Prayer based on Acts 13

Father God, we thank You for the preachers and teachers that You have given to Your church. We pray that You will lead them to the precise places that You have for them to go, that they might serve You in fruitful work according to Your plan. Help these men to be forthright in their speech, for men-pleasers will not be helpful to the progress of the truth. Help these servants to see this life in a right way, so that they will not fall into the many temptations that so easily ensnare those who are called to be servants of the Word. Grant that these preachers and teachers would have an accurate understanding of the Old and New Testaments. May they be in the Word day by day in ways that are helpful for their own souls, and for the understanding of those who will hear them. Help them to see Christ, His atoning work, and His glorious resurrection as the very center of Your living Word. What a joy it is to see Your Son as the surprising fulfillment of the Word given to Your people even under the period of the Law! We have been freed from sin by the message and power of Christ. We pray that the ministry of Your Word would be powerful in both truth and boldness in our day. How can this happen if the men that You call as Your servants are trapped by worldliness and idolatry? Sanctify Your church, including her ministers, and grant all of Your assemblies a strong hope of eternal life and the fullness of joy even now through the Holy Spirit.