Prayer

Devoted ~ A Prayer

/ The Pastor / 1 Comment

Holy God,
as we gather, this morning, to worship You,
I feel that we are still coming up short.
Nothing that we do or offer seems sufficient
given Your holiness and amazing love.
Nothing seems enough
given Your grace and faithfulness.
We may have the intention to show You great devotion
but way too often You get our leftovers.
Way too often we examine our needs now
so we may determine what we can afford to give You later.

Oh God, holy Father,

may our devotion be wholly on You;
giving You the first fruits of all we have,
because really,
those first fruits came from You.

May our sacrifices be worthy of You.
May our devotion be wholly true.

All praise, worship, honor
and devotion
be given to You,
awesome God,
through Christ Jesus our Lord,

Amen.

God bless you as you praise and worship our awesome God!

The Pastor  -|—

Waiting ~ A Prayer

/ The Pastor / 1 Comment

The sermon text for today is Mark 13:32-37. May God be praised as you worship.

“But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come.
[Mark 13:32-33]

Creator and Redeeming God,
from the beginning of time;
when sin entered this world,
You have been guiding us to redemption.
You sent Your Son, Jesus,
to live and die and rise
that we may be forgiven and thus brought back to You.

And now,in the interim, we wait.

We wait for the glorious coming of our Lord.
We wait with longing expectation.
We wait with eagerness.
We wait with hope.

And when Jesus does return,
may we not be found lacking.
May we not be found sleeping.
May we not be found distracted.

When Jesus returns,
may we be found doing the very things that we should be doing;
glorifying your most holy name.

So tune our hearts to You as we hear Your Word.
May we always live with joy in our hearts at the coming of our Lord
as we live each day as THE day of Jesus’ return.

All glory,
honor,
praise
and worship
be to You now and always,

Amen.

The Pastor -|—

To Be Able ~ A Prayer

/ The Pastor / 4 Comments

Based on King Solomon’s prayer in 1 Kings 3…

Give Your servant
an understanding mind
to lead Your people,
to serve Your people,
to serve with Your people,
for who is able to govern people?

Give Your servant
a gentle spirit
to love Your people,
to walk with Your people,
to cry with Your people,
for who is able to minister to Your people?

Give Your servant,
a patient heart
to listen for Your voice,
to wait on You,
to see Your ways,
for who is able to endure in this world?

Help Your servant, Oh Lord,
by giving me
an understanding mind,
a gentle spirit,
and a patient heart.
Help Your servant, Oh Lord,
that I may be able;
that I may glorify You.

Amen

The Pastor -|—

Soon and Very Soon ~ A Prayer

/ The Pastor / 3 Comments

A prayer before preaching on Mark 13:14-31…

Heavenly Father,
Holy God,
Mighty Lord,

we praise you, this morning,
that through faith in Jesus Christ
we can sing with all confidence:
Soon and very soon,
we are going to see the King.
A place where there is no more dying or crying.

What great joy it is to sing this hymn;
hearing You speak words of reassurance through our song.

May we cling to this hope
and may we look
and wait
with longing expectation
the arrival of our King,
Jesus Christ.

May we not grow complacent
and may we not lose hope through tribulation.

And so speak to us.
May Your Spirit move through Your holy Word,
bringing faith to to those who do not believe
and increased hope and confidence
to those who call upon Your holy name.

And so may the words of my mouth
and the meditations of our hearts
be acceptable to You,
oh God,
through Christ Jesus our Lord
and coming King,

Amen.

The Pastor -|—

Prepare the Soil

/ The Pastor / 1 Comment

Prepare the soil of my heart,
Lord,
prepare the soil of my heart
as the seed of Your Word is sown.

Satan lurks,
as a bird waiting for the grain truck
in order to snatch away any stray seeds.
Satan lurks,
as a prowling lion waiting for prey
in order to devour an unsuspecting soul.
Satan lurks,
as a thief scoping out a house
in order to rob it of it’s treasure.

Prepare the soil of my heart,
Lord,
prepare the soil of my heart
as the seed of Your Word is sown.

The world entices,
as a forbidden lover
looking to steal away someone’s love.
The world entices,
as a wolf in sheep’s clothing
looking to deceive unto death.
The world entices,
as a desert mirage
only to provide sand to quench a dry mouth.

