Sunday morning prayer

Opening prayer ~ The Narrow Gate (Matthew 7:13-14)

/ The Pastor

As we prepare for worship this morning, let us first prepare our hearts to praise God and receive His Holy Word. Let us pray…

Father God,

scripture teaches us to “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” (Matthew 7:13-14) May those who are here gathered enter by the narrow gate and deny themselves the easy way through the wide gate. May we enter through

Your Word
Your Promises
Your Grace and,
Your son, Jesus Christ

But we are not so foolish to think that the path through the narrow gate will be easy. It will be hard, so I humbly ask that you may send your Holy Spirit to make us lean; trimming away

the cares of this world
idols
false gods
false doctrine
hypocrisy
gossip
prosperity gospel faith and
anything else that weighs us down.

May we have the faith to deny ourselves, pick up our cross and follow Jesus through the narrow gate.

So make your Word manifest among us as we lift up our prayers, praise and thanksgivings. You are worthy, oh God, You are worthy. So here we come, to worship Your holy name, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.

May you bless God as you worship this morning and may you be blessed by the proclamation of God’s holy Word.

The Pastor -|—

Prayer in Preparation for the Word ~ Open our Eyes

/ The Pastor

The following is the prayer that I wrote to be prayed before the sermon on Mark 8:22-30 (Jesus healing the blind man). It’s a prayer of faith; asking God to open our eyes to see Him. So may God open your eyes as you worship today and hear God’s holy Word proclaimed.

Let’s pray…

Oh God, You are holy and awesome and sovereign and worthy and wise. You are love. You are peace. You are hope.

Oh God, open our eyes so we may see; for you are the only one who can. You are the only one who can show us the truth. You are the only one who can show us the way. You are the only one we can ultimately trust with our lives.

Oh God, open our eyes.
Open our eyes to see your glory.
Open our eyes to see your beauty.
Open our eyes to see your love through the cross.
Open our eyes to see the truth that we may echo Peter’s confession and declare that Jesus Christ is indeed Your son.

And may we stand firm in our confession; not allowing Satan to get in between us and You. May we not find ourselves in the position to be rebuked as Peter was, but if we do, may we fall at Your feet in humble confession.

And so grant me wisdom, that only you can grant, as I unpack Your holy Word. May I be faithful, Oh God. Now may the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in Your sight, O God, our rock and redeemer. Amen.

The Pastor -|—

Preparing for worship ~ Sight

/ The Pastor

This is the opening prayer I wrote for worship this morning and I share it with you as you prepare for worship.

So…

Let’s come before God with thanksgiving and praise; holding nothing back. Let’s come before God in all humility. May God’s name be lifted up and honored. See and believe. Hear and receive. Taste and see that the Lord is good.

Let’s pray together…

Sovereign God, giver of life, giver of peace, giver of sight; accept our praise here this morning, even though it is still not sufficient; for You are worthy of so much more than what we give.

Oh God, we are so filled with sin that we can not see Your beauty. And because of our dimness of sight, we get distracted by the powers of this world and seek after other gods, blindly following them. When Satan presents to us the kingdoms of the world, we don’t turn him down as your son did in the wilderness. Rather, we joyful accept the offer thinking we will be happy and fulfilled, but it doesn’t take long to realize that that too is not sufficient.

But only You, oh God, through Jesus Christ, can fill our hearts to overflowing and bring us a peace that surpasses all understanding. So may you grant us the sight to see Your son as our Savior, and not the gods of this world. May we see in Jesus the gateway to eternal life and may we have the faith to turn Satan’s offer down. And not only the faith, but the strength to stare down Satan and send him away.

Father God, restore in your children, here, the joy of falling in your arms and resting in your love. Grant us humble hearts to hear and accept that we are sinners, and grant us the determination to turn away from sin in order to glorify you to the max and to see Your beauty.

Holy God, we worship your holy name and lift our praises to you. Hear us, receive us, restore our sight. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

The Pastor -|—

Offering our gifts ~ A Prayer

/ The Pastor

[Below is the offering prayer I wrote for worship on Feb 15 and it is one I am going to keep and pray as a reminder for myself and so I share it with you.]

Oh God, giver of all things seen and unseen. You have blessed your children to be a blessing to others. You have given us intellect and knowledge and reason so that we may earn a living. You have blessed us with the ability to provide for our families. But all these abilities come from you and therefore all that we have we owe to you. May we not be so selfish to think that we are entitled to anything and may we have the faith to give as an act of worship. So, Holy God, we ask for your blessings on these gifts given here this morning. May those called to leadership here have the knowledge and wisdom to use these gifts to advance the kingdom and to continue the ministry you have ordained us to do. And may you bless all the gifts you have given us: our time, talents and possessions, may we use them for your glory. And so we praise you and thank you, Oh God, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.

The reminder for me is that I own nothing. If it were not for God I would be naked and lost (not a pleasant thought so I’m sorry for that image). So I need to be reminded often to praise God for what I have and to bless others through what God has blessed me with.

So with that, may God bless your day that you may bless others.

Praise be to God!

The Pastor -|—

In preparation for God’s Word ~ A Prayer

/ The Pastor

[Prayer that I will be using before I preach this morning]

Holy God…

I can’t help but repeat the words of the psalmist when I think of you, O Lord:

O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger. When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?

Oh Lord, our majestic Lord, it blows me away that You are mindful of us, miserable sinners. And therefore we so need Your Word. For Your Word, Oh Lord, guides us into all truth and righteousness. Your Word gives life to all who listen and receive it. Your Word is wisdom. Your Word is salvation. There is no other word that can do that but yet we find ourselves drawn away from the path of righteousness, not for Your name’s sake but for all other’s names sake. We listen to those false words and doctrines and are enticed by the false beauty that they maliciously proclaim.

