"He Is Risen, as He Said" - 9 April 2023

 

Our Father, who’s blessed Son our Savior gave his back to the smiters and did not hide his face from shame: give us all that we need to endure the sufferings of this present time with grace and joy, as well as a sure and certain confidence of the glory that shall be revealed in us through Jesus Christ our Lord. We ask with hope and confidence because “He is risen, as he said.”

O Lord, we pray for your Church in all places, for this congregation, Central Church of Christ, Cherokee Hills, Third Street, and Macomb Ave Church of Christ. Help us that we may be strengthened to greater and greater faithfulness, that no matter what we may face, we will always walk in your ways. Take care of all our needs, providing for us bountifully from your generosity. We ask with hope and confidence because “He is risen, as he said.”

Please turn the hearts of our enemies away from hate and maliciousness and bring them into your fold. And give us daily grace to love our enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return, that we may show ourselves to be sons of the Most High. We ask with hope and confidence because “He is risen, as he said.”

We beseech you to lift up your face on those in hard times, dark times, dry times, and harrowing times (…). Comfort them in their grief; strengthen them in their weakness; deliver them in their distress; refresh them in their weariness and raise them to renewed hope and with refreshed hearts. We ask with hope and confidence because “He is risen, as he said.”

Please safeguard our country and deliver us from the road to serfdom. Be with our State leaders. Direct them and the hearts and minds of the leaders of every nation, including Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macau and Macedonia, that they would render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, they would not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, nor devise evil against another in their heart (Zechariah 7:9-10). And here, where we live, send us the needed rains and showers. We ask with hope and confidence because “He is risen, as he said.”

Father, we pray for those we know or have met who are in real need, and we pray for those who play on the vulnerabilities and emotions of others. For people who mishandle their resources and people who perform for drugs and drink. For people who are genuinely poor and those who are being devious and deceitful; (…). Help us to fathom and perceive who it is that genuinely needs aid, and how best and rightly to help them. And also, grant to them a new way, your new way, that they may be freed from lifestyles and life-long habits that are destructive and demeaning. We ask with hope and confidence because “He is risen, as he said.” 

Finally, Lord, we thank you for your generous goodness to us, and that you take pleasure in those who fear you, in those who hope in your steadfast love. Because “He is risen, as he said” we now pray as Jesus taught us, saying Our Father…