The Pastor’s Corner

Prayer: Grant almighty God and merciful Lord that your redeemed and chosen people would labor each day to glorify you in whatever they are called to do by your divine providence. We thank you that you have ordered our days and that our lives are in your hands. We witness your loving-kindness throughout the pages of your Word. We notice your care and guidance for your covenant people leading them from the land of sin and misery to their promised rest. We, too, are like them. We have been delivered from the bondage of the evil one and placed into your marvelous kingdom of light and righteousness. As citizens of this Kingdom, we gladly serve the King of kings and Lord of lords. Indeed, as recipients of your infinite love and grace, it is our reasonable service to offer our lives as living sacrifices seeking to be conformed more and more to the image of our Lord. Father, we confess to you that we are often consumed with the things of this world. We often place our affections and hopes on the fleeting things of this life. We often set aside those things that are eternal and lasting for that which will pass away. Forgive us for trading that which is good and lasting for that which will never satisfy our wandering souls. Please grant to us more of your Spirit who will move us and cause us to grow to full manhood in the knowledge of Christ through whom we pray. Amen.

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Prayer: Grant almighty God that you would rise and bless your church, the very bride of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are a new creation through him, and we are thankful that he came to seek and save her through his suffering, death, and resurrection. We thank you that the church will never perish and that our Lord and Savior protects and defends her from his and our enemies. We thank you that you will never abandon your church though she is often assailed by great difficulties, false sons, heresies, and other matters that seek to destroy her. Through all of our years, you have cared for and watched over the very bride of Christ. We pray that you would make her holy, blameless, and ready for her husband. We plead with you to make your church faithful to your Word, laboring daily while it is still day, to do all that you have commanded. We confess that we, as your church, are often faithless, but you are faithful and good, gently and patiently leading your people to their heavenly rest. Grant us more affection for the King and Head of the church and grant that he would speedily return to usher in the consummation when there will be peace forevermore. All of these things we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.

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Prayer: Grant almighty God that we your people, chosen before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in your sight, we lean upon you through the storms that we must endure in this fallen world. Your word plainly tells us that you are our refuge and strength. We know that you have been our help in ages past and a shelter from the stormy blast, and for that, we are thankful. You have proven your faithfulness day unto day, and, therefore, we have no reason to fear what man will do. We confess the miserable state of our nation and world. We look around, and we see so much rebellion and so much evil. We mourn and grieve these things and confess to you that we sometimes grow weary and anxious -- we fret! Forgive us, Father. We know that you have ordered these things according to your sovereign decree. Since your Word tells us that you are good and just, doing all things for the well-being of your church, we know that we can rely on you even in those times when things are hard to understand. Therefore, our God, help us, we plead. Humble us and cause us to see that while it may seem that you are doing nothing, what you are doing would not likely be believed by us even if you told us. You are God, and we bow before your divine right to rule and reign as you see fit. Give us more of your grace we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.

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Prayer: Grant, Almighty God, that as thou hast not only of late adopted us as thy children, but before we were born, and as thou hast been pleased to sign us, as soon as we came forth from our mother's womb, with the symbol of that holy redemption, which has been obtained for us by the blood of thy only begotten Son, though we have by our ingratitude renounced so great a benefit, - O grant, that being mindful of our defection and unfaithfulness, of which eve are all guilty, and for which thou hast justly rejected us, we may now with true humility and obedience of faith embrace the grace of thy gospel now again offered to us, by which thou reconciles thyself to us; and grant that we may steadfastly persevere in pure faith, so as never to turn aside from the true obedience of faith, but to advance more and more in the knowledge of thy mercy, that having strong and deep roots, and being firmly grounded in the confidence of sure faith, we may never fall away from the true worship of thee, until thou at length receives us in to that eternal kingdom, which has been procured for us by the blood of thy only Son. Amen.

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Meditation for the day taken from Everyday Prayer with John Calvin written by Donald McKim:

Scripture: Ephesians 3:7-13

In our passage for today, we read of Paul's mission of preaching the gospel, especially to the Gentiles. There are a few items to note in a summary of this passage. First, Paul was "made a minister" (3:7). That was done through the call of the Savior on the Damascus Road. Second, the frame of his ministry was "to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ" (3:9). That calling, to preach, is a calling of heralding the news of the king. In this case, the news and word of Christ, the true King. Third, the church is the place where preaching occurs (3:10). Fourth, and to the point of our devotional today, Paul says that through Christ, we have "boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him" (3:12). Calvin wrote that "God's children have peace with God, and approach him cheerfully and freely. We infer, likewise, from this passage that confidence is necessary in true invocation, and thus becomes the key that opens to us the gate of heaven." (98). It is only through the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, the great High Priest, that we can have peace and, therefore, boldness and access to our Father in heaven. Without him, we would not have access, and we would be barred from his presence due to our sin. In Christ, as we are covered by his righteousness, we, though sinners, are considered righteous. Thus, our Father hears us as we pray.

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Prayer: Grant almighty God that you, through your Spirit, would grant us joy in our hearts as we gather to worship you on the day you have ordered for us. Grant that we would enjoy your presence and demonstrate it as we sing your praises. We thank you that you have given us music in which we can express our love to you. Throughout your Word, we see how your people sang songs of praise for your marvelous works. Grant us that same zeal. Forgive us for being overly conscious of how we sound. Forgive us for holding back and not opening our mouths wide to proclaim your greatness. Forgive us for being selfish, forgetting that we may be sitting near a weary soul who needs the soothing ointment of song in praise to you. We know that you have gifted us with this tremendous privilege -- to sing and praise you. Please give us what you command and help us today to lift the roofs of our churches as we gather in praise to you, we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.

