  I am praying for my husband as he prepares to invite people to give their lives to Christ.  I am praying for my pastor's wives friends all over the country as they support their husbands and ministries.  I am praying for our staff.  I am praying for all the people who will come.

And I want to pray for you.  If you are on staff at a church, I want to pray for you and your church by name.  If you have invited someone to church who is far from God, I want to pray for them by name.  I am excited to think of all that God is going to do this coming weekend all over our nation and our world.

If you would like for me to pray for you today, leave a comment or mention me on twitter.  I will be checking them all day long and lifting you up.

 

Comments

[Diane]

This will be my second week at Elevation Church. I attended catholic school most of my life, and attended church every week. but with little commitment or willingness. I have been so lost and unsure if god was really a reality for some years now. Please pray for me as I try to find my way back to god.

[Sue]

Please pray for our church, The River in Hartland, MI. Our pastor, Terry and his wife Jeanette are amazing and are so dedicated to our congregation and our mission of turning the largest number of non church seeking people into fully devoted followers of Christ. Please pray that those who are just checking this church out today and tomorrow will feel the Lord speak directly to their hearts and renew their spirits as Jesus draws them close.

[Carrie Gordon]

I am a new member at Elevation Blakeney and I want to thank you and Pastor Steven for helping me to re-open my heart to God. I was raised in the church but had gotten far from God over the last several years. I am learning to have faith and am praying my Sun Stand Still prayer. Thank God for the things that you and your husband are doing through Christ.

In addition to praying for me (which is always welcome :) ), please pray for my friend John Ridderhof. Of all my friends, he is in the most need of the Lord right now. He is such a great person, but his demons are attacking him from every direction. I would love for him to find Jesus and know that he is loved. I have invited him to Elevation, but I'm not sure if I can convince him.

[Summer williams]

Thank you Holly for your prayers and your boldness for Christ. You and Steven are being lifted up in prayer right now. My husband is a pastor of Second Baptist Church in Great Falls, SC and we are throwing a huge "God of this City" block party tomorrow night. There will be free food, worship, and most importantly, the gospel will be presented. Please pray the rain will stay away and many lives will be changed and this hopefully will bring this city to their knees. Also, we have 2 boys, Tucker (5) and Noah (3) please pray they will learn at a young age what Easter is truly about. I have tried my very best to use moments to tell them the true meaning, but it is so hard in a world that says another.

[Brooke Robinson]

Thank you for such an uplifting blog entry!!! My husband and I are having our church's grand opening this saturday in Indiana. (Second Chance Church) We have been experiencing some roadblocks from the enemy but know that God is in control! Thanks for the prayers. We are praying for you at Elevation as well.

[Stacie Wood]

We would LOVE your prayers for South Bay Church! Praying for you guys too!

[Sandra]

Please pray for the town of Cheshire, CT we are having this Saturday our first Easter egg drop ( you were our inspiration:) at the high school football field. Pray for the light and love of Christ to shine on everyone on that day. Also for the 3 services we are having on Sunday morning.

Thank you fr your faithfulness!

[Amanda T]

My husband is the pastor at Lighthouse Church in Hampton, SC. You are so right about the enemy attacking. I felt led to spend extra time this week praying also. I will add your family and your church to my prayers. Thanks for adding my family and my church to yours. Our church- www.lhchampton.org and my blog- www.trenttribe.com

[Cara]

Holly, Please know how blessed my family and I have been over the past 5 years as we have watched Elevation Church online. We pray for you and your family continuously and are honored that you would pray for us too. Please pray that our Elevation Extension Site in Fredonia, NY would continue to experience amazing growth, reaching people who are broken and far from God. Please pray for our Lead Team, that we will also continue to grow stronger to provide a solid foundation for this site. Please pray we will be able to reach more and more community members throughout the summer as many of our Elevators who are college students will be going home on break. Thank you so much for your prayers! Cara and Brett Gould (as well as our kids Ella (9), Oscar (6), and Sawyer (2)

[Shauna]

Holly, thanks for sharing and thanks for your thoughtfulness in lifting these people up in prayer. Looks like you're going to have one busy day! :)

Please pray for a friend of ours, Matt. He recently moved here from AZ and is really having some bad luck right now in his life. We've been bringing him to church with us lately, but I can tell that his heart isn't in it and I wonder if somehow he thinks God is punishing him with all of these things. Please pray that God would touch the very depth of his heart and that he would begin to know God's love for him. Also, pray that the Easter message would transform him in a radical way.

Thanks and we're praying for you and your family as well!

[Talia]

Please pray for my church Clover Hill AG in Midlothian, VA. I'm dating the youth pastor at Clover Hill and we're getting married soon, so I often read your blog to get a glimpse of what it's like to be married to a pastor :)

For Easter, our church will be presenting a salvation message, follow by baptisms based around Elevation's "I Have Decided" theme. We're hoping for 80 people to respond and be baptized. Thank you Elevation for the inspiration. Please pray for us!

