"Lord, Have Mercy" - 4 June 2023

 

You once declared to Moses: “See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god beside me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand” (Deuteronomy 32:39); and Paul proclaimed: “So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy” (Romans 9:16). And so we respond: “Now thank we all our God, with heart and hands and voices, Who wondrous things has done, in Whom this world rejoices; Who from our mothers’ arms has blessed us on our way, With countless gifts of love, and still is ours today” (TH # 98 v.1).

For those in every nation – including our own country as well as Palau, Palestinian Territories, Panama, and Papua New Guinea – we call upon you to govern their deliberations, machinations, maneuverings, decisions in such ways as will enhance peace and bring about goodness and rightness.

For your Church in every place, together with this congregation, and Living Church of God on Main, Philadelphia Church of God, Western Hills Fellowship, Fresh Start Community Church, Doug and Masha Shepherd in Ukraine and those with them, we pray in the words of the hymn: “Oh, may this bounteous God through all our life be near us, With ever joyful hearts and blessed peace to cheer us; And keep us in His grace, and guide us when perplexed; And guard us through all ills in this world, and the next” (TH # 98 v.2)!

Rain down your care and direction on our General Assembly as it meets 13-16 June. May all of the Commissioners and their families have safe travels; may the dialogues and decisions be wise and godly; and may the outcomes be whole and Biblical.

For all who are dispirited and dejected, we pray. Lord, have mercy.

For all who have lost hope, peace and joy, we pray. Lord, have mercy.

For all who are unable to cope or get by, we pray. Lord, have mercy.

For all who are weak, heavily burdened, or spent, we pray. Christ, have mercy.

For all who are in dread, anxious or distressed, we pray. Christ, have mercy.

For all who are dead in their trespasses and sins, who have strayed, or are skeptical, we pray. Christ, have mercy.

For all who feel lifeless, lame or benumbed, we pray. Lord, have mercy.

For all who are forsaken, betrayed or slandered, we pray. Lord, have mercy.

For all who are powerless, helpless, or vulnerable, we pray. Lord, have mercy.

“All praise and thanks to God \ the Father now be given, \ The Son, and Him Who reigns \ with Them in highest Heaven—The one eternal God, Whom earth and Heav’n adore; For thus it was, is now, and shall be evermore” (TH #98 v.3). And now, we join voices and hearts together to pray as our Lord Jesus directed, saying, Our Father, who art in heaven…