How to Put Together a Prayer Pack

Pocket 5:  Mondays: Immediate Extended Family

Parents, In-laws, Siblings & Spouses, Nieces, and Nephews

On Mondays, I pray for my dad, Paul’s parents, my sister and family, and Paul’s brothers.  I have a 3 X 5 card for each of them with specific prayers requests that I am praying.  As I pray, I will often send off a quick text letting them know that I am praying.  This has been such a sweet and intentional way to stay in touch with our families on a weekly basis.

I love praying scripture and Ephesians 3:14-19 is a wonderful passage that I pray over our families. Read it below:

“For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of His glory He may grant you to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.  Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”

Who is God? He is your Father.

Who are you in Him? You and your family are named.

Here is the song “Ephesians 3:14-21.”

Blessings to you as you pray for your families.

I have a prayer request.

My dad, Norman, who I have spoken of before is struggling with the Shelter at Home situation. He lives in a group home in Edina called Parkinson’s Specialty Care. His health has declined dramatically these last weeks. In an effort to ‘protect’ him, he is suffering. He has advanced Parkinson’s Disease and either he has had a dramatic progression in the disease process, or he has confusion that comes with too much time alone with no schedule. It’s probably a combination of both. He has lots of hallucinations; some wonderful and some scary. Two days ago, I was on the phone with him and he was relaying a scary hallucination and by the end of the conversation, he realized it was a dream. I asked him if we could sing together and we say “How Great Thou Art” and “Amazing Grace.” He sang with all his heart and felt so much better afterwards. All this to say, I received a text letting us know that my dad’s twin brother, Steven, passed away early this morning. Please pray for my sister and me. We need wisdom on how to best share this news with him when he is so confused and we can’t be with him and comfort him.