Aug. 29-Sept. 4

Welcome to the 2016-2017 edition of On Bended Knee, the weekly prayer blog for Whitworth University. Thank you for coming alongside the Whitworth community in prayer! If you haven’t already, please consider adding yourself to the email subscription list so you receive the weekly prayer needs in your inbox each Monday (https://whitworthprayerguide.wordpress.com/). I also invite you to follow along with our Tuesday Community Worship sermon series at https://soundcloud.com/whitworthuniversity/sets/whitworth-community-worship. Most of all, thank you for being part of the great cloud of witnesses that is participating in God’s faithful, loving and powerful work here at Whitworth.

Theme for the Semester: Relationships with Jesus in the Gospel of Luke

Scripture:
Luke 4:14-15
Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country. He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.

This week we pray for…

  • athletes (and the athletic trainers who support them) who have begun practicing and competing in men’s and women’s soccer, cross country, women’s volleyball, and football, for perseverance, safety, community, fun, and growth physically, emotionally and spiritually.
  • student leaders who have already been on campus training for the year of service as resident assistants, cultural diversity advocates, small group coordinators, campus worship and ministry leaders, ASWU student government officers, and Health Education Action Team members.
  • New Faculty Orientation as Whitworth’s newest faculty members are welcomed into the Whitworth community and the Whitworth way of educating the mind and heart.
  • President Beck A. Taylor as he shares the State of the University Address with staff and faculty on Wednesday; we pray for wisdom, strength and encouragement for Beck as he leads Whitworth into a new school year.
  • Wednesday’s Staff Chapel Service (with campus ministry’s Stephy Nobles-Beans preaching) and Thursday’s Faculty Worship Service (with Provost Carol Simon preaching) as we gather to commence the new academic year in worship together.
  • new students and their families who will be traveling to campus from all parts of the world for the beginning of the 2016-17 school year. Pray for safe travel, meaningful transitions, joyful beginnings, and a year of growth toward flourishing in Jesus Christ.
  • students and residence life staff as the residence halls open Sept. 3 for freshmen, that students would immediately recognize God’s loving care for them and experience God’s goodness in this new living environment.
  • Saturday’s move-in day and welcome fair, that God would guide new students as they learn about the many opportunities to be involved and connected at Whitworth.
  • Sunday’s Catholic Mass on campus, as new students and parents gather on campus for worship and fellowship with Father David Kruse from the local parish.
  • Sunday’s Orientation Worship Service (with Dean of Spiritual Life Forrest Buckner preaching), that students and families would draw near to God by the Spirit of Christ as the extended Whitworth family.
  • freshman parents, families and siblings, for peace as they say goodbye on Sunday.

Thanksgiving:
Loving God, we give you thanks for the gift of this new academic year. Thank you for each student who walks the Whitworth campus. Thank you for loving them and calling them closer to you. May this be an academic year in which every student knows the unity of being called and loved by the One Lord, One Spirit and One Father. Amen.