Prayer: Our God in heaven: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we praise you and thank you for giving us another Lord's Day that is a picture of our eternal hope and rest guaranteed by the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Just as you delivered your people of old to their promised rest pictured for us in the land of Caanan, we too have been given a sure hope of a better country not made with the hands of men but by your own hands. In that place, there will be no more tears or sorrow or pain or suffering or death. It is a place we long to see, knowing that it is beyond anything we can imagine. Yet, because you are good to us and know that we need to be reminded of that hope, you have given us one day in seven to come apart from our worldly labors and entertainments to commune with you with your people and to hear from you as your Word is read and, especially, proclaimed. We ask that you give us hearts and minds prepared to worship you today and that we do it with zeal and joy for all you have done for us. We pray that you will forgive us for our abuse of this day and remind us of our privilege to obey you granted by the work of your Spirit. Please help us, therefore, to love the Lord's Day as we love to think on eternity. Be pleased to change our affections to that which is good, right, and lovely we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.
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Prayer: Grant almighty God that you would grant to us your ever-present grace and wisdom as we seek to raise our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. We know that you have entrusted them to our care. We know that they belong to you, and you expect us to nurture them, guide them, instruct them, rebuke them, and lead them to your side. Please help us to not hinder them from coming to you. We confess that we are not sufficient for these things and need your help. Please help us as we seek to raise them in a world that is hostile to your Word as it constantly promotes a worldview that teaches rebellion, self-centeredness, and a lack of integrity and respect. Father, please help! We long to see our children embrace the Gospel of your Son. We long to see them serve you all their days. We know that we labor in vain if you do not go before us and give us all that we need. We also pray for those parents who have finished that part of life. Some of them are saddened by the outcome. Some are riddled with guilt. Some are distressed at the lives of their children. Please comfort them. Please continue to help all of us as we seek to point our covenant children to your Son through our words and actions, we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.
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Prayer: O Father, we take a long look at our lives and the condition of our own heart, and we lament and groan -- indeed, we grieve because we think and act so contrary to what you demand. We are creatures of dust, worms living in this fallen world. We, too, are fallen. We move through our days consumed with the fleeting things of this life. Rarely do we sit and ponder your greatness. Fleeting are those thoughts of your holiness that demand our absolute obedience in thought, word, and deed. Who will save us from this body of death? Who will rescue us from our indwelling sin - all sin? Thanks be to you, our Father, for the gift of your Son. Though our sins are as scarlet, they shall be whiter than snow. Who shall separate us from you? What can take us out of your hand? WE praise you that our eternal destination doesn't depend on us. We thank you that you delight in forgiving our sins and cleansing us from all unrighteousness. Please grant us a genuine love for you married with a zeal to obey you each day. We know that we were made and saved to glorify you in all things. Please help us. Please be merciful to us. Please deliver us from this body of death.
We pray for our family and friends who are still living trapped by the power of the Evil One. We pray that you, the God of salvation, would be pleased to rescue them from their misery and hopeless condition. We ask that you press their minds and hearts with their mortal state and the coming of death. We pray that you would do what we cannot do and rescue them and bring them safely into your glorious kingdom we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.
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Prayer: Our great God in heaven, you alone are holy, and we are fallen creatures of dust. We thank you for being mindful of our needs and concerns and the myriad of things that seek to trouble us, causing anxiety and worry. Though we know your Word tells us to be anxious about nothing, we often find ourselves beset by what happens in our lives. We spend energy worrying about what might be instead of trusting you with our whole heart and leaning on you in prayer, casting all our cares upon you. We confess to you the weakness of our fallen condition. Though we are your redeemed people, we still fret about things. Forgive us, Lord, and help us to trust you. As students of your Word, we are reminded of the exhortation of your Son to refrain from anxiety because as you care about the birds of the air, much more will you care for us. Therefore, holy Father, please show your mercy and grace to your weak people.
