"Praise Is Due to You, O God": 12 July 2015 AM and PM


Sunday Morning:

O God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, Giver of all good gifts, we pray for your Church throughout the nations, specifically in Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, New Guinea, and the rest of Asia: sustain these brothers and sisters through the hard and happy times. Look upon their needs and provide them with all good things necessary for them to do the work you have called them to.

Give patience and joy to all the parents as we raise our children in your righteous ways. Aid the single that they may resist the pressures of our world and keep themselves chaste. Strengthen the young adults to continue to follow Christ faithfully. May these children (younger and older) embrace the Christian faith we have been handing on to them through Sunday School, Faith Alive! and in our homes. And for all of us, may the fruit of the Spirit…..grow large in us.

We call out to you for those we know who need to believe in Christ and repent of their sins, those who have strayed away and need to be restored, and those whose faith is shaken…. Turn them away from the darkness to embrace the Son of your love, Jesus Christ.

O Eternal God, as you guided our forbearers to promote and guarantee life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; guide us now – citizens and leaders alike – to properly maintain these gifts. We pray for clear heads to prevail in the midst of all the shouting. We ask for civility and consideration to once again take the lead. And continue to preserve the free exercise of religion in this land, for the good of your Church and the going-forth of your Gospel.

Hear us, O Lord, to whom all nations are as a drop in the bucket, and look upon the poverty, clashes, coups, and border quarrels throughout the world. Please restore peace, order and prosperity that clean drinking water, food, education, prosperity, and industry may again be established; so that all people might thrive, and your Church be unharmed.

We intercede on behalf of those who are anguished and aching, those with poor health, scanty finances, family strife, nerve-wracking fears and tumultuous anxieties….. Raise them up, give them hope, health, and all the resources they need to recover.

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Sunday Evening:

Praise is due to you, O God, in Zion, and to you shall vows be performed. O you who hear prayer, to you shall all flesh come. When iniquities prevail against me, you atone for our transgressions (Psalm 65.1-3).

We pray for your Church throughout the nations, as well as for N.E. 65th St. Church of God in Christ; Greater Gospel Kingdom Church of God in Christ; Light House Church; Love, Joy and Peace Church; Madison Street Church of God; and New Bethel Church of God in Christ. May they be filled with the Spirit of Christ, live by the Spirit and walk by the Spirit (Galatians 5.25). May their fellowships be rich in brotherly love, their homes full of peace and harmony; and their lives be faithful testimonies of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. O Lord, hear our prayer.

Lord God, our older teens are launching out into new ventures – some already gone. We ask you to help them as they take on more adult responsibilities, making more adult decisions. Guide them in those determinations, and wherever they go and whatever they do, help them to remember who they are, whose they are, and why they are. Surround them with good friends, fellow believers, that they may rejoice that their path is not lonely. O Lord, hear our prayer.

Father, seasons like this can be hard on a church. Sometimes the thoughts and voices in our heads can lead us to think in ways that are suspicious and skeptical; and sometimes the shadow-community lurking in our hearts can dishearten and demoralize us from within with self-doubts, accusing self-talk and defeatism. Father, for our part, help us that our instinctive mind-set will always be from a position of charity and grace. And Father, for your part, please – as you have done in the past, so now and on into the future – continue to sustain us and (and in the words of St. Paul) let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith (Galatians 6.9-10).   O Lord, hear our prayer.


Finally, Lord, we again bring up our Mega Sports Camp VBS. Thank you for all those who have given their time and resources; be with those who will help from behind the scenes, and those who will be out front. We pray for the Christian kids and adults, that this will be encouraging to them; and we pray for the kids and parents who have no church that your Spirit would be pleased to use what we do, how we act, and the Gospel-words we speak to draw them into your family. O Lord, hear our prayer.

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