Congregational and Pastoral Prayer: 13 July 2014 PM


Great is the Lord, for his steadfast love endures forever! Lord God, we have prayed for rain – and you have plentifully poured your answer on us; great is the Lord, for his steadfast love endures forever! We have lifted our voices and hearts to you on behalf of Bxxxx Dxxxxx – and now she no longer needs further treatment for the cancer; great is the Lord, for his steadfast love endures forever! We have cried out to you on behalf of little baby Kxxxx Dxxxxxx – and she is gaining strength and growing healthy; great is the Lord, for his steadfast love endures forever! And we have sought your protection for the teens who went to RYM and they have returned safe – great is the Lord, for his steadfast love endures forever! Thank you, O our God!

 As Isaiah your spokesman once said, “The LORD has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God” (Isaiah 52.10). Show forth your strength on behalf of your people, and in defense of those who are oppressed, unjustly broken down and beaten up. Build up peace, prosperity and lawfulness among the nations that all may know you are God the Almighty, All-caring, All-knowing, all-sovereign, and give you praise.   O Lord, hear our prayer.

 Lord God, hear our prayer for your Church world-over; including Brookwood Baptist Church; Bryant Ave Baptist Church; Calvary Baptist Tabernacle; Calvary Missionary Baptist Church; and Camille Ave Baptist Church; as well as our Denomination’s Chaplains – Ron Eastes; Chris Reeder; Jack Unangst; Cristiano DeSousa; Chang Kim; Geun Lee; and Jason Hill. May they be filled with your power, with the Spirit of the LORD, and with justice and might, to declare to Jacob his transgression and to Israel his sin (Micah 3.8). And guide them to do what you have required by doing justice, loving mercy and walking humbly with you our God (Micah 6.8). O Lord, hear our prayer.

 Lord Jesus, you have told us to pray for workers to go forth into the harvest; look upon this congregation and raise up more laborers from our own midst. Look upon our men and boys that from their number you might shape and mold deacons, pastors, elders, Sunday School teachers and missionaries aplenty. Look upon these women and girls that you might lead and frame them to be mothers in Israel like Deborah, godly wives and mothers of church leaders like Lois and Eunice – Timothy’s Grandmother and mother, Bible translators, teachers, co-laborers with Gospel ministers – like Euodia and Syntyche who labored with Paul. Yes Jesus, raise up more laborers from our midst. O Lord, hear our prayer.
Finally, O God, knowing that you fathom us far better than we do ourselves, and that you grasp our unspoken worries, fears and anxieties far better than we can express with our lips, hear the groanings of our hearts…have mercy on us, dear God; help us; answer us for your Name’s sake. O Lord, hear our prayer.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"Was America Founded as a Christian Nation?" (Rev. Ed.) by John Fea. A Review

Image
  John Fea is a professor of history at Messiah University in Mechanicsburg, PA. A university founded in 1909 by the Brethren in Christ Church. He originally published "Was America Founded as a Christian Nation? A Historical Introduction" in 2011, and it was revised in 2016. This 328-page paperback is packed full with Colonial and American history, drawing from original sources to answer that question. It is a book written "for the historically minded and thoughtful reader who is looking for help in sorting" out this question, avoiding polemics (xix). Since we live in a sound-bite culture, Fea recognizes that it is difficult to have a sustained dialogue on this topic, but he makes a valiant effort toward having that sustained dialogue. The book reads fairly straightforward, and doesn't seem to get bogged down in the contentious mudpuddles or bogs. In the end, Fea seems to get his point across. To answer the reigning question if America was founded as a Christian...
Read more

Union with Christ - An Application

Image
  (This was my weekly letter to my congregation on Wednesday, 21 February 2024) This morning in my devotional reading, I was working through 1 Corinthians 8. Though I’ve read these words a huge number of times over the years, today one verse caused me to stop and take stock.  Paul wrote, “ Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ ” (1 Corinthians 8:12). What struck me is a couple of things. First, in God’s saving work, we are – by grace alone – united (hitched, bonded, ingrafted) to Christ so much so, that what happens to us happens to him, and what is his becomes ours (think of Galatians 2:20, for example). As Sinclair Ferguson put it, “through union with Christ all that is his by incarnation becomes ours through faith” (“The Christian Life,” 110). Let that percolate in your heart for a while. Your fear, anxiety, tears, and so forth, he feels. And his “ Peace, be still ” is yours. Second, the way we treat one an...
Read more

"Ah, Lord! We are Animated by Anger and Anxiety, Fear and Fury..."

Image
I hesitate to put this out there because of the combative environment we are in at present. But I think some souls will take courage from this, and some will also join with me as we get to the end of this little composition. I am struck by the words of God in Zechariah 8. As he rehearses the waywardness and faithlessness of his people in the past, he clearly declares that he " set every man against his neighbor " (8:10). That got me thinking long ago. I started putting the pieces together and realized that one of God's acts of judgment is division, setting a man against his neighbor. That's what happened when he divided his people into the northern tribes and southern tribes (see 1 Kings 11:26-40). Because of Solomon's turning aside, allowing his wives to turn his heart away from the God of his father, David, the Lord brings about a rift in God's people. And this pattern of divisive judgment runs throughout Scripture. On the other hand, truthful unity is the g...
Read more