Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name!
Psalm 103: 1 (ESV)
Yes! I WILL bless his holy name.
When I think of the word “will,” it’s an action word. This lets me know we must put action into how we praise the Lord. Sometimes I praise him just because, sometimes I praise him because sadness is trying to overtake me, sometimes I praise him because he has manifested something great in my life, and sometimes I praise him for manifesting something great in others’ lives.
I will bless the Lord at ALL times; his praise shall CONTINUALLY be in my mouth.
Psalm 34: 1 (ESV)
I emphasized the words “all” and “continually.” There’s never a reason we can’t bless the Lord. So today, as we prepare to start our days, let’s bless the Lord and forget not his benefits (Psalm 103: 2, ESV).
Dear God, thank you for your great love and blessing over our lives. Thank you that your favor has no end, but it lasts for our entire lifetime. Forgive us for forgetting that you are intimately acquainted with all our ways (Psalm 139: 3, ESV). You know what concerns us, and you cover us with a shield. We ask that we would walk in your blessing and goodness today. Let your face shine on us. Open the right doors for our lives and for our loved ones and close the wrong doors and protect us from those we need to walk away from. Establish the work of our hands and bring it to fulfillment all that you have given us to do in these days (Psalm 90: 17, ESV).
We pray you would make our way purposeful and our footsteps firm out of your goodness and love. Give us a heart of wisdom to hear your voice and make us strong by your huge favor and grace. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Arhonda Osborne MSN, RN
My thanks to Arhonda Osborne for contributing this month’s prayer reflection. Arhonda is the co-leader of the Delaware Nurses Christian Fellowship group. She also leads The Hour of Power which exists to demolish racism in the body of Christ by bringing people together around our core love – Jesus Christ. Arhonda extends an open invitation to The Hour of Power on the first Saturday each month at 10:00 a.m. Eastern time. Join Zoom Meeting.
References:
Holy Bible, English Standard Version. (2001). Crossway.
You can download the March Prayer Calendar here.
March Prayer Calendar
- March 1 – We pray for the people of Ukraine and ask for a return of peace to the region. May God guide and protect those who are fleeing and those who must remain behind. Comfort hearts and provide strength for the days ahead. Give wisdom to the country’s leaders and to the leaders of other countries as they respond to the crisis. We thank God for the bravery of the Ukrainian people and for citizens in Russia who have protested the invasion. Pray for strength and discernment for medical communities including faith community nurses in the area as they provide care and support in these difficult days with limited supplies and resources. Hear our cries, dear God.
- March 2 – Pray for our JCN editorial staff members. Many are caring for loved ones that are ill or having surgery. Pray also for Leanne Snavely, NCF’s Marketing and Communications Manager, as she recovers from surgery to repair a broken wrist.
- March 3 – Prayers for encouragement, opportunities, and open hearts as NCF staff engage in a week of ministry partner development during the first week of March.
- March 4 – Please keep the NCF Student Ministries National Online Retreat that will be April 2nd in your prayers. We ask for God’s guidance in our planning the event itself and for the Holy Spirit to prepare hearts (and schedules!) of those who He wants to reach through this time of reflection.
- March 5 – Pray for Christian faculty who are starting up a nursing program again at Ft. Valley State College. Ft. Valley State College is a historically Black college/university. Pray specifically for InterVarsity’s new faculty advisor who recently lost her mother unexpectedly and is grieving. Pray for wisdom as she also plans to start NCF there as well.
- March 6 – We give thanks to God for the 70+ participants who joined in the February Journal Club on caring for refugees. Excellent expert input and participant interaction resulted in a valuable experience.
- March 7 – Pray for Christy Secor, NCF’s Professional Ministries Director, as she and a team of nurses across the United States facilitate conversations using the Saline Process with nurses from Uganda and Zambia. Pray for the conversations and material to equip each person involved to be a more strategic witness and light to those we care for and encounter in our nursing practice and in our communities.
- March 8 – Praise God for the new JCN Editorial Board who will support the mission of the journal to help students, nurses, and educator practice from a biblically based, Christian perspective. Thank him for a good initial board meeting in February and the wisdom that was shared. Pray that this new editorial board functions well with strategic planning for the Journal of Christian Nursing.
- March 9 – Ask the Holy Spirit to illuminate how he wants NCF to respond to the overwhelming needs of nursing today—how does he want to support students, nurses, and educators? What Bible studies should we develop and offer? What topics on the NCF Blog? What articles in the Journal of Christian Nursing? What national virtual webinars?
- March 10 – Pray for Christy Secor and for Skip McDonald as they share with other believers at the Healthcare Christian Fellowship’s North America prayer conference over the weekend. Pray for God to use what is shared to provide encouragement for those serving in healthcare.
