Maybe you want to pray for people in the path of Hurricane Matthew, but you aren’t sure how. People in the Caribbean are preparing for the worst storm they’ve had in the past 10 years, they often have little infrastructure to help navigate disasters, and many people live in poverty and lack safe shelter. They need you to pray fervently. We serve a merciful and powerful God who can use this tragedy to further His Kingdom and make disciples.

“It is encouraging to know you are praying for us and you care. We pray that the Lord will show mercy to us and to the peoples in the whole Caribbean. I saw how bad people in Jamaica were hit. Pray for them as well. We are also praying that it won't hit too hard on the east coast of the U.S. later this week. Our Lord can speak to [the] storm. We know that.”  — Wadestrant Jean-Baptiste, president of the Evangelical Theological Seminary of Port-au-Prince (STEP) in Haiti

How you can join in praying for the Caribbean:

1. Pray that through whatever may come from this storm, people will see a God who is both powerful and merciful.
   “Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity and passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession? He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in unchanging love. He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities under foot. Yes, You will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea” (Micah 7:18-19).
   
   
2. Pray that people will hear of God’s fame through this event, and that they will stand in awe of Him. Pray that He will reveal His works, giving people insight into what He is doing through this storm.
   “LORD, I have heard the report about You and I fear. O LORD, revive Your work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make it known; in wrath remember mercy” (Habakkuk 3:2).
   
   
3.  Pray that like Job, who had suffered tremendous loss and yet heard God speaking in the storm, people might recognize the voice of God during this storm, submit to His sovereignty, and experience His restoration.
   “Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind...” (Job 38:1).
   
   
4. Pray that people might see this storm as Jesus saw the tragedies that befell the people of Jerusalem in Luke 13 — not as an indication that God is punishing them, but as a warning to the whole world that life is fleeting and all of us must prepare for eternity.
   
   
5. Pray that if this storm is intended by the evil one to tempt people to curse God, it will backfire and result in just the opposite: widespread praise to God.
   
   
6. Pray that as with the injustice and suffering that was visited upon Joseph by his brothers who meant for evil against him, people would interpret these sufferings as Joseph did. Pray that God will save many lives through this event.
   “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive...” (Genesis 50:20).
   
   
7. Pray that God might show Himself to be the Lord of the storm, shielding these nations and their people from the storm’s fury in such a way that they clearly see the hand of God.
   
   
8. Pray that this present suffering will stir in hearts a longing for something more.
   “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God” (Romans 8:18-19).
   
   
9. Pray that believers in these countries will have confidence in God like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Pray that they would faithfully believe He can take this storm away, but even if He does not, they still won’t bow to fear or desperation.
   “If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O King, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up” (Daniel 3:17-18).
   
   
10. Pray that the neighbors of our brothers and sisters will see a visible difference in how believers approach this event. Pray that our brothers and sisters will trust in God, and God alone.
    “When I am afraid, I will put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, In God I have put my trust; I shall not be afraid” (Psalm 56:3-4).
    
    
11. Pray that people will remember God’s mercy, love and faithfulness even in the times of chaos.
    “The LORD’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22-23).

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Want to help the hurricane survivors? Give to the Haiti Hurricane Relief project.

All Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.