Holy Father, Who Sends Rain and Sun - 19 September 2021


 Holy Father, who sends sun and rain on the just and the unjust, who provides food for the good and the evil, thank you for your tender mercies enjoyed by so many.  

O God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, whom the whole heavens adore; let the whole earth also worship you, all nations obey you, all tongues confess and bless you; and men, women, girls, and boys everywhere love you and serve you in peace through Jesus Christ. We ask this especially for families, neighbors, co-workers, and friends we know (…). 

Almighty God, we pray for churches in the greater OKC area, especially Midwest Blvd Christian Church, Mustang Church of the Nazarene, 1st Nazarene of Yukon, and Nehemiah Baptist Church. We pray that their work, toil, patient endurance and rejection of evil would flourish; that they would not abandon their first love; and where they may have fallen into error or compromised with the world, that you would straighten them out and build them up (Revelation 2:1-7).  

LORD, for this congregation, please grant us the grace we need to withstand the temptations and avoid the infections of the world, the flesh, and the devil; so that with pure heart, sound mind, and holy delight we may follow you, our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who is alive and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit, ever One God. And beat down Satan under our feet. 

We are deeply grateful, O God, for our medical professionals, hospitals, and clinics. We give you thanks for the medical advances accomplished even in the last 45 years; but most of all, we thank you that many women and men have given themselves to the hard work of caring for people – even the most obnoxious. Encourage the weary; strengthen the fatigued; and cheer the diligent. May they see their work with patients turning into health and happiness. 

O Yahweh Yireh, the LORD who provides, look upon the western regions of this country, charred and burning and dry. Grant recovery and replenish what is depleted. Also, preserve the firefighters and others trying to control those blazes. Further, continue to aid the recuperating and rebuilding going on after hurricane Ida, and now Nicholas.

Father, we know our nation is not spotless. We confess and acknowledge that the U.S.A. is not the kingdom of God nor the Church of Jesus Christ; nevertheless, Father, we love our country. It’s a blessing to live here, and for that we thank you. Please restore moral sanity to “We the people” and civic sensibility to our governmental leaders. Where decency and virtue are on the decline, wake us up to the train wreck that will be of our own making and bring us to turn around. And please grant our country safety from all enemies foreign and domestic. 

Our great God, in whose hand is our life, health and wellbeing, hear our prayers for those who are hungry, homeless, and hopeless (…); for those who are impoverished or imperiled (…); for those who are suicidal or dismayed (…); for those who find their bodies stricken or homes wrecked (…); for those being hampered with mental or emotional complications (…). Brighten their days with hope and healthy happiness; grant them patience under their affliction and a cheerful outcome to their infirmity. These requests we ask through our mediator, Jesus Christ your Son and our Lord. And we pray as he taught us, saying, Our Father…

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