Friday 25 August, 2023
PRAYER GUIDE
In 2008, the IPCA Steering Committee chose a special day of prayer to pray for prison ministry,
chaplains, and prisoners around the globe. The date chosen was August 25th, the birthday of IPCA.
Every year one of the regions prepares the day of prayer programme
and for 2023 it is the Oceania region that has prepared the prayer outline.
The Theme for this year’s day of prayer:
HOPE – in every prison
- may the hope that comes from God fill every prison cell and yard,
- may the love of God saturate the heart of every prisoner,
- and may God’s peace be present in every place of trouble and unrest.
Opening prayer
Loving God, we pray for all those in prison around the world, for those who provide care for them, and
for those who visit and minister to them.
Today, we bring before you the requests and prayer needs of chaplains in their regions around the
world.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
Reading
As we pray for chaplaincy and prisoners around the world, we begin by praying a Psalm of worship to
the “Rock of our salvation”. We proclaim that “…He is our God and we the flock under His care”. Let us
read this Psalm together:
Psalm 95 (1-7, NIV).
1 Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD;
let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
2
Let us come before him with thanksgiving
and extol him with music and song.
3
For the LORD is the great God,
the great King above all gods.
4
In his hand are the depths of the earth,
and the mountain peaks belong to him.
5
The sea is his, for he made it,
and his hands formed the dry land.
6 Come, let us bow down in worship,
let us kneel before the LORD our Maker;
7
for he is our God
and we are the people of his pasture,
the flock under his care.
Song: Great is thy faithfulness
As we continue in worship, we’ll sing: Great is thy faithfulness.
Great is thy faithfulness (Written by Thomas O. Chisholm (1923); music composed by William M. Runyan)
Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father
There is no shadow of turning with Thee
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not
As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be
Summer and winter and springtime and harvest
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love
Great is Thy faithfulness
Great is Thy faithfulness
Morning by morning new mercies I see
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me
Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow
Blessings all mine with 10, 000 beside
Great is Thy faithfulness
Great is Thy faithfulness
Morning by morning new mercies I see
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided
Great is Thy faithfulness
Great is Thy faithfulness
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me
Prayer of response:
Lord, God, you are faithful.
We trust in Your faithfulness to work miracles, to mend broken lives, and to restore hope in the bleakest
of circumstances. For all who minister in prisons, we pray that You would use us as instruments of Your
peace, that through our actions and words, Your presence may be felt and lives may be touched.
May Your Word penetrate the hearts of those imprisoned, reminding them that Your love never falters
and that Your forgiveness knows no bounds. Let them feel the embrace of Your faithfulness, giving them
the courage to seek redemption and transformation.
We pray now for IPCA Worldwide
Lord, we’re thankful that the Worldwide Steering Committee of IPCA has been able to meet regularly via
Zoom over the past year alongside one or two face-to-face meetings between individual members.
We pray for the Worldwide Steering Committee meeting in Bangkok at the end of September – we pray
for your guidance as they plan for the 2025 conference and strategise to address the many post-covid
challenges for the organisation.
We pray for our advocacy at the UN:
thank you for a recent encouraging
meeting in NYC with a Member State
interested in collaborating with IPCA
for a Side Event at a UN Conference in
February 2024, and we pray for
continued good contacts going
forward.
We ask Lord, that you would supply
more resource people for our technical
and administrative support at IPCA.
Prayer for the children and families of prisoners
Loving God, wrap your comforting arms around the children and families of prisoners, filling their hearts
with strength and hope in the midst of challenges. May they find solace in Your constant presence and
experience the power of Your love to heal and unite.
Prayer for the lawmakers and policy writers
Dear Lord, we ask that you inspire lawmakers and policy writers around the world to create fair and
compassionate measures for justice and prisons in every country, fostering a system that uplifts and
transforms. May their decisions reflect Your wisdom, leading to a society where redemption and equity
prevail within the walls of prisons.
Prayer for prisoner's PROTECTION from self-harm
We pray for your guidance and strength to
surround prisoners who find themselves in
the depths of despair. Fill their minds with
hope, reminding them of their inherent
worth and your love for them.
Guard their hearts against the darkness
that seeks to overwhelm them. Ease their
pain and replace their despair with the soothing balm of hope that comes from you.
May your grace shield them from the thoughts of self-harm and bring them back to a place of peace.
Bless the hands of those who work tirelessly within the prison walls to provide care, support, and
understanding. Grant them the wisdom to recognize the signs of vulnerability and the compassion to
help those in need.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
Prayer for Indigenous prisoners
Lord, we pray for Indigenous prisoners in places such as Australia, New Zealand, and Canada where
these populations are overrepresented. We pray for justice. We pray for healing where historic
injustices have caused ongoing deprivation and harm. Grant these prisoners the courage to overcome
challenges, the resilience to find purpose, and the knowledge that their heritage is a source of strength
that cannot be taken away. May their journeys be filled with hope.
For PEACE
Our prayer is for all prisoners in countries where there is war. We pray for peace. We pray for the
protection of chaplains and faith leaders who minister to prisoners in those prisons. We pray that
prisoners will have their needs met for food and water, warmth, clothing, and health care.