[Nicole Opfer]

Thank you for your precious heart Holly ! You can pray for healing in our families relationships. We are dealing with strong pride, hatred and mental illness. God bless You, Pastor Steven, your family and the Elevation staff and congregation as we enter HIS 👆presence this Easter !!!

[Janna]

I will also be praying for you, your husband, and your family in this Holy Week. I appreciate your prayers for my children and me. My preacher husband died suddenly 6 months ago and I still have 3 children at home with the youngest being 9 now. Every "first" without my husband is hard. And this first Holy Week without all of those activities that go on in a minister's family during that time has been sad. My father was a pastor and for 17 years, I was a pastor's wife. And now that I do not have those busy weeks, I wish I did. If I had only known then that those busy times in the life of ministry would end so early, I think I would have tried to live "in the moment" more. And I know I would have "treasured" the moments more. And I would definitely pray for the salvation of others more. Because, as I watched my husband while he lay dying on the day he was rushed to the hospital, I felt my faith at the most gutteral level in my being and I truly realized in a brand new way that, at the end of our lives, NOTHING else matters but believing in the blood of Jesus that was shed during this Holy Week and the Resurrection of our Christ on Easter morning!

I pray that many will be reached through your ministry during this most Holy of weeks!

[Mattie]

Holly: I'm currently dating the Executive Pastor of Grace Point Church out of Macon, Ga. Please pray for him and Pastor Chris will help people find their way back to God this weekend. Pray that God will have his hand over them while they are preparing for 7 worship experiences and also pray for the staff and volunteers. Also Easter will be a fresh start for our Gkids as they enter a new kids building!!! Lets pray for the families that made this happen over a 4 week time. God is so good! Elevation Church has had a major impact on Grace Point and I will keep you, Pastor Steven, all of your volunteers, and staff lifted up in pray for this Easter weekend.

[Lorraine Nyahora]

Holly wishing you and your family a happy Easter. May God bless your works during this time.
Holly Please pray for me also I wont survive the Holidays
God Bless You

[Tabitha Hodges]

Please pray for my husband Stu Hodges @ Waters Edge Church in Yorktown, VA. I know all about the distractions that Satan offers before Christmas and Easter. You are right, he will attack our staff, our families and our marriages. There have been many times when we stop and recognize--hey, it is the week before Easter! That is why all of this crazy stuff is happening! I join you in praying that pastors and their families and church staff won't "be diverted. Just keep at it. Both you and those who hear you will experience salvation."

[Leslie]

My husband is the worship pastor at our church. We are providing three services this Sunday. Our people have been amazing at inviting their friends, neighbors and acquaintances. Please pray that my husbands voice holds out, that our family is united and that myself and my kids can be a great support to him this week. We have several Easter activities planned the rest of this week and my son's birthday.

[Rachel]

please pray for our church, Suncrest, and my husband, the pastor, Andy as he brings the message for Easter

[Betty Reed]

Holly: I wanted to Thank You and Pastor for your Faithfulness and dedication to doing God's work. What an impact your family has had on my life and my family's. I moved to Orlando six months ago, I have found a church here but nothing comes close to Elevation Church. I am driving 8 hours Thursday night to be able to attend the service at Blakeney on Friday at 5, then I have to drive back Saturday!!! People think I am crazy, which is true. I am crazy for God and need to be filled with Christ that only being in side Elevation can give me...I have started coming back at least once a month just to be powered up by my Elevation Home. I watch the sermons on line in between, but it is not the same as being live to worship. I love Elevation!!! Blessings, Betty

[Jenny]

Please pray for our church's presentation of the Easter story, Mandatum, TONIGHT, at First Methodist in Richmond, KY. Thank you.

[Karen]

Please pray for my friend, Aubrey, who I invited to church for Easter - she hasn't decided if she is going to come yet or not - so pray that she will come to church and that the Lord would speak directly to her!

[Alexis]

Please pray for me.

I need clear direction from God.

I need to conquer the issues that threaten my health.

Thanks for your prayers!

[April Colquett]

Holly, thanks for sharing. This is a great reminder for us Pastors wives this week/weekend. My husband Eric is the connections pastor at Wellspring Church in Myrtle Beach, SC. We have 3 young children. There are always distractions. Praying in Jesus name for us and others to defeat the odds against the enemy! - April

[Bethany Kush]

Praying along with you for churches & pastors across the country! Please pray for Southbrook Church where my husband is one of the pastors & for Riverbank Chuch in NH where my brother is the pastor. Believing for a great movement of God!

[Elevation GTA]

Holly, wow, thank you for your thoughtfulness and passion for the Lord and all that He will do this weekend all over the world. We would love for you to pray for our Greater Toronto Area extension team who is making a 700+ mile miracle trek down to Charlotte to be blessed and challenged this weekend. Challenged to replicate the impact you have had in Charlotte in our city. We are praying for your family, for everyone involved in this presentation and for the many lives to be changed this weekend. Thanks Holly. Wayne