THE 40-DAY COVENANT PRAYER
Dear Father, thank you for your grace that has made
me one of your dearly loved children.
Wash me clean from every sin.
Empower me to love others the way you love me.
By your grace make knowing, loving and obeying you
my highest priority.
Enable me to praise you, O Lord, with all my heart.
Jesus, be Lord of my life today in new ways,
and change me any way you want!
Fill me with your Holy Spirit.
Make me an instrument of your grace, truth,
forgiveness, righteousness and justice.
Use me today for your glory, and to invite others
to follow Jesus Christ as Lord.
Gracious Father, I pray in the name of Jesus Christ
our Savior and in the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
A group of local pastors representing a wide range of denominations has joined together to launch a Prayer Covenant in the Butler County area.
Pastor Curtus Moak, the senior pastor of The Hamilton Christian Center, said more than 50 pastors from around the county and the Cincinnati area gathered earlier this week at the Presbyterian Church of Hamilton to talk about what the Covenant is and why it’s important to form it in the county.
“The Prayer Covenant was founded by Dr. Jerry Kirk, he is the former pastor of the College Hill Presbyterian Church,” Moak said. “The idea is to pray this 10-line prayer first and then get others to pray it after you. This has spread worldwide and is done by millions around the world.”
Moak is on board with getting the Covenant in other churches, and he said that the pastors in attendance at this week’s meeting should practice what they will soon be preaching to their congregations.
“Since the Prayer Covenant is going to be the tool that we will use in our churches, as pastors, let’s do it together before we take it to our congregations,” he said. “Let’s pray it for each other. Let’s pray it with our church staff and leadership and let’s pray it with our families.”
Kirk joined more than 50 area pastors at the Presbyterian Church to talk about the Covenant. A mix of black and white, younger and older, male and female joined the discussion.
“While we were from multiple denominations in all our diversity, we shared a common sense of expectation — God’s spirit had us there for a purpose,” said Kim Katterheinrich, retired pastor from the Redeemer Church.
Kirk, in his 80s, still believes that religion provides clarity in a world that seems to be in a fog.
“Making a Prayer Covenant means joining with another person to seek the Lord with unreserved commitment — the sort of commitment that brings both encouragement and accountability,” Kirk said.
Covenant partners agree to pray for each other for 40 days, said Kirk, who added that more than 1 million prayer cards have been distributed in 11 languages throughout the world in the past 3½ years. Covenant partners agree to pray for each other for 40 days.
Pastor Dan Clemmons of the First Baptist Church has been leading his congregation for a little more than a year. He said he has already started using the Prayer Covenant with his congregation and that it has had a very positive impact.
John Lewis, pastor of The Presbyterian Church of Hamilton, was pleased with the turnout of pastors who showed interest in the Prayer Covenant.
“It’s good to come together. It is really good to come together in prayer,” he said. “(The meeting) was not just to get pastors and Christian leaders together — it was to bring whole congregations and multiple congregations in Hamilton together in a united mission of prayer.”
Lewis added, “our goal is to have all churches and all members of all churches praying it together throughout the city. We will start on Easter Sunday. We will pray it for 40 days and we will end on Thursday, May 5, the National Day of Prayer.”
A second meeting to discuss the Covenant is scheduled for 9 a.m. Saturday, Jan 30, at The Presbyterian Church of Hamilton, 23 S. Front St.
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