October Prayer Guide
October: Strengthen Our Leaders
Each week, use this 7-day cycle of Scripture and prayer to guide your time with the Lord. In week 2, start back with Day 1. As you pray, remember our staff, elders, ministry leaders, group leaders, and everyone who carries responsibility in helping lead and care for others at City Awakening.
Day 1 – Strength for the Work
Isaiah 40:29-31
“He gives strength to the faint and strengthens the powerless. Youths may become faint and weary, and young men stumble and fall, but those who trust in the Lord will renew their strength; they will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not become weary; they will walk and not faint.”
Pray: Leadership can be demanding, and those who care for others can become tired and discouraged. Pray that God would renew the strength of our staff, elders, and team leaders. Ask Him to sustain them physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. Pray that they would not lead out of exhaustion or self-reliance, but out of the strength that God provides.
Day 2 – Wisdom for Decisions
James 1:5
“Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God—who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly—and it will be given to him.”
Pray: Our leaders make countless decisions that affect people, ministries, and the future of our church. Pray that God would give them wisdom beyond their own experience and understanding. Ask for discernment to know what to pursue, what to release, when to move, and when to wait. Pray that every decision would be shaped by God's Word and led by His Spirit.
Day 3 – Faithfulness in Character
1 Timothy 3:1-7
“This saying is trustworthy: ‘If anyone aspires to be an overseer, he desires a noble work.’ An overseer, therefore, must be above reproach…”
Pray: Before God is concerned with what our leaders accomplish, He cares about who they are becoming. Pray for the character, integrity, and spiritual health of our staff, elders, and leaders. Ask God to protect their hearts, marriages, families, and private lives. Pray that their leadership in public would be consistent with their faithfulness in private.
Day 4 – Humility and Dependence
John 15:4-5
“Remain in me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, neither can you unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches… because you can do nothing without me.”
Pray: Leadership can tempt us to depend on our experience, gifting, preparation, or personality. Pray that our leaders would remain deeply dependent on Jesus. Ask God to protect them from pride, self-sufficiency, and the pressure to prove themselves. Pray that their leadership would flow from a healthy relationship with Christ rather than simply working for Him.
Day 5 – Courage to Lead
Joshua 1:9
“Have I not commanded you: Be strong and courageous? Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
Pray: Leading people often requires difficult conversations, hard decisions, and the courage to remain faithful when it would be easier to compromise. Pray that our leaders would have the courage to do what is right, even when it is difficult. Ask God to help them lead with conviction, grace, and confidence—not because they have all the answers, but because God is with them.
Day 6 – Love for People
1 Peter 5:2-3
“Shepherd God’s flock among you, not overseeing out of compulsion but willingly, as God would have you; not out of greed for money but eagerly; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.”
Pray: Ask God to continually give our leaders a genuine love for the people they serve. Pray that they would see people not as problems to solve or tasks to accomplish, but as people made in God's image and deeply loved by Him. Pray for patience, compassion, and grace as they shepherd, teach, serve, and lead others.
Day 7 – Multiplication of Leaders
2 Timothy 2:2
“What you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, commit to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.”
Pray: Healthy leadership multiplies. Pray that God would raise up new leaders within City Awakening. Ask Him to identify and develop future elders, staff members, ministry leaders, group leaders, and disciple-makers. Pray that our current leaders would not simply carry the work themselves but would invest in others and equip them to lead.