The Pastor’s Corner

Prayer: Our great and glorious God, the sole sovereign of heaven and earth, we bow before you to praise you and to set our needs before you. WE know that you invite us to pray and plead with you for all that we need. We are thankful that you care for us and hear us as we pray. As a Father, you stand able and ready to listen to us and to do exceedingly, abundantly beyond anything we might ask or think. You have graciously given us your Word, and you have graciously given us this one day in seven in which we gather together as your people to hear your Word as it is read and preached. We ask you to bless your Word in the ears, minds, and hearts of your people today. Please grant an abundance of your Spirit upon those men, called apart by you, as they deliver your Word to the sheep of your pasture. We pray that it will not be a demonstration of the minds of men by one of the life-giving Spirit. Please forgive us for the many times we hear your Word and fail to do what it says. Please keep us from temptation -- from wandering thoughts and disobedient behavior. We ask that you would be pleased in what we hear and how we respond for the sake of Christ our Lord, we pray. Amen.

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Prayer: Our most gracious Father in heaven, we bow before your majesty on another Lord's Day that reminds us of your love for us demonstrated in the giving of your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. We know that we are miserable creatures of dust, fallen in Adam, raised to glory by Christ and his righteousness. Through his labor and work, we are now pardoned of all our sins and counted as righteous in your sight. Through the work of your Spirit, we are being sanctified daily and moved to mortify the deeds of the flesh and walk in newness of life. Though we sin daily in thought, word, and deed, we are thankful for your constant care and presence. You have adopted us as sons and daughters. We belong to you and know that this one day in seven reminds us of the glorious hope as we await the new heavens and the new earth. Forgive us, Father, for the many ways in which we, like sheep, go astray. Please grant us fervent zeal and desire to worship you as unprofitable servants and to love you with our whole heart, soul, mind, and strength. All of these things we place before you with hearts longing for you through Christ our Lord. Amen.

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Prayer: Grant almighty God that your redeemed people would listen carefully to the voice of the Good Shepherd of the sheep. AS your people, we know that his sheep hear his voice, and that voice comes primarily through your Word proclaimed. As we sit in our pews on another Lord's Day, please grant to us a willing heart and mind to listen as though it is the last sermon we will ever hear. Grant your ministers the passion, zeal, and fire to preach as though it will be the last thing they ever preach. We know that your Word is a light to our path, and we long to be shown the way in a dark and difficult sin-wrecked world. Please help us, Father. We are your servants, and we desire to hear from your Son, so give us the ears to hear, the minds to receive, and the hearts to follow your Son and our Shepherd we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.

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Prayer: Grant almighty God that you would be pleased to bless your ministers of the Gospel of your dear Son. We know that they have been set apart by your Holy Spirit to serve your church and labor among them as undershepherds of the Chief and Good Shepherd. That labor is often under attack by the enemy of the souls of your people, and he often works to sideline all of their efforts. We know that you have told them to preach the Word and diligently study it. We know that they often labor on their knees for the sake of those you have charged to their care. We pray that they would be faithful shepherds, not like those unfaithful men who do not feed the sheep and tend to their care. We confess that we do not always respect those who labor over us, nor do we esteem them highly in olive because of their work. Like us, we know that they wrestle with sin and this fallen world, so we ask that you would protect them and keep them, not leading them into temptation but delivering them from the evil one. We thank you for those men who are faithful to uphold your Word, not as men-pleasers but as those who must give an account for our souls. Therefore, holy Father, give them an extra measure of your grace and Spirit today as they labor for the souls of men we pray, through Christ, the Good Shepherd of the sheep. Amen.

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Prayer: Grant almighty God that your people would listen carefully to the pointed words of your Son when he tells his followers that they must live lives of self-denial. We confess to you that we are often prone to seek our own way and our own pleasure. Too often, we live each day as though this life defines the core of our existence. Yet, we know what your Word tells us -- to store up treasures in heaven and to set our minds on things above. We are easily ensnared by the trivial issues of this world. We complain and gripe over our own rights and concerns. Yet, we so rarely think about your Kingdom. We are busy building our own and put all of our energies into things that will not satisfy and will come to an end. We disregard our souls for the sake of our bodies. We ignore that which feeds our soul and clamor over our next morsel of bread. We ignore the needs of others for the sake of our own needs. In short, we fall miserably short of living lives of self-denial. Forgive us, Father, for such shortsighted thinking and living. Please grant us true godly repentance in these areas and give us more desire to live as your Son called his followers to live -- taking up our cross daily and denying self always. All of these things we pray through Him who denied himself to rescue us. Amen.

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

Scripture: Ephesians 6:18-20

I suspect that some Christians do grow weary in prayer as they labor day after day to plead with the God of heaven for their loved ones, the sick and infirmed, the needs of their brothers and sisters, and many other things. It can be tiresome labor to be on your knees and yet, see so little response from the Father in heaven. Sometimes these thoughts can cause us to give up, try a little or once, and then move along our day with the nagging and unsettling emotion that God doesn't hear and doesn't seem to care. First, my friends, God does listen to you. You are precious to him, and you belong to him. Second, he does care. He has told his people to cast every care upon him because he cares for us.

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Prayer: Grant almighty and holy God that your people would gather in worship today to sing your praises and listen intently to your Word as sheep that often stray and have a great need to be guided by the light given for our journey. You know our frame -- that we are but dust. You know how prone to wander we are and how much we need your Holy Spirit to guide our way and illumine our minds and hearts. Father, forgive us for so easily straying from your commandments. As the church of old, we, too, are often stiff-necked and stubborn. Too often, we hear without listening, and then, we great sorrow, we realize that we have become mere hearers of your Word and not also obedient to it. Forgive us, Lord. Please grant us a great willingness to listen and to do all you tell us. Please give us attentive hearts that we may not fall and perish on our journey we pray through Christ our Lord and the Good Shepherd of the sheep. Amen.

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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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