Explanation Notes for CONNECT Prayer Guide

1) Stay focused on the Prayer Challenge for that day.

Focused prayer is powerful prayer.  It is easy to get distracted during times of prayer.  As other things come to your mind, write them down to pray about them later when you have finished your current session.

2) Meditate on the Bible passage for that day.

Let the Holy Spirit speak to you through them and show you how they address your family, the church community, our local community, our country.

3) Prepare your heart for intercession.

Let the Holy Spirit draw you into Gods presence and respond to Him as He speaks to you.  Open your heart and your life to Him before you begin your time of intercession.  Enjoy the closeness of His presence and fellowship.

4) Read the life story.

Be encouraged & challenged by the experience and life story from someone in our church.

5) Use the prayer suggestions as starting points.

The prayer points provide areas of concern you can focus on, but they are not comprehensive.  As you bring these concerns before the Lord, let the Holy Spirit guide you into other related areas that need your prayer.  And always consider how to personalize your prayer.  Consider praying for specific family members and friends, for your church, and so on.

6) Conclude with thanksgiving.

God hears the prayers of His people and responds.  While He always acts according to His will, He has told us already it is His will to restore the blessing of the land and of a people who meet His requirements for blessing.  It is right to thank God for hearing you and working to glorify Himself through your prayers.

7) The 40 Days of Lent does not include Sundays

As you may already know Lent actually lasts for 46 days but is called the forty days of Lent.  That is because Sundays are not counted as part of the Lenten season.  Therefore the Prayer Guide does not have entries for Sundays.