Prayer points with Scriptures · 20 points
Prayer Points for the Month of May
These prayer points for the month of May follow a full month in American church life: the National Day of Prayer on the first Thursday, Mother’s Day on the second Sunday, graduations, Memorial Day on the last Monday, and in many years Pentecost. Written for individuals, families, prayer meetings and churches, they pray for mothers, our country and its leaders, the fallen and their families, graduates, and the Holy Spirit’s help, each with its verse.
One generation will commend Your works to the next, and will proclaim Your mighty acts— the glorious splendor of Your majesty. And I will meditate on Your wondrous works.
Psalm 145:4-5 (BSB)
Pray one section a week, following the calendar: the nation section near the National Day of Prayer, mothers before Mother’s Day, graduates as ceremonies begin. When a group meets, read the verse, pray the prayer together, and invite people to call out the names of mothers, graduates and leaders. Families can pray the mothers section around the table on Mother’s Day.
Mothers
1Thanks for mothers who fear the Lord
Father, thank You for mothers who fear the LORD. Charm is deceptive and beauty fades, but a woman who fears You is to be praised. Let children and husbands rise up and bless the mothers in our lives, and not only on Mother’s Day.
Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband praises her as well: “Many daughters have done noble things, but you surpass them all!” Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
Proverbs 31:28-30 (BSB)2Comfort for weary mothers
LORD, You comfort Your people the way a mother comforts her child. Comfort the mothers who are exhausted: up at night with newborns, worried about teenagers, caring for aging parents. Give them rest, help and the knowledge that You see them.
As a mother comforts her son, so will I comfort you, and you will be consoled over Jerusalem.”
Isaiah 66:13 (BSB)3When Mother’s Day hurts
Lord, Hannah poured out her soul before You in her longing for a child. Be near to everyone for whom Mother’s Day is painful: those longing for children, mothers who have lost a child, and those grieving their own mothers.
“No, my lord,” Hannah replied. “I am a woman troubled in spirit. I have not had any wine or strong drink, but I have poured out my soul before the LORD.
1 Samuel 1:15 (BSB)4The God who sees single mothers
God who sees, You found Hagar alone in the wilderness, pregnant and on the run, and she called You the God who sees me. See every single mother today: her bills, her schedule, her tears. Provide for her and surround her with a church that helps.
So Hagar gave this name to the LORD who had spoken to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “Here I have seen the One who sees me!”
Genesis 16:13 (BSB)5Mothers in the faith
Lord, Paul cared for the believers like a nursing mother caring for her children, sharing not only the gospel but his own life. Thank You for the women in our church who mother others in the faith: teachers, mentors, nursery workers and faithful prayers.
On the contrary, we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother caring for her children. We cared so deeply that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God, but our own lives as well. That is how beloved you have become to us.
1 Thessalonians 2:7-8 (BSB)
The National Day of Prayer and our country
6Our eyes are on You
Our God, like King Jehoshaphat facing a vast army, we often do not know what to do. On this National Day of Prayer we turn our eyes to You. Give our nation humility to seek You and wisdom for the problems we cannot solve.
Our God, will You not judge them? For we are powerless before this vast army that comes against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.”
2 Chronicles 20:12 (BSB)7Confessing our sins as a people
O LORD, God of heaven, great and awesome, Nehemiah prayed day and night and confessed the sins of his people, his own family included. We confess the sins of our nation and our own. Hear our prayer and have mercy on us.
Then I said: “O LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps His covenant of loving devotion with those who love Him and keep His commandments, let Your eyes be open and Your ears attentive to hear the prayer that I, Your servant, now pray before You day and night for Your servants, the Israelites. I confess the sins that we Israelites have committed against You. Both I and my father’s house have sinned.
Nehemiah 1:5-6 (BSB)8Justice and righteousness for leaders
God, endow our President, governors, judges and lawmakers of every party with Your justice and righteousness. Help them govern fairly, defend the poor and afflicted, and remember that they answer to You.
Of Solomon. Endow the king with Your justice, O God, and the son of the king with Your righteousness. May he judge Your people with righteousness and Your afflicted with justice.
Psalm 72:1-2 (BSB)9Cities built up by blessing
Lord, by the blessing of the upright a city is built up. Let Christians in our towns be a blessing: honest in business, generous to neighbors, faithful in prayer. Build up our communities through Your people.
By the blessing of the upright a city is built up, but by the mouth of the wicked it is torn down.