We pray for the world and the countless number of our brothers and sisters who live in difficult circumstances. Many of them suffer in untold ways merely because they name the name of Christ. They are ridiculed, oppressed, persecuted, harmed, and some are martyred for their faith. We pray for their well-being, asking that you remember your promises to them. Remind them, Lord, that to live is Christ and to die, gain. Please help them to advance the cause of your Kingdom and use them to bring many into union and communion with you we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.
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Prayer: Grant, Almighty God, though we daily depart from Thee by our sins, that we may not yet be wholly removed from the foundation on which our salvation depends. But do Thou so sustain us, or even raise us up when fallen, that we may ever continue in our degree and also return to Thee in true repentance. And whatever may happen to us, may we learn ever to look to Thee, that we may never despair of Thy goodness, which Thou hast promised to be firm and perpetual, and that especially while relying on Thine only begotten Son our Mediator, we may be able to call on Thee as our father, until we shall at length come to that eternal inheritance, which has been obtained for us by the blood of Thine only Son. Amen.
(Lifting Up our Hearts: 150 Selected Prayers of John Calvin)
Prayer: Grant, almighty God, that you would kindly and gently lead your people safely to our heavenly rest. We know that you have promised never to leave us or forsake us. We know that your Word promises that the good work you began in us will continue it until that great day. Sadly, and much to our embarrassment, we forget these simple truths too quickly. We forget that we live our whole life -- each moment -- before your face. We forget that you see all that we do, say, and think. Forgive us, Father, for the sins we commit, those sins of omission and commission. Please give us the zeal to obey you in all things and all ways. We give you thanks for your patience with us, not treating us as our sins deserve. We thank you that you are faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Who is like you, our God? Who is so kind and good to regard your creatures made in your image with favor? Who but you would condescend to our weakness and rescue us from our stubborn selves? We lift our eyes to heaven, and we praise your name for saving us. We plead with you to rescue many from the snare of sin and death and the tragic end it all brings. Be pleased to save and usher many into your kingdom we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.
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Prayer: Almighty God, we thank you and praise you for granting us another day to honor and adore you and to live our lives to glorify you. We thank you for the gift of life. We know that we are the work of your hands because you made us and fashioned us after your image. In the beginning, you made us from the dust of the ground and breathed into us the breath of life, and we became a living soul. We know that you made us walk with you just as our first parents did in paradise. Yet, due to their sin, we fell with them in that Garden and were plunged into a life of misery. Despite that rebellion, you promised a Redeemer who came in the fullness of time to reverse the effects of the fall and to bring us back into union and communion with you. Though we are now your people, we still transgress your law and fall short of your glory. Forgive us, Father. Please grant us a greater zeal to obey you. Please give to us what you command and help us by your Spirit.
We pray for our loved ones and those living in rebellion against you. We pray for their eternal state and ask that you turn their hearts of stone to flesh and make them able and willing to believe the mandates of the Gospel. We know that only you can save. We know that you alone can open blind eyes and deaf ears. We understand that the heart of man is desperately wicked, and only you, by your grace, can turn that evil that resides within it to that which is good and right and holy. Therefore, we plead with you to do what you love to do - forgive sinners. WE thank you, our God, for the great work of salvation given to us through Christ our Lord in whose name we pray. Amen.
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Prayer: Our Father in heaven, as we gather for another Lord's Day as an act of love and service to you, we desire to honor you with our lips as an accurate reflection of our hearts. Though we know our shortcomings -- how we often fall short of your glory, we thank you that you do not treat us as our sins deserve. We are miserable creatures of dust; unprofitable servants, slow to learn and slow to understand all that you tell us. Our sins are ever before us, and they usually show up with our words as a reflection of our black and unsanctified hearts. Oh, how we mourn the loose lips that often invite a beating. Oh, how we are ashamed at lips that seek to bless and praise you while, at the same time, they curse our brothers and sisters made in your image. Forgive us, Father. Forgive us for such evil and wicked behavior. Please do not treat us as our sins deserve. We thank you that our Lord and Savior atoned for our heartless worship and lips that are often hypocritical as we sit in your worship while our hearts remain far from you.
