Most Merciful God:
 
We come before you praying not for our will for the church, but for your will.  Allow us to reflect you in all that we say and do.  Grant us boldness to cry out for what the church should be. Grant us humility to accept wisdom from those that have come before us.  Grant us patience so that we can respond to others appropriately.  Grant us strength so that we may not waiver from your desires for the church.  Help us to renew a passion for the lost in the church.  Make us uncomfortable with accepting the status quo.  
 
Ignite a passion amongst all in the church for those that are hurting and lost.  Give children’s ministers a heart for the fatherless.  Give youth ministers a heart for the friendless.  Give campus ministers a heart for those that are lonely in a sea of people.  Give pastors a heart for all that are broken.  Let us truly live out your great commandment, not because we should, but because we love you and our neighbors. 
 
Make your call on young leaders so loud that they cannot ignore it.  Embolden them to unabashedly proclaim you to the world.  Give them tough skin to handle the struggles that will come.  Give them soft hearts that are filled with love for you and your children.  Give them a desire to renew the church while learning from and embracing those that have served you faithfully.  
 
Fill us with discontent over the poverty that is in our own communities, states, country, and throughout the world.  Move us to step outside of our comfort zones so that we might truly be your hands and feet.  Let us give generously not only of our money but of our lives.  Make us uncomfortable with hungry children, sick mothers and abandoned senior citizens. 
 
We bow before you hoping the church will meet the needs of lost generations.  We are not comfortable with groups being ignored.  We see the church filled with those that have been rejected in the past.  We see every member of the church building relationships with those that do not know you and loving them unconditionally.  We seek to love them not because we think that we can save them, but because you love them.  
 
We dedicate ourselves to “growth in grace, building in love, enlargement in service, increase in wisdom, faith, charity and power.” 
 
In the most holy name of Jesus Christ,
 
Amen.
 
Chad Foster is a member of the North Carolina Annual Conference and plans to attend Asbury Theological Seminary in the fall of 2010.  You can visit his website at http://chadmfoster.com.