You may be surprised to know that there can be various obstacles for people with disabilities or mental health concerns, as well as their families impacted by special needs, to get prayer support. It can also be hard to maintain consistency in the giving and receiving of prayer for these friends in our midst. A church prayer chain can—and should—be a ready place for these families to go.
I recently had the privilege of sharing a webinar with Key Ministry about Becoming a Growing Prayer Warrior as a Special Needs Parent. During that conversation, we responded to a question about how people and churches interested in intercessory prayer can come alongside special needs families. Our time was limited to just a few examples. So I thought it may be useful to highlight more prayer chain ideas here. I hope these examples will inspire many more general and specific prayers.
Examples of General Prayer Requests Related to Disability Ministry
Thirty percent of US families include at least one family member with a disability—ranging from autism to Alzheimer’s. But 52 percent of adults with intellectual disability don’t attend church at all. Pray for the children, adults and families in our congregation and community who experience disabilities, that they would feel welcomed and included in our church (Luke 14:12-14).
Autism affects one in 56 children. Pray for parents of children with special needs in our congregation and community that God would encourage, energize, empower and give wisdom while surrounding them with practical support and Christ-centered fellowship.
Ask the Lord to encourage and strengthen marriages in our midst that are affected by disability or caregiving. Pray for an adequate pacing of respite, and for unified hearts in seasons of grieving.
Ask the Lord to give our church family eyes to see people with disabilities as Jesus sees them, and to move toward them in ways that Jesus did.
Pray for families in our congregation who struggle with disability, mental health challenges, chronic health concerns and other special needs. Pray that God would provide for them in finances that stretch beyond expectation, quality health care, adequate insurance, community and school/job support, sufficient respite, loyal friends who will take them to Jesus and stand with them in their joys and challenges.
Pray that God would meet people experiencing disability in our congregation in powerful and personal way— in their longings, practical needs and sense of isolation. Ask that God would show leaders and individuals at our church how to be the hands and feet of Christ to those who struggle with special needs.
Pray for our young people who are confused about their disabilities, that they would know Jesus loves them just the way they are.
Pray for the family members of people in our midst who experience disability or special needs. Ask God to meet moms, dads, siblings, grandparents and extended family in their questions, adjustments, grief, fatigue and demanding life logistics with His presence and power. Also ask that God would teach our church family how to love each of these family members in meaningful and God-glorifying ways.
Pray for families facing a new diagnosis involving disability, that they would have peace, a vision for God’s purposes in their challenges, loving support from Christian community and, according to God’s will and ways, healing.
Praise God for the many faithful volunteers who serve in disability ministry throughout our church, city and nation.
Pray that people with disabilities in our community will hear the Gospel and that they’ll be trained, discipled and mentored with sensitivity to their special needs.
Ask the Lord to multiply disability-effective churches.
Ask the Lord to remove obstacles and open doors so that a biblical worldview on disability, through education and policy, is promoted at our church and in the worldwide church.
Pray for healing of health and developmental challenges faced by people with disabilities in our church family. And in cases where God wills that we wait on a process for healing, pray that we would embrace individuals and families with encouragement and Christ-centered support so that they don’t give up (Galatians 6:9-10).
Ask the Lord to give joy and peace while accomplishing His perfect work in the lives of friends in our church who are facing lengthy challenges that stretch their faith and endurance (e.g., disability, chronic health issues, wayward children, strained marriage, job loss, financial adversity). Let’s claim the truths and promises of Romans 5:3-5 and 2 Corinthians 6:3-10 over these friends.
Photo credit: Rosie Fraser on Unsplash.com.
Examples of Dated or Specific Prayer Requests
March 27: Pray that God would provide a volunteer buddy for a young student in our elementary program with special needs. In the meantime, we’re asking God to show us how to support this family so they can worship together as they desire without distraction.
April 15: Pray for our city’s church leaders and Christian organizations attending the Networking Gathering this Tuesday to pray, encourage one another and learn from each other about how to reach out more effectively to people with disabilities.
April 19-20: Pray for the [Conference] in City, State this weekend. In particular, ask Jesus to put a spotlight on and make compelling those resources at the conference that will point people to Christ, that those resources will be particularly effective in meeting needs. Also ask the Lord to empower all of the speakers who are presenting keynotes and workshops.
July 11-16: Pray for our students with special needs attending camps and vacation Bible school programs this week/summer. Pray that the Gospel will be accessible to everyone, regardless of their abilities. Pray also that friendships and a lot of fun will be shared at places like Camp Barnabas, Young Life Capernaum Camps and Joni and Friends’ Family Camps throughout the nation and in this state. Praise God some will meet Jesus for the very first time! Pray that their parents and siblings will be overwhelmingly blessed and encouraged by the respite and in seeing loved ones embraced in fellowship.
August 15-19: Pray for families attending the Joni and Friends Family Camp in northern Minnesota this week. All will be overwhelmingly blessed and encouraged by the respite and fellowship. Praise God some will meet Jesus for the very first time!
November 19: Pray for these and other families with special needs in our church [name as many as appropriate] who experience extra challenges during the holiday season. [Ask your families if they have any specific holiday-related requests to include here].
On behalf of special needs families everywhere, I want to express great thanksgiving for churches and prayer intercessors for coming alongside us with compassion, grace, perseverance, initiative, creativity, hope and faith!
Lisa Jamieson is a caregiver consultant, pastoral counsellor and author of popular books and Bible studies including Finding Glory in the Thorns and Jesus, Let’s Talk. Lisa and her husband, Larry, live in Minnesota with the youngest of their three grown daughters, Carly, who has Angelman Syndrome. Together, the Jamiesons founded Walk Right In Ministries in 2008, a non-profit organization building faith and community with special needs families.
