Forming a Battle Plan--Step 1

Here is the first step in readying for the International Week of Prayer and Fasting.  Decide what you as an individual, family, group, and/or parish will be offering for the conversion of our enemies and end of the dark culture of death.  The IWOPF website has a registration page where you can pledge actions, prayers, and alms.  This is a great place to start but is not an exhaustive list.

For action as a family, I have the following steps planned:
1.  Hold a family meeting to discuss the week of prayer and fasting.
2.  Come up with a prayer plan and fast to complete as a family and individually. (For example, add an additional family prayer such as a decade or litany, and also choose a personal prayer addition such as a novena.)
3. Write down your plans and post them in a common area.
4.  Create Spiritual Bouquet posters for each member of the family (I am doing a post specifically on options of how to do this tomorrow.)
5. Make a family pledge to do little sacrifices with great love throughout the nine days, promise to make as many sacrifices as you can.
6. Read about martyrs and Saints to bolster your resolve and deepen your faith. ( I am posting a list of suggestions and sources later this week.)
7. Pray that you will have the strength and conviction to die to self and offer all you can to God.
8. Find a family to share your plans with and seek their advice and support throughout the week. Plan a time midweek to pray together and check in with each other to see how each family is keeping up with their pledges.
9. Acknowledge that we are weak and imperfect, this will be hard and we may falter along the way. If that happens, pray a prayer of repentance and begin again.
10. Remember to thank the LORD for all your great blessings and the opportunity to pray and fast for our world.

I hope you are having a blessed week. If you have any other suggestions, please share. I love to hear from my readers. God bless!

St Michael the archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray; and do thou, oh prince of the heavenly hosts, by the power of God, cast into hell satan and all the evil spirits who prowl around the earth, seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.