"The LORD Reigns" Congregational Prayer - 30 June 2019



“The LORD reigns; he is robed in majesty; the LORD is robed; he has put on strength as his belt. Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved. Your throne is established from of old; you are from everlasting.” Since righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people, we earnestly and heartily pray to you, O reigning God, for our country. Reflecting on the 5th through 10th Commandment, we pray that we and our fellow residents will honor fathers and mothers and all legitimate authorities, instead of affronting aging parents, teachers, police officers or magistrates. We pray that we and the people of this country would turn away from murder in its various shapes and sophistications and would pursue all lawful endeavors to preserve life. We pray that we and the occupants of this land would renounce proud sexual immorality and embrace chastity and life-long monogamy. We pray that we and the inhabitants of our nation would cast aside all ways and means that unjustly hinder our own or our neighbor’s wealth and outward estate and would rather engage in legitimate practices of advancing one another’s lawful prosperity. We pray that we and the folks within our boarders would discard false witness bearing and would become a people who promote truth and one another’s good name. We pray that all would stop hungering and hankering after neighbors’ wives, husbands, property and prosperity, and all would grow in charitableness and full contentment with our condition.

“The floods have lifted up, O LORD, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their roaring. Mightier than the thunders of many waters, mightier than the waves of the sea, the LORD on high is mighty!” We implore you who are enthroned in the heavens, to exercise your special providence toward your Church in this place, at New Life Community Church, New Life Nazarene Church, Northview Church and Oakliff Church of the Nazarene; and throughout the world. May civil righteousness and goodness prevail in all lands so that your church may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way; so that the Gospel may speed ahead and be honored, as has happened before.

“Your decrees are very trustworthy; holiness befits your house, O LORD, forevermore.” We are very grateful for our country, and the liberties you have bequeathed to us. We are thankful for the various salutary advantages you have entrusted to us. And most of all, we are deeply appreciative of the gifts of your Son and your Spirit in whom we have new life, new standing, and new hope. We pray for friends and family who have never repented of their sins and believed in Christ; and we entreat your restoring, reviving mercies for those who once claimed to be Christians but now are no longer walking with your Son… Finally, we beseech your continued provision for this congregation as we look for suitable sisters to take up leadership roles in WIC and as we move closer to VBS. And Lord, we ask for your strength, comfort, mending, and support for those who are sick, ailing, dark, dreary, unsettled, uncertain, grieving or groaning…. All we ask in Jesus name. Amen (From Psalm 93).

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