Prayer for Community

We walked in not knowing that much. Only that we had each committed ourselves to a year at Crooked Creek Ranch to serve as year-long interns.

There were ten of us that first day. In the past two weeks, those ten strangers have started to feel like family. We live together, play together, and work together.

This is my prayer for us and for our community together:

Heavenly Father, it is by Your sure grace and provision that You have brought me to Crooked Creek and it is by Your hand that You have brought each of the nine other interns here as well. It is by Your hand that we are blessed to live together and to learn about one another. And it is by Your hand that we will grow together. May we never lose sight of your faithfulness and provision in this year. 

I must admit that it is scary being in such a close knit community, but I find hope in who You are and who You have created us to be. You have created us for these relationships and You have created us to know You through our relationships with one another. Lord Jesus, may we know You more because of our relationships with one another. May You grant us the courage to be vulnerable and honest with one another. There will be days when all we want to do is put up our defensive walls and guard ourselves, but I pray that You shatter our unsound defenses and that we may find hope in You, El Roi, the One Who Sees. 

O God, make us a community that desires to seek Your face. Seeking You is not always easy. There are distractions all around us, things vying for our attention and focus, but I pray that above all our desire is to seek You and You alone. Remind us, God, that we were created for more than just this earth and that we were created for eternity with You. May we never lose sight of You, the Lord Almighty, our Father in Heaven who sent His Son down to earth to live as a man and die the death that we deserve. Oh, may we never lose sight of that. For all other things of this world, no matter how good they are, are a vain hope for deliverance and they will not save us; for You have already saved us.

Lord, my prayer for our community is that we in all things, we spur one another another towards Christ. That we encourage one another to know Jesus better every day and to lay our burdens down at the Cross. Some days this will be difficult and some days I will not feel like encouraging my friends, but God, You are greater still and You can do all things through me, so help me to spur my friends on, even in my worst of days. 

Grant us grace, Lord, as we fumble through these new relationships and friendships. Grant us grace so that we may extend one another grace. Some days we will hurt one another's feelings and some days we will fail at loving one another well; give us grace on those days. And then some days we will love one another well and we will be the friends that each other deserve; give us grace on those days too. Help us to keep short accounts and to forgive one another, on our good days and on our bad days; because You have forgiven us first. 

And at the end of this year, Lord, I pray that we can say that we are a community that loves You with all of our hearts, minds, and souls. And a community that loves our neighbors as ourselves. 

Thank You, Lord, for bringing us all together in this small ski town in the Colorado mountains. Thank You for knowing our hearts and for loving us so that we can love one another. Thank You for giving us the opportunity to create an environment for Christ to be glorified. 

Oh God, be exalted. Be exalted in our hearts, in our minds, and in our community. Almighty Amen. 

While this is my prayer for myself and the nine other year-long interns here at Crooked Creek, it is my prayer for you and your community as well. I pray that the Lord blesses whatever community you find yourself in and that your community is one that is centered on Jesus.