Prayer

Forgetfulness: A prayer

/ The Pastor

Gracious God,

When Jesus’ body was broken and his blood spilled; he did it for me.  And now Jesus commands us to eat bread and drink the cup in remembrance of him; of what he did for us.

Remembrance ~ this implies, though, that we forget.  And we do. We forget about Jesus.
We forget about his love.
We forget about his sacrifice.
We forget about his faithfulness.
We forget about his suffering and death; we forget about his cross.

How could we forget such things?

but we do.  

Our sinful, evil, lustful, vengeful, despicable minds forget about the King of glory.

But you do not forget us.
May we not forget Jesus.
May we not forget all his benefits.
May we not forget about his grace.
May we not forget about the life he gives us through faith.

But here’s the cool thing, O God, your forgetfulness is even greater than ours.  When we come before you to confess our sins with all our heart we are told that our sins are far removed from us and no longer held against us.

You forgive and…

You forget
You don’t hold a grudge
You don’t dwell on our sins

O God, I am thankful for your forgetfulness and abhor my forgetfulness.

May I remember and praise you always.

Amen!

The pastor -|—

Weakness and strength: A prayer

/ The Pastor

Lord of heaven and earth,
mighty God,
loving Father…

You are more satisfying than worldly pleasures.
You are more fulfilling than worldly pursuits.
You are more precious than worldly treasures.

But, Oh Lord, I need your help!

Satan pursues me with false promises; trying to entice me to follow his ways. He pursues me with visions of grandeur; trying to tempt me to disobey you.  Satan is relentless and persistent and determined.

But as for me, O Lord…

…I am weak.

On my own I don’t stand a chance.
On my own I will be devoured by the prowling lion.
On my own I am condemned.

May I look to you and see the Way.
May I look to you and know Truth.
May I look to you and have Life.

Eternal God, compassionate and gracious; grant me strength that I may dwell in You; that I may enjoy the victory you have won through Jesus Christ. May I have the faith to cling to that crown and not to a paper crown that Satan tries to pass off as a treasure.

Thank you God for your mercy and forgiveness.  May all come to praise and worship you as their Lord and Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord and whose name I pray.

Amen

The pastor -|—

You and You alone

/ The Pastor

Holy God…

Today we gather to hear Your Word.
Today we gather to confess our sins.
Today we gather to sing Your praises.

But what ever the reason, may we gather to worship You and not the gods of this world.

May our sanctuary be where other believers are gathering around the Word and not around some sport or activity.

May we find our joy and rest in YOU.

May we be driven by the desire to praise YOU.

For You, O God, are our hope and salvation through Jesus Christ.
Nothing else can compare.
Nothing else can give life.
Nothing else can fill the God-shaped hole in our hearts.

Holy God, may all people seek You and You alone.

May You be praised always and forever.

Amen!

The pastor -|—

Weakness: A prayer

/ The Pastor

Loving and gracious God,

May I always feel unprepared to preach, lead worship and engage in ministry.
May I always feel inadequate for the task at hand.
May I always feel weak…

…for when I am weak, unprepared, inadequate, it is then that I am strong, for in those moments your Spirit takes over and does something amazing.

May I know your Spirit’s presence this morning, and always, that you may be lifted up and glorified and not me.  For when I feel strong, prepared and adequate for the task ahead it is then that I seek the glory.  May that never be.

So I lay everything at your feet this morning and ask that you use me.

May your Word break through hearts of stone.
May your Word strengthen weak faith.
May your Word give life to dry bones.

This I lift up to you through your glorious Son, Jesus Christ, my Lord.

Amen!

The pastor  -|—

Fear: A prayer

/ The Pastor

Loving and Holy God…

I confess to you that I am afraid.  Afraid of:
~ all I have to do this week.
~ falling short of your’s and people’s expectations.
~ forgetting something important.
~ becoming impatient.
~ losing sight of you because of the demands placed on me.

Holy, God, there is much to fear in this world but I find comfort in the fact that you don’t turn away from us because we fear, but you confront our fears with your awesome Good News.
~ Joseph was afraid to take Mary as his wife but you turned his fear into a godly fear.
~ Mary was afraid and troubled by the angel’s greeting but your turned her fear into a godly fear.
~ The shepherds were afraid at the appearing of the angel in that night sky but you turned their fear into a godly fear.

