The Pastor’s Corner

Prayer: Our God in heaven: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we praise your name today because you have been patient and kind to your people. Your Word tells us of the love that you have for your people and how you demonstrated that love by being pleased to crush your Son for those you choose to redeem. We thank you for the love of Christ. We are thankful that his love is patient and kind, that it is not boastful or arrogant. We thank you that his love is not rude and that he ministered to others insisting on your glory and honor. We thank you that his love does not keep a record of wrong but is quick to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We pray that you would increase our love for you and others. Please help us to love as the Lord Jesus loves. We pray these things for the sake of your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

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Prayer: Our God, we were blessed to hear your Word preached on the Lord's Day, and we thank you for this ordinary and primary means of grace. We thank you that you have given us this means to help us and strengthen us and give us direction on our pilgrimage to our heavenly rest. We do not want to be like the church of old that heard your prophets and refused to respond in faith and repentance. We do not want to be like those who came out of Egypt who saw your mighty power and heard your voice and enjoyed the benefits of your presence and yet rebelled, failing to trust you. WE ask that you would make us doers of the Word and not mere hearers of it. We ask that you would bring great fruit from your Word proclaimed that it would not return to you void but will accomplish the purpose you have for it. Please grant us the grace we need, Lord. We pray all of these things in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

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Prayer: Our God in heaven, we praise your name today because you have called us apart from the world and placed your name upon us. We are humbled that you have redeemed us and called us your treasured possession. Since we belong to you, we are called to live our lives as living sacrifices before you. It is reasonable for us to offer our whole lives to you sincerely and promptly. We are your servants, and we are listening to your Word, knowing that it will conform us more and more to the image of your Son. We confess our failure and weakness -- our sin before you. We know that we do not always live in pursuit of holiness and righteousness as you have commanded. We are ashamed at how easy we stray from your commands. We pray that you would help us, by your Spirit, to do all you have told us. We pray this in the name of Christ our Lord. Amen.

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Prayer: Our glorious God and majestic king, you have made us to worship you. From the very beginning, when you created our first parents and throughout all ages, you have called your people to adore and commune with you. After the fall, you condescended with man, drawing men to your presence as a holy obligation to worship you. As we prepare for the lord's Day and the day of worship, we ask that you would be gracious to us by impressing on our hearts and minds the importance and vitality of corporate worship. We ask that you would cause us to see the great importance of gathering with your people, singing your praises, praying, and hearing from you through the reading, but especially the preaching of your Word. We confess that we often see this critical time as another thing we do each week. Forgive us for not seeing the beauty of corporate worship. Today, please prepare us for what we will do as your people on the day you have established as a small picture of that great day when we will worship you in holy perfection. We pray these things in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

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Prayer: Our Father, we lament our fallen condition and grieve at the state of our world. We look around, and we see so many suffering from illness and chronic pain. We witness a virus circling the globe. We see the effects of sin in relationships, in families, and our leaders. We take note of the arrogance of men and their boasting of their own greatness. As your people, we sometimes grow tired of it, and we wonder why those made in your image so loudly rebel against you and then suffer the due consequences of their errors. We plead with you, our God, to advance your kingdom and your glory. WE know that you delight in the salvation of sinners, and we know that you are pleased to forgive. Thus, we ask that you would bring the gospel to bear in our land. We pray for those who suffer. We pray for our families. We pray that you would soon come again to free your people from the misery of this life, bringing us safely across the Jordan to our promised rest. We pray these things in the name of the Savior who we long to see. Amen.

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Prayer: Almighty God, we praise you today because you have demonstrated your faithfulness which is new every morning. Like the people of old who you cared for as they journeyed from their place of bondage to their place of rest you also care fo us by providing for us all that we need. Not only do you give us what we need, you often bless us with the good things of this life beyond what we need. WE thank you for your kind provision proving that you do not treat us as our sins deserve. We confess that we are not always content with your provisions, but, instead, complain about circumstances of our life. We ask that you would forgive us. Please help us to rest in you and, when restless, to cast our cares on you. Grant us your Spirit and help us, we pray in the name of Christ. Amen.

