“I love the LORD, because He hears my voice and my supplications. Because He has inclined His ear to me, therefore I shall call upon Him as long as I live.” (Psalm 116:1–2)

In this blessed Psalm, we witness a heart that is also to be our own, namely, one of love and zeal towards our Lord. We indeed love the LORD this day (and every day), and find special encouragement in the fact that He hears our supplications and petitions. As His love for us is made crystal clear in Jesus and the Cross, may our own love for Him evidence itself in prayer and dependence upon Him this day and the days to come. In your time before the LORD in these upcoming weeks, please remember these petitions and praises:

• Praise for an incredible week in Dickinson, ND for our Annual Conference. The Spirit of God was certainly at work in creating unity, vision, and passion for His work amongst us. A special thanks to the congregation of Our Savior’s Free Lutheran in Dickinson, as well as the area congregations of Western ND and Eastern Montana for their tremendous hospitality in hosting.
• Praise for the 440+ attendees at the Conference and the wonderful ministry accomplished during the week through prayer, Bible teaching, song and music, testimony, worship, and the discussion of the business of the Lord’s work.
• Praise for the Lord’s powerful use of Pastor Paul Nash and his 22+ years of leading the work of Home Missions within our AFLC. May our Lord continue to guide the steps of Pastor Paul & Laurie as He leads them to the next phase of ministry, and may our Lord bless and direct the labor of our new Home Missions director, Pastor Jim Johnson of Camarillo, CA. We are grateful for the service given our Association by Pastor Nash, and anticipate God’s continued work in and through Pastor Johnson and his leadership.
• Praise for the financial gifts and pledges ($2.0 million+) that have been raised thus far for the gymnasium project; we recognize that this endeavor of raising funds necessary (70%) to break ground on the estimated $7.5 million dollar project will require sacrificial giving on the part of our AFLC and a miracle of God, as well as much prayer on behalf of His people!
• Petition for our recent AFLTS graduates, as they enter into a call or continue to wait upon God’s leading in a call—Ken Flaten, Matthew Nelson, Matthew Quanbeck, and Nick Schultz.
• Petition the Lord of the harvest to raise up workers for His harvest fields. We are currently facing a shortage of men receiving and heeding the call to ministry, and we will begin now to ask for something God has not done previously in our Association. We implore our Lord to raise up at least 6 men for parish ministry annually, a number which would at least prepare us to cover retirements. And on second thought, let’s make it 7—that is a dandy number Biblically.
• Petition for our 8 summer teams currently traveling and serving our congregations. Strengthen, preserve, and protect these young people as they represent Christ and our AFLC in all of their ministry and activities, and allow their service and labor always to draw glory unto the Lord and proclaim the glorious message of the Gospel.
• Petition for many to attend FLY Beyond 2018, the National Youth Equipping Conference to be held at the ARC July 16-20. May this event result in spiritual growth, formation, and stretching as young people dig deep into the truth of God’s word, enjoy fellowship with one another, and draw near to the Lord in worship.
• Petition the Lord on behalf of Pastor Wade, Michele and the Deubner family in the loss of Michele’s father, Wayne Deubner.

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