Prepare the soil of my heart,
Lord,
prepare the soil of my heart
as the seed of Your Word is sown.

For…

Jesus saves,
that’s it.
Jesus saves.

So…

Prepare the soil of my heart,
Lord,
prepare the soil of my heart
as the seed of Your Word is sown.

The Pastor -|—

A Reformation Prayer

/ The Pastor / 2 Comments

Let’s pray…

Holy God,
nearly 500 years ago, one man,
Martin Luther,
started a reformation that would change the Church
and the world forever.

But…

we are not here to worship this man
but rather worship You through another man,
Your Son and our Savior,
Jesus Christ.
For it is through Jesus’ death and resurrection
that we are made righteous in Your eyes.
It is through the Holy Spirit
that we come to know this truth.
It is through Your love
that we even have hope in the first place.

So I ask that Your Spirit may move
in,
through and
around us today
as we hear this Word of Truth from Your Holy Word.
May Your Word create, sustain or strengthen faith
and may it not return to You empty.
And through this Word of Truth,
may we be modern day
reformers
as we lead people to Your Son,
Jesus Christ.

All honor
and glory
and worship
and praise
be unto You, holy God, through Christ Jesus our Lord,

Amen.

The Pastor -|—

Intimacy ~ A Prayer before Preaching

/ The Pastor

Holy God,
To seek You in prayer,
is to seek intimacy with the Creator of the universe;
the lover of our souls.
May we not take this moment for granted through
worries or
distractions or
forward looking to some activity.
May we dwell in this moment
but
also be willing to leave this moment and transition back to the mission field. May we hear this proclaimed Word and take it to heart
and not hear these words as just information.
Heal our hearts, oh Lord.
Transform our hearts, oh Lord.
Now may the words of my mouth be Your holy and inspired word.
Grant me boldness and faithfulness.
Grant me the holy desire to speak and preach from the heart
that You may be glorified.
To You be honor and worship through Christ Jesus our Lord,
Amen.

The Pastor -|—

Gathering Around Your Word ~ An Opening Prayer

/ The Pastor / 1 Comment

Holy God,
mighty and merciful;

send Your Holy Spirit as we gather around Your most holy Word.

May You drive away all that clings to our hearts;
weighing it down.
May You direct our eyes to the cross;
wherein the King of glory died for us.
May we gaze into the empty tomb to see our Savior gone;
risen to New Life for us.

And as we have our attention redirected from the sinful ways of the world,
fill our hearts with Your peace
that we may grow closer to You and
fall into Your loving arms;
not the arms of this decaying world.
May Your word penetrate the hardest of hearts and
draw Your children back to You.

All praise and glory be unto You,
Holy Father,
through Christ Jesus our Lord

Amen.

The Pastor -|—

To Trust You

/ The Pastor / 2 Comments

To trust You, oh God,
is to follow even though it looks like we’re heading for a cliff.

To trust You, oh God,
is to patiently wait for your timing and for me to let go of mine.

To trust You, oh God,
is to acknowledge that Your ways and thoughts are way above mine.

To trust You, oh God,
is to stop praying for what I want so I can seek Your will.

To trust You, oh God,
is to be fearless of this world.

May I always follow You.
May I always wait on You.
May I always trust You.
May I always listen to You.
May I always be courageous.

Come, Holy Spirit, Come

Amen

Open my eyes ~ A Prayer before Preaching

/ The Pastor / 1 Comment

Open the eyes of my heart, Lord;
open the eyes of my heart.
I want to see You.
I want to know You.
I want to be obedient to You.

There is so much in this world that vies for our attention;
drawing us away from you.
But we too often unwilling to fight this battle.
We would much rather acquiesce than to make a stand.
We would much rather worship the creature than worship You;
our Creator.

Oh Lord, lover of our souls,
may we not be so selfish.
Open the eyes of our heart that we may worship You wholly;
with everything we are.
Open the eyes of our heart that we may follow wherever You lead.
Open the eyes of our heart that we may know Jesus,
the author and perfecter of our faith;
through whom we have salvation.

All praise
glory,
honor
and worship
be to You, holy Father, through Christ Jesus our Lord,

Amen.