Prayer Calendar

Dear Prayer Partner,

This year we’re looking at different types of prayer; March’s focus is a prayer of vows.

From a young age, we’re told to never break a promise. But promises are sometimes hard to keep. We get distracted. Life gets in the way. Maybe our situation changes. But when we make a promise to God, we have to follow through.

That’s what a prayer of vows is — a promise to God. It’s making a commitment to him that we will (or won’t) do something. It could be as small as reading the Bible every day, or it could be as big as the vow Jonah made to God while he was inside the belly of the whale.

Jonah had run away from his responsibility to preach to the people of Nineveh, but in Jonah 2:9 (NIV), he prayed a prayer of vows to keep God’s command:

“But I, with shouts of grateful praise,
will sacrifice to you.
What I have vowed I will make good.
I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the Lord.’”

No matter how big or small our prayer of vows, God’s strength and guidance empowers us to fulfill it. May our prayer of vows not be made casually or half-heartedly — but with full recognition of the life-changing commitment that comes with it.

Amen.

In Christ,
Santiago “Jimmy” Mellado
President and CEO
Compassion International

Download the March Prayer Calendar >

Praises

• Thank God for providing Egodine and her friends in Burkina Faso with access to clean water at their Compassion center so they no longer have to fetch water from the river.
• Thank God that daily activities have returned to normal following flooding in a community in Indonesia. Impacted families received support to recover, including food items, medicine and hygiene supplies.
• Thank God that Nicely in Nicaragua is recovering well from her infection. Pray that God will continue to heal her and restore her health and strength.