DAY OF PRAYER letter
September 2025
The Lord of the Harvest
Pastor Carrie Butler | CTK Network Prayer
Faithful Intercessors,
Over the last two weeks, I have been reflecting on this verse as we pray for the workers needed to do ministry this fall:
“Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” (Matthew 9:35-38, NIV)
Jesus’ words remind us of a powerful truth: God is at work all around us. The harvest is ready! Hearts are more open than before, people are desperate for hope, and opportunities to invite, love and serve are everywhere. The question isn’t whether there’s a harvest in Whatcom County—not just at the CTK Farm! The question is whether we, God’s people, will step into the field.
This fall, we are praying God’s people rise up as workers in His harvest. Community Groups are creating space for spiritual formation and relationship across the county. Kids and students are being equipped to know and follow Jesus in life-changing ways through Encounter Crews and United. And through events like Cordata Trick or Treat, we have the chance to shine the light of Christ to those right here in our neighborhood.
But Jesus tells us the first step isn’t to work harder—it’s to pray! To ask the Lord of the harvest to raise up workers to join Him in the ongoing Kingdom restoration taking place in our county.
Here are a few ways you can join us in prayer today:
- Pray for workers: Ask God to stir up leaders, servants, and disciple-makers in every generation.
- Pray for the harvest: That hearts in our schools, workplaces, and neighborhoods would be open to the gospel.
- Pray for boldness: That we, as a church family, would respond to the Holy Spirit as He prompts, even when it's costly.
- Pray for yourself: That you would be ready to say “yes” when Jesus calls you into the field.
As always, if you need further guidance on how to pray for our community and the world, grab one of the guides from 24-7 Prayer to cover a specific topic.
With you in unity,
Carrie
CHRIST THE KING PRAYER GUIDE
This is the submission prompt provided to the ministry leaders this month:
What is needed in your area to do "the work of the ministry" this next year (or the next few months? Who do you need? What needs to shift/add/change? What would make it so the ministry thrives and not just survives? What needs to be filled, accomplished, provided etc? As you look forward, what is God calling you to that can only be accomplished with His movement and provision?
CTK Staff (from Melonie Kemp, Executive Pastor)
As we step into fall, my prayer for our staff—particularly our ministry teams—is for a renewed sense of vision and hope for the future that God is calling us toward. We have many opportunities to serve, lead, and impact lives. My prayer is that we would listen deeply to the Lord, discerning wisely which opportunities to embrace and which to release, so that our energy and focus align with his purposes.
More importantly, I pray that our first vision is about aligning our hearts and minds with the Holy Spirit. When we do this, our work becomes more than just work—it becomes our calling. From this place of alignment, we experience God’s power and purpose, stepping beyond what we think we can accomplish on our own and entering into the greater mission he has prepared for us, together.
This fall, our focus is on community. Biblical community is more than just belonging—it’s about growing together as followers of Jesus. There is a part of our spiritual formation that only happens in the context of relationships with others, with Christ at the center. Our first invitation is Sunday, September 14. But our invitation isn’t simply to "come and belong," but to join in saying yes to Jesus’ call to grow together in relationship with him and one another.
Please pray that we can move beyond simply giving information to conveying Jesus' invitation into biblical community.
Blessings and gratitude,
Melonie
Connections Team (from Angel Finsrud, Connections Pastor)
- Please join the Connections Team in praying for smooth transitions as Missy, our Connections Coordinator & Events Director, transitions to motherhood. We are so excited for Missy & her husband to welcome their baby and this will leave a big hole in our team. We are trusting the Lord to lead us towards the yeses and nos that keep our team healthy and give people the best chance at taking their first steps towards connection at CTK.
- We are also praying for wisdom on how to share the calling God has placed on our teams’ hearts with the extended staff team at CTK, so that we can all value and work together on those things that God has for us as a church in the coming ministry season.
Worship & Creative (from Anna Claire Forney, Creative Coordinator)
- Pray over our All-Campus team dinner this coming Sunday, September 7th. We are gathering everyone who serves with the worship and creative team, including musicians, singers, tech crew, etc from across our network in hopes of loving, encouraging and honoring them. Pray for joy, fellowship, and unity in this space.