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Prayer: Grant almighty God that your redeemed and chosen people would behave in a manner worthy of the calling that we have received. We are thankful to you that you have called us out of darkness into your marvelous light. We are grateful that you have unstopped our deaf ears and given sight to our blind eyes. We thank you for the Savior who rescued us from the coming judgment that all men, outside of the ark that is Christ, will suffer. Just as in the days of Noah, so too in our day will all wickedness and evil devices of men come under your terrible judgment. We grieve at that reality as we look and see countless people who would rather suffer your wrath for all eternity instead of entering the ark and being rescued from that which will never end. We mourn their eternal state and plead with you to save those of our friends and family from a tragic and hopeless end. Our Father, you delight in the forgiveness of sin. Would you not be pleased to save them? Please, for the sake of your glory and kingdom, rescue our loved ones giving them eyes to see and ears to hear we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.
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Prayer: Our glorious and majestic God in heaven, you are sovereign and mighty, full of splendor and strength and a God who delights to rescue pitiful people. You gave us your Word and promised that through the seed of the woman, a redeemer would come to save his people from their sin and misery. In the fullness of time, you brought forth your Son, born of a woman, born under the law that he might rescue his people from the curse of the law. The wonder of your wisdom and grace is inscrutable. Your ways are beyond understanding. We stand amazed that you, the thrice-holy God, would be pleased to consider us and save us. Though we are grateful and offer you thanks with our lips, we know that our actions are often far behind our words. We profess faith in you, but often we act without faith. We say we trust you, but often we are worried and anxious. We say we believe your Word, but often we lean on our understanding. Forgive us, Father. Left to ourselves, we would be a people to be pitied. But you did not leave us to our own devices. You rescued us and saved us that we would dwell on your holy hill. We thank you for forgiveness and cleansing of unrighteousness. WE pleased your favor and grace that we would live to your glory we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.
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Prayer: Almighty God and heavenly Father, we praise your name today because you are good, and your mercy is given to pitiful creatures of dust. We thank you for the patience and kindness displayed towards us each day. There are not enough words or time to express how grateful we are for your eternal love demonstrated in the giving of your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Through him, we have been granted rest -- rest from our worries and cares; rest from our sadness and sorrow; rest from a guilty conscience; rest from the misery that awaits all those who do not know you. In Christ, we have the hope of eternal rest when the church militant is no longer at war with the world, the flesh, and the enemy of our souls. Therefore, we praise you for giving us the holiest of days - the Lord's Day. Today we are reminded of your love and favor and the hope of the new heavens and earth. Please help us, Holy Father, to seize this day and use it for the purpose you give it. Please grant us willing hearts and minds to love you more and listen as you speak through the preached Word. Please grant your ministers the words to say, protecting them from he who would seek to distract your people from the eternal truths of your Word. We thank you for your forgiveness, and we thank you for the weekly reminder of your love displayed to helpless sinners. WE pray all of these things through Christ our Lord. Amen.
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Prayer: Grant almighty God that we, as your redeemed people who have been called out of darkness into your marvelous light, would gather today with a hunger and thirst to hear your Word as it is preached. Be pleased, holy Father, to grant through your eternal Spirit that we would sing with joy in our hearts and express with our voices your greatness and glory. Please forgive us for those cold affections that keep our hearts from truly worshipping you as you command and deserve. Please forgive us for our casual and common approach to those things that are holy. Forgive us for not approaching your worship as vital to our spiritual well-being. We thank you for giving us the Lord's Day as a picture of our eternal rest. We thank you that it fans into flame a greater desire to see the coming of our Lord. Therefore, we pray, come quickly, Lord Jesus.
We pray on this Lord's Day that you will bless your worship and the gathering of your church. May you bring great glory to your name despite the weakness of your people. We pray for your glory to descend and inhabit the praises of your people. May you, the only God, rend the heavens and come down and meet with us we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.
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