"O God, O Father, O Almighty, O Maker of Heaven and Earth" - 26 November 2017

O God, before whom no god was formed, nor shall there be any after you; for you, you alone are the LORD, and besides you there is no savior (Isaiah 43.10-11): We implore you to show kindness and care to those who are facing critical times…, those who are hospitalized and weakening…, those who are recovering from sickness or surgery…, those swallowed up in sorrow and sadness… for exhausted caregivers...,  for those walking through darkness, depression, or disorder…; grant them relief,  replenishment, as well as faith and hope so as not to rely on themselves but on you, O God, who raises the dead. For you are he who delivers us from such deadly perils and will deliver us. And so, on you may we set our hope that you will deliver us again (2 Corinthians 1.9-10).

O Father, from whom all fatherhood is named in heaven and on earth: we who have come to know you as the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1.3), you who are over all and through all and in all (Ephesians 4.6), we implore you to strengthen and aid our brothers and sisters world over, including this congregation and Downtown Baptist Church; Draper Lake Baptist; Dumas Ave Baptist; and Eagle Heights Baptist Church; bring us all to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which we have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (Ephesians 4.1-3).

O Almighty, with the Psalmist we say, “For I know that the LORD is great, and that our Lord is above all gods. Whatever the LORD pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps” (Psalm 135.5–6). Therefore direct all nations (to include the USA, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cabo Verde, and Central African Republic), and direct all tribes, communities, clans, ethnic groups and peoples toward honesty, fairness, and the common good. Detain and defeat all evil, immorality, anarchy, bloodletting, banditry, and bullying. Keep or restore domestic equilibrium where it has either disintegrated or is being threatened (especially in Zimbabwe and Kenya).

O Maker of heaven and earth, who upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down; to whom the eyes of all look, and who gives them their food in due season; who opens your hand, and satisfies the desire of every living thing (Psalm 145.14-16): we give you our deepest thanks for all you have supplied. We pray for those in prison and who minister in the prisons, that you would bring hope and life and salvation. We pray for those who didn’t have anything, or had very little, to eat this past week and to whom the coming week looks just as sparse, that you would take care of them and provide them plentifully. We pray for those who are helping at Project 66, RestoreOKC, Hope Center of Edmond, City Rescue Mission, the Salvation Army, and other ministries, that you would enable them to provide the kind of aid that will be genuinely charitable and beneficial. Finally, Creator God, we pray for those who need to know you as the one who brings new creation in Jesus Christ…, save them from their sins, and from themselves. 

We present our petitions to you in the name of, and by the authority of, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.