Praise God for bringing us to the start of a new ministry year. Pray for our preschoolers, kids, and students to grow in their faith and knowledge of God’s Word. Ask God to bless and strengthen all the volunteers in our age-group ministries as they serve faithfully week in and week out. Ask God to grow our unity and community as a church through our small groups. Pray for all those in our faith family who are not yet in a small group to find the right one for them to help them grow in Jesus.

This week we are praying for Banks Academy, a private Christian middle and high school in the northeast area of Birmingham, whose mission is to train and educate students with excellence in a Christian environment and provide them hope for a bright future. Banks Academy has just completed ten years of serving families in the Birmingham area with a 100% graduation rate and 100% college acceptance among 2025 graduates. Banks Academy is located in Huffman Baptist Church. The current School year will have over 180 students. Banks Academy was founded by Brook Hills member, Darryl White, along with others. We are also praying for Faith Presbyterian Church and Pastor Jason Sterling.

DAY 1: Pray for Dr. Cathy Trimble, Banks Academy Principal, and Bill Sears, the Executive Director, and their other administrators. Pray for their wisdom in working with the teachers, staff, and students. Pray for them to inspire and encourage the students to display a spirit of excellence in all aspects of their lives.

DAY 2: Pray for the Banks Academy teachers. Pray they will encourage and support each other throughout the day. Pray for them to have ears of discernment to hear the spiritual needs of each student.

DAY 3: Pray for the Banks Academy students. Pray for the life changing message of the gospel to be received and lived out in the lives of students. Pray for a hedge of protection around the school to keep the shootings and other ungodly influences away from students, staff, and families.

DAY 4: Pray for the Banks Academy board members. Pray for them to follow the Lord’s leading  in all decision-making, including where to add services and facilities to enhance the education and school experience.

DAY 5: Pray for the Lord to be gracious to Banks Academy’s financial needs. Pray their entire $2,300,000 budget for the 2025-26 school year will be met by the Lord through various means of funding. Pray donors would visit the school and see the positive impact of Banks Academy on the lives of the students.

DAY 6: Ask God to keep the enemy from being effective in his desire to kill, steal, and destroy the ministry and families of Banks Academy. Pray for the love of Christ to be evident in the daily activities at the school and for the hallways and classes to be a positive and safe place for all the students.

This week we are praying for “C”, one of our long-termers serving in Central Asia. She and her husband live in a city of over 2 million people. They are serving in a church of about 60 members, mostly from Muslim backgrounds, though there are also Armenian and Assyrian Orthodox origin believers. They are working to spread the Good News on the eastern side of their country where it is estimated there are only 500-700 believers.

DAY 1: Pray for the connections made in the broad seed-sewing efforts happening through which people can order a free New Testament. These efforts usually lead them to people who are seeking truth. Ask the Lord to lead them to people with soft hearts ready to hear and receive the Good News.

DAY 2: Ask the Lord to provide additional resources including the full translation of the Scriptures into the local language. Pray the local believers and foreign workers would also be bold to share the Good News in their daily lives. 

DAY 3: Pray for the church fellowship where “C” and her husband serve. Ask the Lord to continue to strengthen and equip the leadership and the church to make disciples. Pray for four brothers who were recently baptized, and ask the Lord to prepare them for the trials they will face.

DAY 4: Ask the Lord to specifically work in the lives of women to draw them to Himself. Pray for the Spirit to transform their lives and as a result whole families will believe and come to the Lord. 

DAY 5: Pray for “C’s” recent marriage and for her and her husband to reflect Christ to one another and to the people around them, especially to their neighbors and her husband’s unbelieving family members. Ask the Lord to provide for their financial needs to remain on the field.

DAY 6: Ask the Lord to give “C” wisdom and discernment on how to proceed in learning the local language and how she and her husband can blend their ministries.