- March 11 – Praise God for an amazing Twin Cities NCF webinar Feb 22 on Practicing as a Spiritually Healthy Nurse. Thank God for the Twin Cities NCF team and for speaker Beth Peterson.
- March 12 – NCF Student Ministries will be sending out a team (Katharine Provost/National Campus Staff Minister, Jen Wojtysiak/National Student Ministries Director, and Kathy Schoonover-Shoffner/National NCF Director) to Nashville March 12th - 16th to help plant chapters, encourage existing chapters, and meet with campuses that do not have any NCF presence. We are excited to see what God will do and ask for prayer for all the details and logistics so that we can maximize our time there.
- March 13 – Intercede for NCF as we examine our publishing contract for Journal of Christian Nursing. Pray for great wisdom and for favor with our publisher.
- March 14 – Pray for the hiring of new NCF staff, that God would bring those he is calling to serve with this ministry, and for discernment as NCF leaders move forward in hiring.
- March 15 – Praise God for the completion of the Bible study Skip McDonald completed on depression which is now available on Amazon. Pray for God to use it mightily in the lives of others.
- March 16 – Please keep the East Texas NCF Retreat which will be taking place April 8 – 10. Pray for Jane Hall, who has served NCF as its director, as she makes final preparations for the talks and individual and group work and as she also speaks at the retreat. Ask the Lord to open the hearts and minds of those who will be coming to be ready to hear from him regarding how they can find rest in Jesus day by day.
- March 17 – Journal of Christian Nursing editors praise God for the new issue of the journal coming out later this month with strong articles for nurses in practice and education. God has blessed the journal with a healthy number of article submissions on pertinent topics.
- March 18 – Thank God for the JCN team and authors who worked hard to prepare the manuscripts for the upcoming July/September issue of the journal. Manuscripts are turned in today for production for this issue. Pray for the production of the issue, that God will guide, and for the process to move forward smoothly.
- March 19 – Ask God to bring more nurses, students, and educators to NCF membership. Ask him to facilitate all the processes that allow nurses to join NCF and remind members to renew.
- March 20 – We are seeing God at work through the connection and support that’s a part of our Sunday evening times of prayer. We ask for God to continue to use the prayers of these students and nurses as well as the truth from his Word to support the needs of students, faculty, nurses, and our profession.
- March 21 – Pray for the development of the 2022-2023 NCF budget which Kathy Schoonover-Shoffner will prepare in March. Pray for wisdom, discernment, and for God to lead Kathy in this process.
- March 22 – Please lift in prayer the nursing students and nurse educators as they have spring break this month. We pray they can have a refreshing break and time to take a pause to spend time with God.
- March 23 – Please pray for Skip McDonald, who serves NCF in the Southeast region of the United States, as she completes her Spiritual Director training this spring.
- March 24 – Prayers for the Journal of Christian Nursing to flourish in this new year of 2022 and for its reach to be widened.
- March 25 – Praise God for a refreshing sabbatical for Skip McDonald. She is back in full force, and only wants to put her hand to what the Father says. Pray for wisdom and discernment for her as she continues to follow God’s plan for her life.
- March 26 – Praise! We are thankful for God’s hand in growing student groups and raising new leaders despite the challenges of many having to meet online or pause in the past two years.
- March 27 – Christian Community Health Fellowship is gearing up for its conference on April 7th – 9th. Please remember to pray for Brook Gumm, an APRN nurse in Cincinnati, who is heading up the prayer ministry. Pray for Brook as she leads this ministry and for the CCHF conference to make a tremendous impact on God’s Kingdom work.
- March 28 – Pray for our March Tabletop Discussion as we meet tonight with NCF staff and special guest, Nancy Schornack (a licensed mental health counselor), to discuss The Power of Relationship: Sharing Our Stories. Pray for God to use this time to bring healing and voice to the concerns many in healthcare are experiencing.
- March 29 – Pray for our growing number of professional nurse groups and their leaders who will gather this evening for our monthly Zoom call. We praise God for the wisdom and heart’s desire of each leader to see others deepen or begin a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Pray for God to encourage us for what he sees as possible through these groups.
- March 30 – Pray for wisdom for NCF’s staff as we continue our preparations for National Nurses Week/Month. Pray for strength, discernment, and wisdom for nurses who continue to deal with the trauma of these past two years and as they seek solutions for the challenges we face in education and nursing.
- March 31 – Pray for the leaders of the Caribbean and North America (CANA) Nurses Christian Fellowship International team as they prepare content for their October 15th virtual conference “Evidence-Based Spiritual Care in Nursing Practice.” Pray for God to speak to nurses as they participate in the webinars and for registration as it opens on April 15th.