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Prayer: Grant almighty God that the people you have called by name would call upon you with fear and trembling. As your children, we know that we have you as our Father who is able and ready to help us with all that concerns us and troubles us in this fallen world. We look to you as the one true God and the alone sustainer of all things. We are your people and the sheep of your pasture. You have promised good things to us and told us that if we delight in you, you will give us the desires of our hearts. Therefore, holy Father, tune our hearts to those things that you desire. Grant in us a patient and contented mind and heart to wait patiently upon you as we seek you in prayer. Give to us a will that desires only what you desire we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.

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Prayer: Grant almighty God that we, as your redeemed people, would learn to number our days and redeem the time because the days are evil. We spend far too much time on pleasures and fail to grasp that we are to labor while it is day because the night is coming when no man can work. Due to your marvelous grace and infinite compassion, we have been brought into your Kingdom to serve you and glorify you in all that we do. We spend far too much of our time in the pursuit of frivolous things. We waste time. We don't redeem it. Forgive us, Father. Forgive our shortsightedness and laziness. Forgive us for living each day as though we are promised tomorrow. Please help us to deeply grasp that our lives are a vapor -- here today and gone tomorrow. Please give us a deeper sense of our mortality and cause us to labor diligently for you. Teach us to store up treasures in heaven and not on this earth. As your children, drive us to seek first your kingdom and righteousness. Help us to not grow weary in doing good, we beg of you. Grant us more of your grace we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.

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Prayer: Grant almighty God that you would bless your people today with a measure of your grace and kindness. You are the LORD, and there is no other. You are a God of great kindness and compassion, knowing that we are but dust, prone to wander and prone to leave the God we love. We thank you for your Word that is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword. We thank you that it lights our way and steadies our hands helping us to live faithful lives before you. We confess our weakness and failures -- indeed, our sins and transgressions that are always before us. We mourn indwelling sin and the irreconcilable war that exists in our members. Yet, we praise you for giving us a new heart, wrought by the work of the Spirit of God, that enables us to see and live in your Kingdom. Please help us, Father, to walk worthy of the calling you have placed on our lives. We are humbled that you loved us before we ever loved you. You have demonstrated your love by giving us the Lord Jesus, our Savior, and your only begotten Son. Grant to us a greater affection for all that he did that we would have peace with you through Christ our Lord. Amen.

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Prayer: Grant almighty God that your redeemed people would take your Kingdom and righteousness seriously for the glory of your name alone. Grant that we would be willing to cast our mortal flesh aside for the glory of your name and the advancement of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. We know that your Son tells us that if we love him, we will obey him in all he commands us. We long for more love to thee. Thus we pray, "More love to Thee, O Christ, more love to thee! Hear thou this prayer we make on bended knee." Forgive us for the many ways we fall short of the high calling of being numbered as your treasured possession. We grieve indwelling sin and know that we rarely number our days and use them to serve you. We are prone to make excuses for laboring today while it is still day. We are forgetful that eternity is a long time, and many are facing a dreadful end. Please grant us a burden to seek first your kingdom and righteousness and love the souls of men enough to tell them of the hope that Christ extends to all who will listen. Forgive us for waiting our days in pointless pursuits and not setting our minds on the things above. Please grant us more zeal and more love for the Savior who became poor that we might be rich. Please help us by your Spirit we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.

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This week I have selected two prayers from Calvin's commentary on Hosea:

Prayer: Grant, Almighty God, that as we now carry about us this mortal body, yea, and nourish through sin a thousand deaths within us, - O grant, that we may ever by faith direct our eyes towards heaven, and to that incomprehensible power, which is to be manifested at the last day by Jesus Christ our Lord, so that in the midst of death we may hope that thou wilt be our Redeemer, and enjoy that redemption, which he completed when he rose from the dead; and not doubt but that the fruit which he then brought forth by his Spirit will come also to us, when Christ himself shall come to judge the world; and may we thus walk in the fear of thy name, that we may be really gathered among his members, to be made partakers of that glory, which by his death he has procured for us. Amen.

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Prayer: Grant almighty God that we, as your redeemed people, would not worry or fret because of evildoers and wicked people dwelling in our world. We mourn the state of our world, and we witness atrocities of all kinds. We witness the outright rebellion of men and women made in your image. We see how they suppress the truth in unrighteousness and call good, evil, and evil good. We listen to the blasphemous ways the world speaks and mourn their muddled thinking and hatred of you. We, too, were once like them, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when your goodness and loving-kindness appeared, you saved us not because of anything in us, but because of your mercy and grace. We mourn our own sin and grieve the irreconcilable war that wages in our members. We long for the day in which we will never battle the flesh, the world, and the devil again. We thank you for reminding us of that glorious promise -- the hope of eternal life -- and the incessant rest we will enjoy each Lord's Day. We thank you for giving us a small picture of that which those who love you will enjoy. We thank you for the means of grace that guide us and help us on the journey, and we pray that you will minister to all of us today and grant us more of your favor and grace through Christ our Lord. Amen.

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