- Pray over One Church coming up on Thursday, October 2nd. Pray that the Lord would have his way here in Whatcom County. Pray that the Holy Spirit would move among us and do a new thing in our Christian body of believers here. Pray that the right people would say YES to volunteering. Pray that the worship team members will unite in a beautiful way as they rehearse. Pray that the word about this event would move in a way only God could manifest, and that people all over Whatcom County would invite friends and family to come and worship!
Adults (from Julie Burleson, Lead Adults Pastor)
- Our Adults ministry is looking forward to the fall and the new ministry season that is ahead! We are trying a number of new things, and we are hopeful that they will be the types of things that our church community will be excited about taking part in, and that it will help people get connected to each other and grow deeper in their walk with God. In order to make things happen, we need volunteers, specifically three new Community Group leaders and enough weekday Children's ministry volunteers and staff to cover the classes we are offering. We are praying that if we get those spots filled, we will have enough space for everyone who says yes to our new opportunities this fall. We are thankful for everyone who is joining us in prayer!
Young Adults (from Jake Hruza, Young Adults Pastor)
- This fall in young adult ministry, we'd like to reach young adults at Christ the King who aren’t yet connected to a discipleship community. Since Community Groups are the primary space for discipleship, we want to equip and send a new wave of young adults into them each year. To make this possible, we need homes or spaces to host our community study this fall. We also need a few young adults to step up and help lead Alpha next year. And finally, we’d like to see some of our core young adults take the next step, transitioning out of young adult ministry and into leadership/participation in Community Groups.
UNITED / Students (from Josh Lease, Students Pastor)
- We are so thankful for all that God did at Go Camp this year - freedom in the Spirit, laying down things that have kept them from living fully for Christ, new commitments to Jesus, and 20 baptisms to name a few highlights! But we don’t want it to stop there. Pray for protection over the students, leaders and volunteers, the decisions they made and the relationships they built. Pray for continued encounters with Jesus to be real, life-changing and overflowing as they take what they learned and experienced into their everyday lives. Pray that students come to MSU and HSU to be encouraged to continue living life with Jesus in the power and love of His Spirit.
Kids & Family (from Duane Weaver, Children’s Pastor)
- Children's Ministry is in need of the Lord of the harvest to send out workers to our classes, both on the weekend and our mid-week ministries. We have an amazing group of volunteers, but in order to staff our rooms, we need seven lead teachers for our weekend classes serving 2x per month. We also need seven people to fill in classroom support roles serving 2x per month. Midweek positions comprise a combination of paid and volunteer roles. We are assembling this team and anticipate needing a combination of 10-16 people, depending on the number of children enrolled in the classes.
Prayer (from Carrie Butler, Prayer Pastor)
- The sense I have from the Lord for the year ahead is that there are opportunities to embed more prayer in the spaces we already have established. One example is in Community Groups, which I help lead. How can our groups grow in praying for another, listening to the Spirit, and using their spiritual gifts to encourage one another? How can we resource them well to learn and practice together? In general, when do we engage with God during a class, event, meeting, in response to a sermon, or for the person who is telling you about something going on in their life? There are many opportunities to stop and seek God in the moment that I am guilty of blowing past. How can we all grow in this? Please pray for boldness, creativity, openness and obedience to the Spirit as we make space for more communion and communication with God in prayer.
Blessing (from Nathan Ford, Outreach Team Director)
- Pray for the Response Team's Ministry's volunteer needs. We need seven volunteers for our service project with Lydia Place, 15 volunteers to host and clean up our Blue Skies Back2School Boost, and 17 volunteers for our service project for the Community Assistance Program in Blaine. We've faced quite the uphill climb trying to get folks engaged and serving the latter half of this summer. Our prayer is for a fresh wind to finish strong and show up well for our community partners.
- For the Farm, pray for volunteers to come regularly to finish out the year strong over the next few weeks. Pray also for clear direction in our gleaning plan as we build it out this winter and find someone to lead it.
- For both teams, a deeper desire for the Farm and Response Team management teams to want to lead the ministry, not just the next task.
Global Missions (from Tracy Hull, Global Missions Director)
- As we enter a new season in CTK Global Missions, pray our CTK family will be inspired to learn more about global missions and our global partners and their ministries.