Oh majestic Lord, block our ears from those false doctrines and strengthen our faith. Improve our listening skills that we may hear and listen and receive Your Word. Oh Lord our Lord, how majestic is Your name and Word in all the world. May we be filled with your Spirit so that you may be praised as you ought to be praised. In Jesus we pray, Amen.

God bless you as you hear His Word proclaimed. May faith be created or strengthen in you. And may you be sent to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ.

The Pastor -|—

Let us come and worship ~ A Prayer

/ The Pastor

Holy Father, gracious and merciful, you are worthy but,

We don’t worship You as we ought.
We don’t bring what we ought.
We don’t look at you as we ought.

For we are filled with the filthiness of sin, distractions of this world, worries of all kinds, anger, hopelessness, pride, jealousy, hatred. It’s a wonder that you put up with us.

But your graciousness and love and faithfulness is unending. You don’t give as we deserve but You give as You desire. So may you remove from our hearts all that impedes our worship and may you receive our thanks and praise. May we hear this morning the living Word of hope from your holy scriptures. If anyone here does not believe in Jesus, may they come to faith. If anyone here is wavering in their faith, may they find a sure foundation in Christ Jesus. If anyone here is standing firm, may they be humbled and know from whom their hope comes from.

Holy God, we praise your name and lift our voices to you. Here us, heal us and send us that you may be glorified in this world. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

May your hearts be filled with praise this morning and may you not hold anything back as you gather for worship.

All glory, praise and worship be to God our Father, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Pastor -|—

Preparing for worship ~ A Prayer

/ The Pastor

Holy God,

Your love and faithfulness is grand and majestic.
Your compassion and loving kindness is without bounds.
Your grace is unending.

How this blows me away just think about this. My mind can barely comprehend your glory.

Oh God, may those who hear your Word this morning hear your voice. May those who do not have faith, come to know life in Jesus. May those who come seeking, find true hope and peace. May those who are hurting, knowing true healing that only comes from the hope of the resurrection.

But words here are so insufficient for we do not know how to worship you as you are worthy. We do not know what we truly need.

So may you grant each person, who hears (or reads) these words not what they want but what they truly need; for only you know. Basically, Oh God, may your will be done; may your will be done so that you and you alone receive the glory, and not us.

So now may the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to You, our rock and redeemer, Amen.

So, my friends…

May you come into worship with a humble Spirit; giving all that you are and receiving the Word of Life. May you raise your voice without hesitation in thanks and praise. May God be glorified as you are sent out to service.

Have a glorious and blessed day worshiping, enjoying Sabbath rest and soaking in the Word of Life. Praise be to God this day and always. Amen.

The Pastor -|—

Worthy

/ The Pastor

worship11

Let us prepare our hearts to worship God…

“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”
(Revelation 4:11 ESV)

“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” 
(Revelation 5:12 ESV)

Worthy is God, creator of all that is seen and unseen, for his glory shines forth in creation.

Worthy is God our Father, who opens his arms to his children and receives them with love and compassion.

Worthy is God for through the death and resurrection of Jesus, gives hope eternal and peace that surpasses all understanding.

Worthy is God, the holy One, who through Jesus Christ sanctifies us that we may be perfect someday as God is perfect.

Worthy is God, who is closer to us than we are to ourselves, for he listens to our prayers and grants us our daily bread.

“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!” Amen!!!
(Revelation 5:13 ESV)

May God bless you on this Lord’s day as you worship and praise His holy name. May you know the hope of the resurrection and may you be equipped to continue to worship throughout this day and everyday, for God is worthy.

The Pastor -|—

Food for the dogs

/ The Pastor

The sermon text for this morning is Mark 7:24-30 (The Syrophoenician Woman’s Faith) and the following is the prayer I wrote to precede the message. Let us pray together…

God of glory and wonder, we seek you this morning as dogs unworthy of even a morsel of your grace from your holy banquet table.

We scavenge this life for self-fulfilling food while ignoring the fact that you have sent Jesus to give us the bread of life. We ravage others of dignity through selfish pursuits.

But holy God, you don’t turn your backs on us. You don’t withhold the glorious morsels of your grace. You don’t treat us as the dogs we are.

Rather, you wait for us and offer your forgiveness.

Loving God, may we curl up in the arms of your grace and bask in the glow of your love. May we be filled with the Bread of Life and may we find all we desire in you. Heal us of pride. Restore us to Life. Strengthen us to live a life of repentance.

All glory to you, holy Father, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

May this Lord’s Day bring glory to God as you offer your worship and praise; and while doing so, I pray that the Word take root in your hearts. May faith be created or strengthened. May you be send forth to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ crucified and risen for the forgiveness of sins. And may you be at peace as you cling to the hope of the resurrection.

God bless you this Lord’s Day and beyond.

Praise be to God!

The Pastor  -|—

Defiled and cleansed

/ The Pastor

The opening prayer for the sermon today on Mark 7:14-23.

Holy Father, we are defiled. We are unclean. We are sinful. And the depths of our sin is so deep we can not and will not even think about it. We even have the mistaken notion that we can do something about it. We look at the sin in the world and think we can stop it or at least reign it in through legislation or rules. But the fact remains, sinful people can not stop sin; only the holy, which is you. And so we are thankful that the holy, Jesus, died and rose that our defilement might be taken away and thus making us restored in your eyes.

Oh God, grant us the faith to be honest with ourselves; that we may run to you for help. Grant us ears to hear and a heart to receive the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Loving God, we praise your holy name as we lift our voices in worship and hear Your Word proclaimed. Through Jesus Christ our LORD we pray, Amen.

May God bless your day.
May your worship bring glory to God.
May your faith be strengthened to serve Him.

Praise be to God!

The Pastor -|—