"Oh, Save Your People" - 8 August 2021

 

(This congregational prayer is soaked in Psalm 28)

O Lord, we lift up our voices with the Psalmist and in the name of Jesus your Son: To you, O LORD, I call; my rock, be not deaf to me, lest, if you be silent to me, I become like those who go down to the pit. Hear the voice of my pleas for mercy, when I cry to you for help, when I lift up my hands toward your most holy sanctuary. O Lord God who provides, we pray for those who are bearing heavy strains from work or joblessness (…); from disease and disorder (…); from cracked up and crumbling marriages (…); from rocky and wrecked families (…); from darkness and depression (…); from agitation and anxiousness (…); from sorrowfulness and sadness (…). Hear their plea and hear us as we join with them. Like the blind man who came to Jesus, like the woman with an issue of blood, and like the Canaanite woman on behalf of her demon-oppressed daughter; may they hear you say “Great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire” and be refreshed and restored!

Do not drag me off with the wicked, with the workers of evil, who speak peace with their neighbors while evil is in their hearts. Give to them according to their work and according to the evil of their deeds; give to them according to the work of their hands; render them their due reward. Because they do not regard the works of the LORD or the work of his hands, he will tear them down and build them up no more. O Rock of refuge and strength of your people; hear the cries and tears of those throughout the world who are oppressed and overloaded, harassed and harried (…). Relieve them of their desolation and despair. May the nations of the world and our own country rally to defend and protect the blameless and the beleaguered. Give peace, O Lord, in our time! Break the violent arms and smash the consuming mouths of those who blast the defenseless and target the unprotected; that blow up and hack down the vulnerable. See their evil, hear our plea, and take action quickly!

Blessed be the LORD! For he has heard the voice of my pleas for mercy. The LORD is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him. Come to the aid of your whole church, including this congregation, and Harvest Hills Baptist Church, Henderson Hills, Higher Plain, and Hillcrest United Presbyterian Church. Rescue us from the harassment of heretics; bolster our resistance to the siren calls of our alluring world; and may your grace restore and transform our nature. Add to your church such as are being saved; and bring our evangelistic exertions to produce delightful results. Thank you that the LORD is the strength of his people; he is the saving refuge of his anointed. Oh, save your people and bless your heritage! Be their shepherd and carry them forever (Psalm 28). 

All we ask in union with Jesus Christ your Son, and our Lord and Savior, as we pray together what he taught us, saying; Our Father…

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