The Pastor’s Corner

Prayer: Our most glorious and wise Father in heaven, we humbly and gladly bow the knee before you today because you are our God, and we are your people. We are thankful that you have not left us to our desires and inclinations. As creatures of dust, we are painfully aware of our transgressions and sins before you. Though you have redeemed us through the glorious work of your Son and have made us a new creation, we still wrestle and fight against the old man and those things that easily turn us aside from your commands. We plead your grace and mercy, crying out to you to be merciful to us. We are thankful that you do not treat us as our sins deserve. We stand in awe of your patience with us. We long to serve you faithfully. Please grant us a greater measure of your Spirit that we might not sin against you. Please help us to watch and pray that we would not enter into temptation. When tempted, please sustain us and uphold us and deliver us from the efforts of the evil one. Please help us as recipients of your forgiveness to forgive others. Please bless us and keep us we ask in the name of the Lord Jesus. Amen.

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

Scripture: Philippians 4:4-7

Today's mediation touches a particular area in my own life. Though a pastor, I am first a Christian. As a result, I am subjected to the temptations of this life and the anxieties that often come with them. I am not unusual, I suspect. Many of God's people throughout history have wrestled with the paralyzing sin of anxiety. The list would be long, but men such as John Calvin, Martin Luther, Charles Spurgeon wrestled with the issues of anxiety, doubt, and worry. The bible also highlights people who wrestled with it as well. People such as Jeremiah, Jonah, Job, Martha, and even Moses! Indeed, anxiety and worry are terrible things, affecting even the greatest of saints (of which I am not).

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Prayer: Grant almighty God that your redeemed people would praise you and do your holy will today as you guide them by your divine providence through all our affairs as ordered by you. We thank you that we can trust you to lead us and guide us -- that nothing that happens to us is by mere chance or coincidence, but all designed for your glory and our good. We desire to see you glorified in our lives, and we long to see you exalted in heaven and earth. Therefore, we pray that your will would be done in the lives of your creatures and that you would do exceedingly, abundantly beyond anything we can ask or think. We confess that we often grumble and complain about the circumstances of our world because we do not trust you as we should. Yet, you have promised great things for us, and therefore, we ask that you would bless us and help us be a believing people -- trusting in your never-changing promises that are yes and amen in the Lord Jesus Christ in whose name we pray. Amen.

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Prayer: My God, Father, and Savior, since you have been pleased to give me the grace to come through the night to the present day, now grant that I may employ it entirely in your service, so that all my works may be to the glory of your name and the edification of my neighbors. As you have been pleased to make your sun shine upon the earth to give us bodily light, grant the light of your Spirit to illumine my understanding and my heart. And because it means nothing to begin well if one does not persevere, I ask that you would continue to increase your grace in me until you have led me into full communion with your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who is the true Sun of our souls, shining day and night, eternally and without end. Hear me, merciful Father, by our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.

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The apostle Paul was a man of prayer, and this is reflected in almost every letter he wrote to the churches and individuals. The Philippians church was especially dear to him as it was a church he founded when he visited that city in Acts 16. His first encounter with that city was not pleasant -- jailed, along with Silas, for advancing the kingdom of the Lord. Yet, a church started and grew. Some ten years later, Paul addresses these dear saints in a letter bearing their name.

The letter opens with comfort from the apostle. In his words, he labors to pastorally offer them something of hope, telling them that he was praying for them. Indeed, what better thang can a Christian do than to say to another brother or sister that they are praying for them. There is a real danger to receive those words without much thought or comfort. We sometimes hear people tell us that, and we respond well by saying "thank you." After all, we do have manners! Yet, we should understand deeply the extreme peace and comfort those words convey. Prayer moves the hand of God, and the prayers of the saints for the saints are how God helps and guides his people. Of course, when we tell others we are praying for them, we ought to be telling the truth. The words "I am praying for you" are not a mere solace but are to be heartfelt and meaningful.

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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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