Have you ever considered praying for the businesses and business people in your church, asking God to prosper them so that they might become a blessing to the church and to others? The prayer ministry team in one church in Texas began to do just that and saw God do amazing things!

In Genesis 12, Abraham was called by God to leave his country and go where the Lord was calling him to go. He promised Abraham that he would be blessed so that he could become a blessing to all the peoples and nations of the earth because of his faithfulness and obedience.

It was Abraham’s story that prompted Abraham’s Blessing. The church purchased some plastic pages with slots big enough for business cards and put the pages in a binder. Next, they began to share with the congregation that on a certain Sunday they were going to collect the business cards of everyone who owned, managed or were part of a business. After the business cards were collected, the congregation prayed for the businesses in their community to honor the Lord and that they would prosper in amazing ways so that they could bless God’s kingdom.

The businesses and people represented by the cards in the binder were regularly prayed over by the leadership of the church and by the prayer team. On Sundays, the binder was placed on a table in the sanctuary where it was accessible to the congregation. Also, a different business was focused on each week. The person on the business card came forward and was prayed over.

Through the weeks and months to come, the congregation watched God answer their prayers in big ways through prospering the businesses and their owners/managers/salespeople, etc. Here are some of the Scriptures that you can pray for the businesses and business people in your congregation – for the glory and praise of God and for the sake of His kingdom:

Deuteronomy 28:3   “Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country.

Deuteronomy 28:8 “The LORD will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The LORD your God will bless you in the land he is giving you.”

Deuteronomy 28:12  “The LORD will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none.”

Job 36:11: “If they obey and serve him, they will spend the rest of their days in prosperity and their years in contentment”

Ps 37:4: “Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

Ps 34:9-10: “Fear the LORD, you his holy people, for those who fear him lack nothing.”

DEUT 11:13-15: “So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today—to love the LORD your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul— then I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and olive oil. I will provide grass in the fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied.”

Matt 6:19-21: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also”

1 CHR 29:11-12: “Yours, LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. Wealth and honor come from you…”

Luke 6:38: “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

2 Cor 9:10: “Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.”

Ps 84:11-12: “For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless. LORD Almighty, blessed is the one who trusts in you.”

1 JOHN 5:14-15: “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.”

JER 17:7-8: “But blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”

Matt 6:31-33: “So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear? For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. “

MAL 3:10: “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.”

PROV 3:9-10: “Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine. “

ACTS 14:17: “Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.”

ISA 58:10-11: “And if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday… You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.”

Ps 37:3-5,11: “Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart…”

2 COR 9:6-7: “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

2 Cor 9:8: “And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.”

Deut 8:18: “But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.”

PHIL 4:19: “And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.

PS 115:13-14: “he will bless those who fear the LORD— small and great alike. May the LORD cause you to flourish, both you and your children. May you be blessed by the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.”

PROV 11:25: “A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.”

3 John 1:2: “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.”

JER 29:11: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

© Harvest Prayer Ministries, 2020

By Kim Butts

We all know that in good times, it seems easier to pray. Our prayers flow from a place of gratitude and peace, thankfulness and joy. Yet, in difficult or painful times, it is much harder to press into the Lord in prayer. We know in our heads that God is the place we should go whether our circumstances are good or bad; however, sometimes we can feel paralyzed with fear, doubt, anger, disbelief, sadness, uncertainty, and a wide range of other emotions depending upon the situation.

Sometimes, it is only out of the absolute desperation of our heart that we overcome the paralysis and run to the Father…even if that running involves no words at all. There are times when it is all we can do to come into His presence and just sit in our pain, loneliness, fear, or whatever emotion is overtaking us. But one amazing truth about God is that our hearts can cry out in the silence…and God still hears. This is a key principle of prayer that we must always remember: God is always there! He is present with us continually.

Be assured, His word says that He will never leave us or forsake us (Deuteronomy 31:6). He will not leave us in this difficult place unless we insist on staying there. If we seek Him with all of our heart, we will find Him (Jeremiah 29:13). He longs to comfort us and sit with us in the midst of our trial. His will, plan and purposes are unfolding in His perfect timing even when it doesn’t seem this way to us.

Here are some specific ways to pray during difficult times, as well as when any trial comes your way, and they will:

1. Pray that God will be honored and glorified, whatever your circumstance, even if you have to suffer or go through a difficult time: “…and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me” (Psalm 50:15). “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith – of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire – may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed” (1 Peter 1:6-7).
2. Love and pray for people who cause harm or suffering to you, or to others: “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you’” (Matthew 5:43-44).
3. Pray for God to show you what He needs you to learn in the midst of difficult times: “He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way” (Psalm 25:9).
4. Give thanks to God in the midst of whatever you are walking through: “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:18). Important note: He does not say to give thanks for your circumstances, but to give thanks in the midst of them!
5. Pray that God will help you to be faithful instead of fearful when trials come: “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him” (James 1:12).
6. Pray that God will help you to be a light in the darkness to those who don’t yet know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior: “In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). When people see the way you walk through difficulty, they will want to know where you draw your strength from!
7. Give thanks to God because He has overcome the trials and troubles of the world: “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).