God Is Our Refuge and Strength - 21 April 2024

 

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble (Psalm 46:1). O Lord God, who rules in heaven and on earth, who directs orbits and oceans, governs harvests and hailstorms, who fashions the heart of all people and observes all their deeds (Psalm 33:15), who can set every man against his neighbor (Zechariah 8:10) but can also make wars to cease to the ends of the earth (Psalm 46:9); through your Son, Jesus Christ, you reconciled to yourself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace through the blood of his cross (Colossians 1:20). Attend to our prayers this day as we seek your face and intercede on behalf of your Church and world.

For your church all around this globe, and the OKC area, such as New Bethlehem, Reflection, Abundant Life, and Calvary Christian Center, we pray. Guide her leaders, heal her divisions, reclaim her waywardness, right her wrongheadedness, and mend her brokenness. And here at Heritage, encourage our teachers, bolster our families, lift the heads of those who are lonely or depressed, restore relationships that are hurt, bring any who stubbornly refuse to see their faults face-to-face with their wrongs and to seek forgiveness from those they’ve wronged. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

For the nations of our world, including our own country, we pray. Stop evil and strengthen good; arouse hearts and hands to step in and provide for those in need, establish clean drinking water, build solid infrastructures, train and fund good teachers and safe schools, establish and enhance medical services, and create an environment of humaneness. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

For the leaders of the nations, we pray. May their policies and aims construct greater international and indigenous agreement, restrain warmongering, settle unrest and benefit their populations. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

For those in mental darkness we pray; for those in dire straits we pray; for those nearing or in the middle of bankruptcy we pray; for those brokenhearted and despondent we pray; for those whose homes are filled with trouble we pray; for those who are homeless we pray; for those who have serious “Daddy-issues” and “Mommy-issues” we pray; for all in various needs we pray (…). Please comfort and relieve them according to their specific needs, giving them patience under their sufferings, and a happy conclusion to all their afflictions. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. 

For unbelievers and wayward believers, we pray (…). May your Spirit of truth convince them of their sin and misery, enlighten their minds in the knowledge of Christ, and renew their wills, persuading and enabling them to embrace Jesus Christ, freely offered to us in the gospel (WSC 31). God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. And now we pray as Jesus taught us, saying: Our Father who art in heaven…

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