As many of us continue to remain close to home during this time — or take precautions when we do venture out — we ask that you continue to keep each other in prayer.
Please continue to pray for our church members, families, and those close to us who have shared a special part of our lives —
Please continue to pray for Doris, sons Rob, Eric, and Mark and all the Van Ostenbridge family for the recent loss of Bob — a devoted husband, father, and grandfather, and faithful friend to so many.
Our ongoing prayers continue for Anne Allen & Family (including Anne’s daughters, Liz & family and Sara & Boyd Lowry & Family); Ed Archbold; Rich Balch & family (on the recent passing of Rich’s Mother, Eleanor); Laura Bird-Bennett & Family; Okey Chenoweth & Family (on the recent passing of Jane); Rich Dethmers; Beryl Ferrari; Jean Franklin; Terry Gilligan & Family; Colleen Janssen & Family; Eric Lundquist & Family; Connie Sinkway and the Sinkway/Emery Family; Rev. Jerry Wright and his family; Barbara Zucchino & Family; the Ruth Rankin Leaper Family.
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In addition, please keep all those whose lives have been affected and lost by the blazing ravaging wildfires in Northern California; and
those whose lives have been lost and devastated from the severe damages caused by Hurricane Laura in Louisiana and Texas (and Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico.) Many of us have family and/or friends in these parts of the country.
We pray that God continues to strengthen, comfort, and provide for all who have lost loved ones, their homes or vehicles, special heirlooms in these disasters and that aid is provided in helping to put lives back together.
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Two of our church families are sending their young adults off to college for the first time — Caitlin O’Brien (University of Delaware) and Angelina Monti (Stockton University) — and we ask that you remember them in prayer. As many of us know, anticipation of being a college freshman is exciting, yet stirs up mixed emotions and can create anxiety for both students and their families. During these unprecedented times, as we continue to navigate COVID-19, we especially ask that you keep these young women and their families in prayer and that they adapt safely to their new lives away from Glen Rock.
Suggested prayers for parents to pray for our college students during this time:
Lord, as my child embarks on his/her college years, we ask that You would guide and protect him/her. College is an amazing time, but it’s also a time when many young people become unfocused on their faith and divert their attention to following their peers. Please protect him/her. Please guide him/her to make the right decisions when it comes to peer pressure, partying and other negative influences. Please also help him/her to be a witness in the classroom and out of the classroom. I also ask that You would help him/her to seek Your will. In Jesus’ name, Amen
We also ask that you keep all our children, youth and young adults in prayer as they head back to elementary, middle and high school in a few weeks (whether it be in person or virtually), as well as our college undergrads and recent graduates as they move forward with their education and future. We also pray for their teachers whose lives have been dramatically changed as well.
Suggested prayers for parents to pray for students entering elementary, middle, and high school during this challenging time:
Elementary School-Age:
“Lord, please bless our child. We ask in this back-to-school prayer that You give him/her strength and courage to be away from his family — and that You sustain and guide him/her as he/she learns and grows. We ask that You protect and be with him/her this school year and that You equip us as parents to help guide him/her. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
Middle School-Age:
“God, as my child heads toward middle school I pray that You would guide him/her. There are new pressures coming as high school approaches. I ask that you protect my child’s heart and mind. Help him/her to focus on You and to remember You in his/her interactions with others. I also pray that You would help him/her to find the right friends and influences. Please guide me as a parent as I navigate the middle school waters and help guide my child. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.”
High School-Age:
“Lord, Please guide our family and protect our child throughout these high school years. I pray that You protect him/her against peer pressure, and that You help him/her to take his/her studies seriously. Peer pressure concerns me, especially in a culture that embraces so many values that contradict what we have tried to follow in our family. Please protect him/her as he/she navigates the waters of high school. I am so grateful for the ways in which You have guided my life and I pray You do the same for my child. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.”
And, A Prayer for our Teachers:
Lord, I recognize that prayer for teachers is essential. Please help my child’s teacher(s) have strength and perseverance this upcoming school year. I ask that You would also give clarity so that he/she can focus on academics and imparting knowledge and wisdom on the children. Please help the school year to move smoothly for everyone this year. In Jesus name, Amen.