Deus Misereatur

  [Image by Shannon Skow] In assurance we lift our hearts to you, O our God. As Jonathan told his armor bearer when heavily outnumbered, “ nothing can hinder the LORD from saving by many or by few ” (1 Samuel 14:6). We, too, are assured that there is nothing, there is no one, no condition, no circumstance, no competitor, no cerebral malfunction, no failure of courage, no catastrophe that can hinder you from saving, rescuing, and triumphing! And therefore, there is no created thing out there or in here that can separate us from your love! Truly in all these things we are more than conquerors, through Christ crucified for our transgressions, risen for our justification (Romans 8:37-39, 4:25), and ascended into heaven to hold sway! We pray on behalf of your Church world-over: this congregation, Shawnee PCA, Sharon Baptist, Siloam, Snowhill, and Solomon Temple Baptist Churches. Raise up a defense around your people that the evil one may never get a foothold against them. Raise our hea...

  Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying, “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.” O God see how the peoples and nations of this world conspire and rage against your Son and his Lordship: through adjudication, legislation, execution of orders, shaming on the air waves, taunting and demonizing through social media and music. And in some places downright brutality and cruelty. See, O Lord! Take note and come to the aid of your chosen ones. Further, we long to see our own nation flourish as a just and lawful land. We long to see our neighborhoods, cities, and State to show themselves to be the land of the free and the home of the brave. And dear Lord, on this Memorial Day we remember and appreciate those who died – men and women – giving themselves to the defense of our country, to keep it free from tyranny and tyrants...

  O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands (Psalm 63:1-4). It has been good to enter your great assembly; to earnestly seek you; to have our dry and thirsty souls quenched with you, O fountain of living waters. We pray for those who don’t know you and have never known the joy that you are and the life you give (…). May they hear your invitation and come to the festival. Also, Father, we pray for those who may feel themselves to be in a dry and weary land where there is no water. Maybe the parchedness is from their sickness or disease; maybe from depression or mental darkness of some kind; maybe from grief; possibly because of a long period of unsettlednes...

  (This Congregational Prayer dwells on Psalm 63) O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands. It has been good to enter your great assembly this day, to earnestly seek you, to have our dry and thirsty souls quenched with you, O fountain of living waters. We pray for those who don’t know you and have never known the joy that you are and the life you give (…). May they hear your invitation and come to the festival. We further pray for those who may feel themselves to be in a dry and weary land where there is no water. Maybe the parchedness is from their sickness or disease; maybe it’s from depression or mental darkness of some kind; maybe from grief; possibly...

In assurance we lift our hearts to you, O our God. As Jonathan told his armor bearer when heavily outnumbered, yet taking the daring risk to engage the Philistines, “ nothing can hinder the LORD from saving by many or by few ” (1 Samuel 14:6). We, too, are assured that there is nothing, no one, no condition, no circumstance, no competitor, no cerebral malfunction, no failure of courage, no catastrophe that can hinder you from saving, rescuing, and triumphing! And therefore, there is no created thing out there or in here that can separate us from your love! Truly in all these things we are more than conquerors, and the seal, the guarantee of this truth is Christ crucified for our transgressions, risen for our justification (Romans 8:37-39, 4:25), and ascended into heaven to hold sway! We pray on behalf of your Church world-over, this congregation, St. Andrew’s UMC, St. Mark’s UMC, St. Matthew’s UMC and Salt UMC. Raise up a defense around your people that the evil one may never get a ...

Sunday morning: From Psalm 63 O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands. It has been good to enter your great assembly; to earnestly seek you; to have our dry and thirsty souls quenched with you, O fountain of living waters. We pray for those who don’t know you, and have never known the joy that you are and the life you give….may they hear your invitation and come to the festival. We pray on behalf of Anna’s House Foundation, Darci Oplotnik, the administrators and staff, and the families who have opened homes and hearts. Provide the moneis and resources needed, raise up volunteers and provide more families. Give them all that they need in the midst o...

Jesus told us, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son” (John 14.12-13). --- Lord God of Hosts, the whole earth is filled with your glory; for the welfare of your people in this country and throughout the world, and for the good of all, we beg you to restrain the brutality and viciousness slinking around or running rampant in the nations; arm the leaders with the tools, desire and ability to establish, keep and enforce real justice and integrity, that all people may enjoy tranquility, prosperity, health and life. Lord, hear our prayer. Mighty God, thank you for the first responders who have poured themselves in to Tornado rescue and recovery; as well as the tons of volunteers who have involved themselves with food and water distribution, aid, clean-up and the numerous other hel...

Memorials are good things! Everything from regularly repeated national holidays every year to historical markers on the sides of dusty back highways. They place before our eyes and minds that there is something worth remembering, and thus something to be gained from remembering. The opposite of memorials and remembering is forgetfulness. It’s when we forget that we often stray off and lose our way. In Scripture, to forget is placed on the same level as despising God’s gifts, refusing to heed His words and outright unbelief. A quick perusal through Psalm 106, for example, makes this connection clear. The writer describes how YHVH delivered His people from Pharaoh and Egypt through the plagues and the Red Sea, and how the people of God responded to this great deliverance, “Then they believed His words; They sang His praise” (v.12). But then, with an almost breathless speed: “ They soon forgot His works ; They did not wait for His counsel, But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness,...