“I was crying to the LORD with my voice, and He answered me from His holy mountain. Selah.” (Psalm 3:4)

Amidst one of the darkest periods of David’s life, one in which his enemies, including his own son Absalom, have risen up to oppose and harm him, David leaves us the example of confident prayer to a God who is faithful to save and capable to deliver. In this “worst of times” for David, he turns his best to the LORD and finds protection, preservation, and peace. Our own lives and circumstance likely do not mirror David’s in this regard of enemies; yet, we do constantly face the ‘enemies’ of fear, despair, discouragement, anxiousness, and temptation. Amidst these, or any other trial that may lie ahead, may we follow the example of David and look not around us in fear, but above us in faith.

In your times of intercession, please reflect upon the following petitions:

• We intercede with praise that the intense process of accreditation is drawing to a conclusion. Full accreditation is expected in October and we give thanks for the labors and prayers of many that have made this possible.
• We intercede on behalf of our summer teams whose season of ministry draws to a close in these next few weeks. We praise God for the safety that has been granted and continue to seek His blessing and favor as these teams share the precious message of the Gospel through song, word, deed, and service.
• We intercede for the upcoming Summer Institute of Theology (SIT), August 6-10, under the theme of “Teaching and Teachers.” We seek that God work through both instructors and students and all would grow from this opportunity.
• We intercede for our fourth-year seminary students who are at the present serving as interns in local congregations. We seek continued growth as servant pastors, and a molding and forming under the direction of the Holy Spirit to be the shepherds God has called them to be.
• We intercede for all the students preparing to join our Schools in the academic year beginning this September. We pray for 60 students to join the first-year class, and 75 more next year. We look forward to God’s continual drawing of students through His Holy Spirit, and His work upon their hearts through His Word.
• We intercede for our churches that are currently experiencing pastoral vacancy. May their call teams be granted wisdom, insight, and patience as they wait upon the LORD, and may the will of God be accomplished in the lives of those men seeking a call to a congregation.
• We intercede for the four men who start studies this fall, and for 10 more to hear and heed the call of the LORD to parish ministry and begin seminary studies next fall.
• We intercede on behalf of the persecuted church, that we always are mindful of the connection we have as part of the church universal through the blood of Christ. May we continually uphold these brothers and sisters that their faith remains strong, that God be glorified, and that their witness in the most difficult of circumstances brings conversion to those who persecute them.

On behalf of the Intercessor Team,
Pastor Kirk Flaa, Sioux Falls, SD