Heritage 21: A Prayerful Look Forward

As Americans pause to offer thanks in this season, I’m mindful that is about more than family and food and football (though I’m certainly a fan of all three!). The spiritual discipline of thankfulness is fueled by faith. Thanksgiving is grateful prayer language. We pray thanks in faith for what God has done, is doing, and that which God will do.

So, in this time of thanksgiving and the approach of a new year, I can’t help but especially express gratitude for the ministry to which God has recently called me. Since beginning my new role as Executive Director of the Heritage 21 Foundation, I’ve tried to spend time listening and learning. I realize that God precedes me in this ministry. God has been at work through the visionary efforts of the H21 board members long before they offered me the opportunity to join the team. The gifted leaders that began and continue to serve God’s kingdom through H21 are some of the most motivated and sacrificial people I know. For them and their ministry, I pray thanks!

I’ve accepted this challenge prayerfully. The very blunt words of a wise mentor still ring clear, Leaders make prayer a top priority and losers make prayer a last resort! So, with that sense of priority, I share my prayer list for Heritage 21 as we look forward to 2024:

Holy God – Father, Son and Spirit, I pray that your kingdom would come, and your will would be done through the ministry of Heritage 21 as it is in heaven. Looking ahead into 2024 in faith, may you bless:

• Our commitment to being a Renewal partner for declining churches – May the assessment and accountability of our renewal coaching be a catalyst for revival in churches that desperately want to share the good news of Jesus and his kingdom.
• Our commitment to being a trusted resource when churches Repurpose – Lord, while your kingdom is eternal, we know that congregations have lifecycles, much like the people in them. So, we ask for your wisdom as we coach and counsel in these difficult decisions. May we encourage and equip for wise stewardship.
• Our commitment to Replant in the kingdom – Holy God, please use us to cultivate the soil of society to plant the seed of your kingdom so that in the future, your harvest would be realized. Give us the wisdom to equip gifted followers of you son Jesus along the trajectory of your Spirit’s leading.
• The expansion of our network of Ambassadors – Lord, please raise up additional gifted people to serve churches alongside us in a variety of ways, especially those with gifts in legal and real estate services. Increase our relationships and our capacity to serve.
• The sharing of what you are doing through H21 – Lord, this is your ministry, and we seek to communicate effectively and with transparency through many avenues about what you are doing with more people in more places. Bless us with traveling mercies as we venture across the nation to share the story of how you are working through H21. May our communication be clear and may hearts be receptive.
• The continued development of Common Call San Diego – Lord, we praise you for the new church plants and we ask your protection as they grow and mature. And we pray your blessing upon the church renewal efforts already underway within existing churches in San Diego County. May the resources of coaching, encouraging and leadership equip those believers to serve in ways that glorify you and bring others to your throne of grace. And may you spark the vision for more opportunities like this across the nation.
• The growth of our collaborative partnerships – Lord, thank you for other gifted organizations and networks that we can partner with in your kingdom. Bless their ministries and bless our relationships as together we serve churches in a variety of ways. Give us wisdom and an imagination sparked by your Holy Spirit as we start conversations and convene partners to brainstorm how you want us to step into your future.

And so, now to you Lord, the one who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to your power that is at work within us, to you be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus in 2024 and throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Won’t you join me in this prayer?