"Praise the LORD!" - 16 October 2022

 

Praise the LORD! Thank you that you have made us a crown of beauty and a royal diadem in your hand, O LORD. Thank you that we shall no more be termed Forsaken or Desolate but shall be called My Delight Is in Her and Married. Thank you, LORD, that you delight in us and that as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride you rejoice over us (Isaiah 62:3-5)!

We pray, Lord, that you would have mercy on all of the nations of this earth. O God, you reign over the nations; you sit on your holy throne. May all of the princes of the peoples gather as the people of the God of Abraham. For the shields of the earth belong to you, O God; you are highly exalted (Psalm 47:8-9)!

We pray, Lord, that you would have mercy on these United States of America. We pray, God, bless America, but not her sin and immorality. God, bless America, but not where she is unjust and prejudiced. God, bless America, but not where she opposes and resists you. God, bless America, where she seeks to fairly, and rightly, establish liberty and justice for all, free born, foreign-born and unborn. God, bless America, while she defends the fatherless and widow. God, bless America, as she receives and protects the tired, the poor, the huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of the teeming shore, the homeless and tempest-tossed. God, bless America as she lifts her lamp beside the golden door (Statue of Liberty Poem)!

We pray, Lord, that you would have mercy on our congregation and all of the churches around our city, including Bethel Baptist Church, Beverly Hills Baptist, Bridgepoint and Britton Baptist Church. Saved by Christ alone, through grace alone, received by faith alone, and walking by the Scriptures alone; may we shine and exist to the glory of God alone.

We pray, Lord, that you would have mercy on your church throughout the world; and especially where she is fearful that the morning sun may well bring new hostilities; where she is poor and poverty-stricken; where she has been ground down under jackbooted thuggery; and where she has felt the frigid and suffocating grip of secularism and statism. Lord, have mercy!

We pray, Lord, that you would have mercy on those who have turned away from you or never known you (…).

We pray, Lord, that you would have mercy on those in our penal system who have received the death penalty, and on those who are on death row.

We pray, Lord, that you would have mercy on those who have been swallowed up by darkness and heresy (…).

We pray, Lord, that you would have mercy on those who have found themselves in the hospital, the rehab, mental health institutions; and those who are hurting and ailing (…).

And now we join our hearts and voices to pray as we have been taught, Our Father…

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