"O God Our Father, We Entreat You..." - 21 August 2022

 

O God our Father, we entreat you to make us a holy, joy-filled people in our homes, at work, and with our various networks of friends. May those who are married be free of strife, pettiness, and fear; may those who are single be chaste and holy, enjoying you in their God-ward singleness; may the children grow stronger in grace and wisdom, loving you all their days while obeying and honoring their parents; and may the elderly flourish in God-given strength, patience, and sound-mindedness. Please form us as a church that is instrumental in drawing the straying back to Christ and his church and bringing unbelievers to be born again by trusting in your Son Jesus Christ.

We pray for your church in all realms and regions, along with these churches in the greater OKC area, Harvest Hills Baptist Church, Heritage Baptist, Highland, and Lighthouse Baptist Church. Grant them to find and live out the righteousness, peace and joy which are in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17). For those who “are strong” may they remember their “obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please” themselves. Cause each to “please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me”” (Romans 15:1-3).

Please strengthen, assist, build up and give a renewed confidence to those who are physically, mentally, or emotionally depleted and drained (…).

O Lord God, be pleased to bring all nations to lean into solid peace and judicial fairness under the sovereign rule of Christ. We pray for an end to all wars, all natural or man-made famines, pestilences, droughts, and plagues. We pray for an end to abortion, sex trafficking, pornographic exploitation, kidnapping, and slavery. We also bring before your face the suffering, hungry, broken peoples of our world who have been left without homes, shelter, and loved ones through various catastrophes, pogroms, conflicts or forced relocations. Have mercy, Lord. 

O God, be with our own nation. We implore your mercy on us so that the racial tensions roused and stirred up by violent bigotry and virulent bombast may be assuaged. We pray for a change of hearts in our land that we may come to see every person as what they are – those made in the image of God. We pray for our President, Mr. Biden, and Vice President, Ms.  Harris. Without any malice or malevolence, but because we know that original sin and total depravity are just as much in the White House as they are in our house, we pray that you would restrain and remediate any rotten inclinations, schemes, and predispositions; and that you would boost what will make for true liberty and justice for all, whether freeborn, foreign born, or unborn. Make haste, O God, to answer our prayer for Christ’s sake. And now we join our hearts and voices to pray as we have been taught, Our Father…

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