"O Strengthener of the Weak" - 13 May 2018



O Strengthener of the weak; fortifier of the faithful, rescuer of the wayward, restorer of the repentant; we lift up our hearts and eyes and voices proclaiming that your steadfast love is good and endures forever. Thank you that by your most holy, wise and powerful preserving you govern all your creatures and all our actions; thank you that you deliver your people from their enemies, drawing them from the miry bog and setting their feet on a rock. This brings us to pray for Fika and Obet in Indonesia; Emmanuel in Ghana; Christell in Peru; Arlyn and Benjamin in El Slavador; Yeidi in Columbia; and Aide in the Dominican Republic; and their families. Provide for them, lift their hearts, fill them with grace and courage. And it brings us to pray for AXXXX BXXXX, FXXXXX BXXXXXX. and other believers in Turkey. Bring them help, defend them, and deliver them from their accusers and prosecutors.

Look on the nations – including Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, and the Netherlands – preserve the good and just, remove the evil and malicious. And open the way for your Gospel to run deep and wide in all lands. And look upon our country, Good Lord. May our leaders be noble and honorable, gracious and merciful, just and moral. May we and our fellow inhabitants support whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, and worthy of praise.

We pray on behalf of your Church world-over; this congregation; Southwest Baptist Church; The Cross Baptist; True Vine Baptist, Vandament Baptist and Windsor Hills Baptist Church. Give us the grace and strength to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have called us, 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).

Take note, Father, of the pain and distress of those struggling with disease or darkness of heart; the uneasiness or discouragement of those looking into an uncertain future; the frustration and fear of those fraught with marital and family strife and strains;…May your hand be on them to guide them, your right hand uphold them, your peace to fill them and guard their hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Thank you, Holy God, for the godly mothers of this church and in our lives, some still living and some already gone from our sight, who have exhibited your own tenderness, compassion, and nurturing care; thank you for those mothers who gave so much not only in having children, but in raising them to adulthood. We pray for those mothers who have left deep scars that you would bring about repentance on their part, and healing to those they hurt. We pray for the mothers of this church; may they continue to encourage, lead and love their children in the various seasons of life, showing them – as it were – the face of God. And we pray for those who have long desired to be mothers but can’t; make them rich in the joy of the Lord, satisfied with you, and to continue to share the love you have worked in them. 

Finally, we bring to you those on our hearts who continue to look away from you, those who have turned their back to you, those who deny either your existence or your importance, and those who are seriously wavering, …; bring them to see their perilous situation, and to cry out to your Son Jesus, for you have promised that whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved (Romans 10.13). Amen.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

“The Shift” - 2023 Movie. A Review

Image
  What do you get when you cross a dark dystopian storyline with sci-fi, alternative dimensions, theological and philosophical questions, and the biblical book of Job? You get The Shift , written and directed by Brock Heasley, produced by Ken Carpenter, and distributed by Angel Studios. This roughly one hour and 45 minute tale swirls around Kevin (Kristoffer Polaha) as he moves from one realm of life, with it’s happiness and heartbreak, to another dimension that is a dismal existence clearly governed by The Benefactor (masterfully played by Neal McDonough). A viewer will be asking questions all the way through, and picking up clues and answers that pull the story together bit-by-bit. The story bumps up against an infinite set of alternative possibilities, of time, space, and versions of one’s self that will likely stoke a viewer’s imagination. But the heart of the narrative - besides love, grief, loss, trust/distrust - is around the place of evil, specifically, personal or human evil.
Read more

"On Getting Out of Bed" by Alan Noble. A Review

Image
  When it comes to family members or friends going through a significant mental crisis, or suffering, we often can feel like we’re fumbling about to help them. Sometimes, we can become like Job’s friends, whom he had to call “miserable comforters” (Job 16:2). But very recently Alan Noble, assistant professor of English at Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee Oklahoma, and cofounder and editor-in-chief of “Christ and Pop Culture” penned a deeply beautiful 120-page hardback that addresses mental affliction. “On Getting Out of Bed: The Burden and Gift of Living” is written for those who struggle with mental affliction, but also pastors, teachers, parents, and loved ones, to “help them understand their loved one’s suffering. It is for anyone who ever struggles to get out of bed” (3). I finished this book earlier this week, and kept finding myself saying, “Finally! Someone gets it!” Eight chapters fill up this handy manual. They run through several subjects, like not sounding like Job’s f
Read more

Community?

Image
  (This is from my letter to my congregation I sent out today, 30 August 2023) As one of my elders was leading us through Carl Trueman’s Strange New World in our adult class , I appreciated Trueman’s emphasis on community. And our discussions, especially the last two Sundays, were very fruitful as we thought out loud together about this subject. Therefore, I thought I would share something from David Brooks, an Op-ed columnist that leans into this discussion.   Brooks published a book in 2019 titled, “The Second Mountain: The Quest for a Moral Life”. In that work he was taking a gentle punch at destructive trends he has been seeing, and giving some helpful correctives. And so, he notes that “Individualism, taken too far, leads to tribalism” (34). He then shows how the loneliness and spiritual emptiness of individualism taken too far have become more prevalent in our time and the ways that they lead to very dark social consequences. These darker social consequences foster the need t
Read more