Congregational and Pastoral Prayer: 13 July 2014 PM


Great is the Lord, for his steadfast love endures forever! Lord God, we have prayed for rain – and you have plentifully poured your answer on us; great is the Lord, for his steadfast love endures forever! We have lifted our voices and hearts to you on behalf of Bxxxx Dxxxxx – and now she no longer needs further treatment for the cancer; great is the Lord, for his steadfast love endures forever! We have cried out to you on behalf of little baby Kxxxx Dxxxxxx – and she is gaining strength and growing healthy; great is the Lord, for his steadfast love endures forever! And we have sought your protection for the teens who went to RYM and they have returned safe – great is the Lord, for his steadfast love endures forever! Thank you, O our God!

 As Isaiah your spokesman once said, “The LORD has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God” (Isaiah 52.10). Show forth your strength on behalf of your people, and in defense of those who are oppressed, unjustly broken down and beaten up. Build up peace, prosperity and lawfulness among the nations that all may know you are God the Almighty, All-caring, All-knowing, all-sovereign, and give you praise.   O Lord, hear our prayer.

 Lord God, hear our prayer for your Church world-over; including Brookwood Baptist Church; Bryant Ave Baptist Church; Calvary Baptist Tabernacle; Calvary Missionary Baptist Church; and Camille Ave Baptist Church; as well as our Denomination’s Chaplains – Ron Eastes; Chris Reeder; Jack Unangst; Cristiano DeSousa; Chang Kim; Geun Lee; and Jason Hill. May they be filled with your power, with the Spirit of the LORD, and with justice and might, to declare to Jacob his transgression and to Israel his sin (Micah 3.8). And guide them to do what you have required by doing justice, loving mercy and walking humbly with you our God (Micah 6.8). O Lord, hear our prayer.

 Lord Jesus, you have told us to pray for workers to go forth into the harvest; look upon this congregation and raise up more laborers from our own midst. Look upon our men and boys that from their number you might shape and mold deacons, pastors, elders, Sunday School teachers and missionaries aplenty. Look upon these women and girls that you might lead and frame them to be mothers in Israel like Deborah, godly wives and mothers of church leaders like Lois and Eunice – Timothy’s Grandmother and mother, Bible translators, teachers, co-laborers with Gospel ministers – like Euodia and Syntyche who labored with Paul. Yes Jesus, raise up more laborers from our midst. O Lord, hear our prayer.
Finally, O God, knowing that you fathom us far better than we do ourselves, and that you grasp our unspoken worries, fears and anxieties far better than we can express with our lips, hear the groanings of our hearts…have mercy on us, dear God; help us; answer us for your Name’s sake. O Lord, hear our prayer.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

“The Shift” - 2023 Movie. A Review

Image
  What do you get when you cross a dark dystopian storyline with sci-fi, alternative dimensions, theological and philosophical questions, and the biblical book of Job? You get The Shift , written and directed by Brock Heasley, produced by Ken Carpenter, and distributed by Angel Studios. This roughly one hour and 45 minute tale swirls around Kevin (Kristoffer Polaha) as he moves from one realm of life, with it’s happiness and heartbreak, to another dimension that is a dismal existence clearly governed by The Benefactor (masterfully played by Neal McDonough). A viewer will be asking questions all the way through, and picking up clues and answers that pull the story together bit-by-bit. The story bumps up against an infinite set of alternative possibilities, of time, space, and versions of one’s self that will likely stoke a viewer’s imagination. But the heart of the narrative - besides love, grief, loss, trust/distrust - is around the place of evil, specifically, personal or human evil.
Read more

"On Getting Out of Bed" by Alan Noble. A Review

Image
  When it comes to family members or friends going through a significant mental crisis, or suffering, we often can feel like we’re fumbling about to help them. Sometimes, we can become like Job’s friends, whom he had to call “miserable comforters” (Job 16:2). But very recently Alan Noble, assistant professor of English at Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee Oklahoma, and cofounder and editor-in-chief of “Christ and Pop Culture” penned a deeply beautiful 120-page hardback that addresses mental affliction. “On Getting Out of Bed: The Burden and Gift of Living” is written for those who struggle with mental affliction, but also pastors, teachers, parents, and loved ones, to “help them understand their loved one’s suffering. It is for anyone who ever struggles to get out of bed” (3). I finished this book earlier this week, and kept finding myself saying, “Finally! Someone gets it!” Eight chapters fill up this handy manual. They run through several subjects, like not sounding like Job’s f
Read more

Community?

Image
  (This is from my letter to my congregation I sent out today, 30 August 2023) As one of my elders was leading us through Carl Trueman’s Strange New World in our adult class , I appreciated Trueman’s emphasis on community. And our discussions, especially the last two Sundays, were very fruitful as we thought out loud together about this subject. Therefore, I thought I would share something from David Brooks, an Op-ed columnist that leans into this discussion.   Brooks published a book in 2019 titled, “The Second Mountain: The Quest for a Moral Life”. In that work he was taking a gentle punch at destructive trends he has been seeing, and giving some helpful correctives. And so, he notes that “Individualism, taken too far, leads to tribalism” (34). He then shows how the loneliness and spiritual emptiness of individualism taken too far have become more prevalent in our time and the ways that they lead to very dark social consequences. These darker social consequences foster the need t
Read more