"O Father, Our Father" - 24 January 2016 AM and PM

Sunday morning:

O Father, our Father, you desire us to draw near to you with all holy reverence and confidence, as children to a Father, able and ready to help us; and that we should pray with and for others. Therefore, we come.

Abba, Father, fulfill the meaning of your name toward us, your children; do govern, preserve, protect, prosper, guide, console, strengthen and sanctify us. Let us be so enkindled with love for you that we may never forsake you, O most merciful Lord, and most tender Father. And, like King Jehoshaphat, may our hearts be courageous in the ways of the LORD.

We ask you to aid and support Dan Young, his family, and the mission team in McAllen, Reynosa and beyond. Grant to them peace and protection, trustworthy co-laborers and tangible assets, help unlooked for and wholesale opportunities for their work to be successful.

We implore your kindest care and compassion on the nations of our world, especially where there is bloodshed, bombings, and grisly brutality. We specifically pray for your guidance, peacefulness, law and order for Haiti, France, Libya, Pakistan, ….

Look upon your Church throughout the world, and these congregations in the greater OKC area, First UMC of Edmond; Free Methodist Church of Edmond; Grace UMC; Hillcrest UMC; Korean First UMC; and Lakeside UMC; Grant to them your guidance, protection, and daily support. Give them courage and power to stand firm in the faith of Christ. And may the Christ-centered, Gospel-enlivened, and Bible-rich heritage of John and Charles Wesley reignite in them hearts strangely warmed and lives increasingly holy.

O Sovereign, majestic Lord, we commend the United States of America into your merciful care. In times of prosperity, fill our hearts with thankfulness to you and gracious charitableness to one another, and in times of trouble do not allow our trust in you to fail. Guided by your providence may we dwell secure in your peace. For all who hold governmental office, grant them wisdom, strength and the willingness to know and do your good will. Fill them with the love of truth and righteousness, and make them ever mindful that they too will give an account for all their actions on that great Day of Judgment when your Son returns to judge the living and the dead.

We pray for those in our church who are part of Federal, State or City Government; those working at the VA, for the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, and the OKCPD; but also those who work in health care or higher education; guide them, strengthen, encourage and protect them, and grant their honorable, health-enhancing, hope-improving labor to bear beautiful fruit, and give them reasons to lift their voices to you in praise.

Please shield, steady and strengthen our military service members, especially those in our families who are deployed or are about to be.

Finally, we ask for wellbeing to ensue in our homes, within our families, and among our friends.

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Sunday evening:

Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure. The LORD lifts up the humble; he casts the wicked to the ground. (Psalm 147.5-6): it is to you we bring our entreaties and pleas and thanks.

Father, we call to mind in your presence various friends, family members and folks from our congregation who are dealing with diverse ailments, limitations and infirmities…we pray for their strength, resilience, and recovery. For those who are in the role of caregivers…, may they have the durability, flexibility, patience and stableness they will need to be able to give loving, helpful care. O Lord, hear our prayer.

We thank you, Lord God, for Xxxxx stepping up to be the president of WIC (Women in the Church). Lead her and the women in this church as they serve together and minister in multiple ways. Prosper their plans to make our building and congregation a more welcoming place for visitors and members alike. And be with the other ministries, like the Heritage Needlework Guild, as they make blankets for the YWCA Women’s Shelter. May they bring warmth – both inside and outside – to those who receive them.  O Lord, hear our prayer.

Thank you, Father, for the good things you’re doing in and through this congregation. Walk with us as we, like Enoch and Noah, seek to walk with you. Help us to hold fast to love and justice, waiting on you (Hosea 12.6). Since you take pleasure in your people; and you adorn the humble with salvation (Psalm 149:4), may we be known as the people of your pleasure, the humble adorned with salvation. Give us more opportunities for making disciples, and support us to follow through in disciple-making.  O Lord, hear our prayer.

We intercede on behalf of your church throughout the world, to include the Ruthenian Catholic Church; the Russian Greek Catholic Church; Samavesam of Telugu Baptist Churches in India; the United Evangelical Lutheran Churches in India; the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan; the Evangelical Reformed Church of Angola; and the New Apostolic Church. We ask that you make your people worthy of your calling and fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by your power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in your churches, and your people in him, according to your grace through the Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Thessalonians 1.11-12). O Lord, hear our prayer.