"Have Mercy, We Pray..." - 17 January 2021

 


You declared, “See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god beside me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand” (Deuteronomy 32:39). Therefore, we adore you, the only God; we worship you, God over life and death, God over hurt and health! Have mercy, we pray, on all who are beat up, badgered, beleaguered, broke and brittle (…). Grant them the specific aid they need, whether monetary, medical, medicinal or mending, and raise them up to rejoice in your goodness and lift their hearts and voices in thanksgiving.

Have mercy, we pray, on all who have turned their backs to you and not their faces (…). Give them to your Son that he may never lose them but raise them up on the last day.

Have mercy, we pray, on those women who feel pressured and oppressed to the point that they have contemplated abortion, and those misguided and misled by tricky influencers. Have mercy on those fathers whose children have been removed over their protests and been left with broken hearts. Have mercy on children in the womb. Give mother and child safety, health, and futures filled with love. Turn the hearts of those who think that abortion, euthanasia, or suicide are honorable, sane “choices” or rights. Turn their hearts, and may they come to embrace the God-given blessing of life.

Have mercy, we pray, on our own nation. May the good and right prevail, while evil, greed, envy and crime be upturned and upended. Strengthen and invigorate the inhabitants of this land to maintain justice, promote equanimity, show compassion for the powerless, and thrive in your common grace. We also pray that you would be with our national, State and local leaders. Pull-back on plans and ambitions that are immoral or improper, and send forward those desires, legislations and executive orders that are genuinely good and wholesome. And for the good of your church and the good of all in our country, may the transition of office come off safely and calmly.

Have mercy, we pray, on all nations of this world that peace, prosperity, and propriety would blossom, so that families, children, the widowed, the handicapped, and the orphaned may all live in relative security; so that infrastructures would be made operational and secure; schools and medical institutions be properly equipped, outfitted, and staffed. To this end, we pray for international leaders that they would conduct themselves with honor, execute their offices with integrity, and exemplify uprightness.

Have mercy, we pray, on your church throughout the world, throughout North America and Oklahoma, to include Heritage and these congregations in the OKC area; Hillcrest Presbyterian, Korean First Presbyterian, Santa Fe Presbyterian, and Southminster Presbyterian Church. Grant unto us all things that are needful for our welfare, body, soul, and mind. Strengthen and confirm the faithful, visit and relieve the sick, bless and protect the children, recover the fallen, restore the repentant, remove all hindrances to the advancement of your Truth, and bring us all to be of one heart and mind within the fold of your holy Church, to the honor and glory of your holy name.

All of these requests we have mentioned, and those that have remained silently on our hearts, we ask in the name of Jesus Christ, your Son and our Saving Lord, as we pray together what he taught us, saying; Our Father…

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