31 Days of Prayer -- January 2024

31 Days of Prayer -- January 2024

Let’s begin 2024 on our knees!  Below are 31 verses from the Gospel of Matthew—one for each day of January.  Let God’s Word prompt you to pray (whether on your own, or together with family or friends).

As you read, be alert to the Spirit’s leading about how to pray—whether praise or thanks or confession or requests.  And those requests may be for yourself, your family, friends/coworkers/classmates, our church, or other people/situations God brings to mind.  In prayer we speak to God, and it is fitting that we respond to what he has already said in Scripture.  For more ideas on how to pray in response to God's Word, visit this page.

This new year, let’s pray tenaciously, like Epaphras of Colossae:  “Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you, always struggling on your behalf in his prayers, that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God” (Colossians 4:12).

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1. “[Mary] will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).
2. “When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.  And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him.  Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh” (2:10-11).
3. “And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him” (3:16).
4. “And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people” (4:23).
5. “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.  Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (5:14-16).
6. “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money” (6:24).
7. “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.  For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few” (7:13-14).
8. “And the men marveled, saying, ‘What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?’” (8:27).
9. “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (9:36).
10. “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.  Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (10:28).
11. “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves” (10:16).
12. “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (11:28).
13. “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit” (12:33).
14. “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up.  Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field” (13:44).
15. “Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing.  Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds” (14:19).
16. “It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person” (15:11).
17. “He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’  Simon Peter replied, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God’” (16:15-16).
18. “Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (16:24-25).
19. “He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud over­shadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him’” (17:5).
20. “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (18:3).
21. “He answered, ‘Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?  So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate’” (19:4-6).
22. “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (20:28).
23. “And crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!’” (21:9).
24. “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (22:21).
25. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness” (23:27).
26. “And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed through­out the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (24:14).
27. “And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me’” (25:40).
28. “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation.  The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (26:41).
29. “When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, ‘Truly this was the Son of God!’” (27:54).
30. “But the angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.  He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay’” (28:5-6).
31. “And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.  And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age’” (28:18-20).