In the same way, Oh God, turn my fear into a godly fear that I my glorify your Holy name and lead others to do the same.  May my fear of you drive me to run into your loving arms and soak in your amazing love for me.  May my fear of you be the source of my proclamation of the Gospel.  And lastly, may my fear of you dispel my worldly fears that Satan uses to drive me away from you.

Loving God, you are awesome and amazing and wonderful and worthy of all praise and worship.  May your children run to you and fall into your arms.  Through Jesus Christ our risen Lord and Savior I pray…

AMEN!

The pastor -|—

Unprepared: A prayer

/ The Pastor

Holy God, Advent is a season of preparation (like I need to tell you that), but I feel so unprepared.

There are so many people that need to hear the Good News of the Christ child.
There are so many hurts that need your healing touch.
There are so many lonely people that need to know your presence.
There are so many misdirected people following secular holiday idols.

I think of all of this and feel overwhelmed and therefore I feel so unprepared to meet the demands of ministry.  So I lay it out on the line for you this morning:
~ I fall back; trusting that your Holy Spirit will catch me.
~ I let go; trusting that your Holy Spirit will guide me.
~ I will wait; trusting that you will do something absolutely amazing.

So maybe it is a good thing that I feel unprepared because that leaves room for you to do something through me.  So I lift up to you those who don’t know Jesus, those who are hurting, those who are lonely and those who are misdirected.  Prepare me to minister to them; that they may know the true joy that is Jesus Christ our Savior born to us.

And may I continue to feel unprepared.

Amen!

The pastor -|—

Stir, stir, stir

/ The Pastor

Holy and awesome God, you have called me to preach your Word to your people.  And this is an awesome calling; one that causes me to pause and wonder if I am being faithful.  So God, I ask that you may stir my heart that I may know your Spirit and therefore turn over the controls.  For if this task were left up to me I would surely bring it all to ruin.  

But this calling to preach your Word is not limited to Sunday morning.  And it’s not even limited to me as a pastor.  You have called all your people to preach your Word to everyone.  So in that light I ask that you may bless the children this morning as they preach your Word through their Christmas program.  

But also, bless each and everyone one of us as we head out into the world so that we may not fail to preach, but boldly share our faith whether called to be a pastor or not. For through faith in Jesus Christ, all believers are received into the priesthood of all believers and therefore we are called to preach. Stir our hearts continually so that we may give you glory, continually.

Loving and worthy God, we are here ~ stir, stir, stir…

In Jesus’ name, Amen!

The pastor -|—

Holy boldness

/ The Pastor

Happy Pentecost Sunday!

May the Holy Spirit rush into your life and lead you to boldly speak the name of Jesus without holding back.

May the Holy Spirit give you courage to face the world as the world is so much stronger.

May the Holy Spirit remind you what Jesus taught that you may teach others.

May the Holy Spirit lead you to places that you would never dream of going.

May the Holy Spirit be your guide as it did for those first disciples.

Let us pray…

Holy and Mighty God, it is difficult to admit that we are powerless and weak.  It is scary to think we are nothing but sheep in the midst of ravenous wolves. Oh God, restore our hope in you through Jesus.  Strengthen our faith that we may know your peace.  Open our eyes that we may see your power.  And send us forth in your name.  May we not rely on our ingenuity, creativity or intelligence but may we seek your wisdom in order to bring your peace into this world.  Loving God, you are the restorer of creation, not us.  May we be your instruments and give glory to your name.  Now may the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, Oh God, our Rock, Redeemer and Restorer, Amen.

God bless you this day and always 🙂

The pastor -|—

A Mother’s Heart

/ The Pastor / 2 Comments

A mother’s heart is:
Loving
Kind
Compassionate
Forgiving
Empathetic
Lost without you
Reflective (referring to God’s love)
Strong
Patient
Generous
Godly
Healing
Safe
Humble
Wise

And…I could go on…but you get my point.

I have always known these qualities about my own mother but I think I have taken these qualities for granted.  Not anymore…not since I have seen a brand new mother in my life (my wife) reflect these qualities to our new little girl.  I have now gained a whole new appreciation for mothers as I see my wife in action in a brand new role; a role that just seems natural for her.

Thank you, God!

Thank you Mom 🙂

And thank you to all moms out there.

God…what can I say but thank you for my mom, my grandmothers, my wife and all mothers.  Thank you for using them to shower us with your love; to keep us safe; to raise us to know you.  Bless all mothers this day and always.  May they continue to be faithful to their calling and may your love continue to shine forth through them.  In Jesus name, Amen!

The pastor (and new daddy) -|—