Prayer for Ukraine
We pray for chaplains and prisoners in Ukraine.
For those who lead prison ministries across the
country, God of love and mercy, we pray for
strength and endurance of Ukrainians that they
may have Faith, Hope and Love in the current
trials of war.
We pray that there would be a just and lasting
peace in Europe and throughout the world.
We pray that all those who support this war will
realise the futility of the war and will instigate
peace.
We pray for the prisoners under occupation and shelling, and who are in danger. Lord, protect them and
their relatives with whom they have lost contact. We bring before you the injured - both physically and
mentally, and we pray for those who care for them. We pray also for refugees travelling and for those
who receive and help them.
We bring the prison chaplains of Ukraine before you and ask for their protection as they serve prisoners
while surrounded by the dangers of war. We ask for your wisdom in all they do and for your provision
for all their needs.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
PRAYER FOR THE REGIONS
Oceania
As we lift the region of Oceania in prayer we pray the words of …
Isaiah 42:10, 12 (NIV)
10 Sing to the LORD a new song,
his praise from the ends of the earth,
you who go down to the sea, and all that is in it,
you islands, and all who live in them.
12 Let them give glory to the LORD
and proclaim his praise in the islands.
Yes, Lord, we pray that prisoners in the islands will sing a new song. We pray that a song of praise will
rise from the prisons of the Pacific, lives will be transformed, and prisoners will never return to prison
after their release.
Fiji & the Pacific Islands
Loving God, we pray for the churches of Fiji that they will know your leading as they develop
programmes and ways to support prisoners when they are released back into the community. We pray
that these prisoners as return to their communities and churches will continue to grow in their faith,
and have support to not return to offending and prison. We pray this particularly for Fiji but also for all
churches everywhere that they may have hearts of support for released prisoners.
New Zealand & Australia
We pray that in New Zealand and Australia, there would be sufficient prison staff numbers to support
prisoners and to enable church services to run in every prison to meet the demand. As we pray for the
prison staff of these two countries, we lift all prison staff in every prison around the world. And Lord,
we pray for ongoing funding for chaplaincy services across Australia.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
Africa
We pray now for Africa. We pray first for peace in the continent.
Loving God, prisoners in most African countries face a shortage of food – our second request as we pray
for prisoners in Africa is for the provision of food for all inmates.
Fiji corrections services chaplaincy team
Asia
We come before You with hearts full of
compassion and a deep longing for the
well-being of those imprisoned in Asia. We
pray that those prisoners who are
languishing in jails and prisons, many of
whom are not yet convicted by final
judgment but are already pre-judged by
most members of society may attain
justice. We pray for justice that neither
condemns nor punishes but one that
reforms and rehabilitates and also makes
those guilty truly accountable for the
effects of the crimes they committed.
Pakistan
Heavenly Father, grant strength and courage to your faithful followers in Pakistan, may they have
courage and strength as they face adversity. We pray that the outbreak of violence towards churches
and Christians would cease, and we ask your protection for all our brothers and sisters in Pakistan.
Lord, we also pray that the restrictions put on visits by Church ministries would be lifted and that
Christian prisoners would be able to worship and practice their faith in prisons throughout Pakistan.
Bless and protect our fellow chaplains and prison ministers in Pakistan we pray.
Europe
We pray for prisoners and chaplains in Europe, that through the chaplaincy’s compassion and the
prisoners’ resilience, hearts may mend, hope may flourish, and the journey toward redemption may be
embraced with courage and grace. May the chaplains’ presence and the prisoners’ inner strength inspire
a path of healing and renewal across the continent.
Latin America & Caribbean
We offer this prayer for the chaplains and prisoners in Latin America and the Caribbean, that through
their shared journey, may the chaplains provide solace and guidance, and the prisoners find strength,
redemption, and the healing touch of your love.
North America
We unite in prayer for the well-being and spiritual growth of chaplains and prisoners across the globe.
Bless and guide the chaplains serving in Canada and the United States as they bring comfort, hope, and
spiritual support to those in need.
For Canadian prisoners who have been evacuated to other prisons due to out-of-control wildfires, we
pray that they will continue to find strength and courage through Christ in these unprecedented and
disruptive events in their lives.
For both the Provincial and Federal Chaplains of Canada, we pray that they will continue to emulate the
presence of Christ in their ministry to the prisoners and support staff they willingly serve.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
THE LORD’S PRAYER:
Let us all, as one, pray the prayer our Lord Jesus
Christ taught us.
CONCLUDING PRAYER
And our final prayer, as we finish our global prayer
session, again we pray our theme.
All: We pray for HOPE – in every prison
- may the hope that comes from God fill
every prison cell and yard,
- may the love of God saturate the heart of
every prisoner,
- and may God’s peace be present in every
place of trouble and unrest.
AMEN
Thank you for praying with us today. Please
continue to pray for prisoners around the globe
and the chaplains who care for them pastorally.
We also invite you to follow IPCA Worldwide on Facebook and to connect with your nearest region.
God Bless