Proverbs 11:11 (BSB)10Memorial Day: those who laid down their lives
Lord Jesus, You said greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. On Memorial Day we thank You for those who died serving our country. Comfort their families, and remind us of Your greater sacrifice for us.
Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.
John 15:13 (BSB) · Pray this verse →
Graduates
11Strong and courageous
LORD, as graduates step into college, work or military service, tell them what You told Joshua: be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or discouraged, for You are with them wherever they go. Go with them into every new place.
Have I not commanded you to be strong and courageous? Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”
Joshua 1:9 (BSB) · Pray this verse →12Watched over wherever they go
God of Jacob, You met him as he left home and promised to watch over him wherever he went. Watch over every graduate leaving home this year. Meet them in the new city, the dorm and the first apartment, and keep them close to You.
Look, I am with you, and I will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
Genesis 28:15 (BSB)13Eyes fixed straight ahead
Father, help our graduates fix their gaze straight ahead and make level paths for their feet. Keep them from swerving into the traps that wait for young adults on their own, and turn their feet away from evil.
Let your eyes look forward; fix your gaze straight ahead. Make a level path for your feet, and all your ways will be sure. Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your feet away from evil.
Proverbs 4:25-27 (BSB)14What the Lord requires
LORD, as graduates choose careers and set goals, remind them what You require: to act justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with their God. Let that matter more to them than salary or status.
He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?
Micah 6:8 (BSB) · Pray this verse →15Friends who build good character
Lord, bad company corrupts good character. Give graduates wise friends in new places and a good church quickly, and give them the courage to step away from friendships that pull them from You.
Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good character.”
1 Corinthians 15:33 (BSB)
Pentecost and the Holy Spirit’s help
16The Advocate with us forever
Lord Jesus, You asked the Father to send another Advocate, the Spirit of truth, to be with us forever. Thank You that we are not left alone. Holy Spirit, abide with us and in us this Pentecost and every ordinary day after it.
And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate to be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot receive Him, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you do know Him, for He abides with you and will be in you.
John 14:16-17 (BSB)17Guided into all truth
Spirit of truth, guide us into all truth. In a confusing world, open our minds as we read Scripture, steady us when we face big decisions, and keep our church faithful to what Jesus taught.
However, when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. For He will not speak on His own, but He will speak what He hears, and He will declare to you what is to come.
John 16:13 (BSB)18A new heart and a new spirit
LORD, You promised to remove hearts of stone, give hearts of flesh, and put Your Spirit within Your people. Soften the hard places in us. Move us to walk in Your ways, not by our own strength, but by Your Spirit.
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes and to carefully observe My ordinances.
Ezekiel 36:26-27 (BSB)19Walking by the Spirit
Holy Spirit, help us walk by Your leading, step by step, and not gratify the desires of the flesh. When temptation comes at work, online or at home, remind us that You live in us, and give us the strength to say no.
So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
Galatians 5:16 (BSB)20Overflowing with hope
God of hope, fill us with all joy and peace as we believe in You, so that we overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Make our church so full of hope that people in our town can see it.
Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 15:13 (BSB) · Pray this verse →
A closing prayer
Father, thank You for mothers, for faith handed from one generation to the next, and for the freedom to pray for our nation. Have mercy on our country and guide our leaders. Comfort the families of the fallen. Go with our graduates wherever they go. Pour out Your Spirit on us and fill us with hope, so that our children and their children commend Your works to the next generation. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Pray with a voice
Short prayers with a voice to pray along with, each drawn from one passage.
Questions
When is the National Day of Prayer?
In the United States, the National Day of Prayer is held on the first Thursday of May. Congress established it in 1952, and a 1988 law fixed it on the first Thursday in May. Churches, courthouses and town squares across the country host prayer gatherings, and many Christians use the day to pray for the nation and its leaders.
When is Mother’s Day?
In the United States, Mother’s Day is the second Sunday of May, and many churches honor mothers in the service that morning. It can also be a hard day for women who long for children, mothers who have lost a child, and those grieving their own mothers, so this page includes a point for them.
When is Pentecost?
Pentecost Sunday is the seventh Sunday after Easter, fifty days counting Easter Sunday itself, so it falls between May 10 and June 13. It remembers the day the Holy Spirit came on the first disciples in Jerusalem (Acts 2), when Peter preached and about three thousand people believed and were baptized.
More prayer points
Every verse on this page is quoted word for word from the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), which its publishers dedicated to the public domain. Copy, print and share these prayer points freely with your church.