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Prayer: Our Father in heaven, you who are holy and the only true God of heaven and earth, we thank you that we can come to you today and pray and plead with you for those things we need. We are grateful that you are not like the dead idols of this world. You see, hear, and act according to your perfect will and according to your own counsel for the glory of your name and the good of your people. We confess that the affairs of this life sometimes burden us. We look around and see the brevity of our days. We know that our lives are like smoke. All of our days pass like a vapor. We are here today, and we will be gone tomorrow. We confess that we are sometimes burdened by the actions of the wicked against the godly. We confess that we often forget that you are on the throne and that you will bring us safely to our heavenly rest. Please help us, Lord, to remember that you are for us and that you will never leave us or forsake us. We plead with you to help your church to walk with you faithfully and that you would make her ready for her husband. We pray these things in the name of the Savior, the Lord Jesus. Amen.

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Prayer: Our most glorious God and sovereign of heaven and earth, we come to plead with you on behalf of our nation and world. We know that your Word teaches that you raise leaders, and you also set them aside. We know that the government and its leader are ordained by you. Yet, we look and see such arrogance among these people. They boast of themselves and all the things they will do without any reference to your will and your glory. They profess to be wise, but their actions only prove they are fools. They refuse to submit to your Word, and it grieves your people. We long to see righteous leaders -- those who will fear you and submit to you in all things. We pray that you would be pleased to grant that to your church. WE know that these things are working for the good of your church, though we are often bewildered as to how that can be. Yet, we trust you. Help your people, Father. Grant to them true rest in your divine purposes and plans. We pray this in the name of the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

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Prayer: Almighty God, you who are holy, we bow before you today to worship and adore you. You have displayed your glory in what we see each day. From the sunrise to the sunset, you are proclaiming your majesty and beauty. In Christ, we behold your radiance and the exact imprint of your nature. in your Word, we read and hear your mind and your will as it is communicated to your creatures. Yet, men rebel against you. They profess to be wise but are fools. They exchange your glory with things that will never satisfy. On the day that you have commanded to be kept as holy -- set apart for your worship -- men exchange the glory of your presence for fleeting things of this earth. Worse, those people who profess to know you and love you and adore you profane this day by exchanging it for things that have no eternal value. They do not call the Sabbath a delight. They do not cease from doing their own pleasure on your holy day. Instead, they go their own way, doing their own pleasure and trample underfoot your command. Like these people, we, too, sometimes do the same things. Forgive us, Father, for not honoring your law and for failing to see that you gave us the Lord's Day for our good. Please grant your church a renewed love for this "queen of days" and bring her to repentance for how she has so dishonored you. We pray these things in the name of Christ. Amen.

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Prayer: Our God and Father, we thank you that your Son has granted us access to the throne room of heaven and that we can come reverently and boldly to set our needs before you. We confess that the fleeting things of this life often mislead our hearts. We do not always guard our hearts with the diligence that is necessary to prevent worldliness from creeping in, leading to actions that are displeasing to you. We ask that you would help us to be more careful about the things we watch, read, and allow our minds to dwell on. We know that our enemy is seeking whom he may devour, but we also know that greater is he who lives in us than he lives in the world. We thank you that you sustain us and keep us and forgive us when we fall short. We pray these things in the name of the Savior. Amen.

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Prayer: Our God in heaven, we thank you that you do not treat us as our sins deserve. We thank you that you are a God who is quick to forgive sin and unrighteousness in your people. When we go astray, we know that you tend to us as a gentle Father, moving us back to the path we should walk. Throughout the days of the church of old, you often called your people to return to you, and you often disciplined them as sons. WE know that some of them rebelled and refused to hear your voice. We read of others that heard, mourned their sin, repented of their ways, and returned to you. We plead with you, our Father, that you would hear our cries of confession as we hear your Word and acknowledge our son before you. We know that your Word tells us that we are blessed when our iniquity is covered and forgiven, and we know that comes only through the blood of your Son. We thank you that you have given us the Redeemer who did all that we could never do so we could walk with you and commune with you. By your Spirit, please help us hate sin and pursue godliness and holiness all of our days. Do not leave us to languish in our misery, but grant to us what you command of us. We pray these things in the name of Christ, our Lord. Amen

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Prayer: Our God in heaven, we thank you for your Word, and we thank you that we heard your Word on the lord's Day as it was read and preached by men called by your Spirit to shepherd and feed your people. We confess that we sometimes get distracted during the sermon. As creatures of dust, we are painfully aware of the struggle to sit and listen attentively to your Word. Worse, we find it much harder to do what we hear. We know that your Word tells us to be obedient to your Word and not mere listeners to it. Forgive us for often failing to bring forth fruit from the preached Word and help us to be diligent in applying the Scriptures to our hearts and lives. We pray these things in the name of Christ. Amen.

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