It was very early in the morning and still dark. Jesus got up and left the house. He went to a place where he could be alone. There he prayed.

-Mark 1v35

Listen and reflect

Take inventory of the events ahead in the day: the people, tasks, messages, meals, and demands. For a moment allow yourself to have those demands wash away and simply say to God, “I am here.” Listen to what pops up in your mind or what the Spirit may be putting on your heart.

Pray for the lost

Ask the Spirit to bring to mind people who are far from God, people who do not know his love for them. As faces and names come to mind, pray for them. Ask God, as their Good Shepherd, to go after these lost ones, to restore them to his fold, and to bring them salvation.

Pray for compassion

Ask God to give you the Good Shepherd’s heart—seeing as he sees and loving as he loves. Confess anything that’s getting in the way of compassion for the lost today. Ask God to soften the hard places in your heart, making it like his.

Pray to be sent

Finally, invite God to send you. As you have asked God to pursue your loved ones, now ask him to send you out with his empowering presence to the lost around you. Invite him to open your eyes and ears, that you might pursue the lost and pray for their salvation in the way our Good Shepherd does. Ask that he would inspire your imagination with ways to love, bring people to mind you don’t expect, and surprise you with invitations to be his hands and feet.