The Pastor’s Corner

Prayer: Almighty God and Creator of all things, we praise you for the privilege of prayer, knowing that through it, we do not change your mind but only have our minds brought into alignment with yours. We pray, "Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven," because there is much we do not know and have not been promised. Therefore, holy Father, we ask that you accomplish your purposes today in the world you made and in the church, you redeemed through the blood of the Great High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ. We ask that your people, especially, would be mindful of your will and seek to do all that glorifies you, whether in thought, word, or action. Though we know that your people sin and fall short of your glory, we are comforted with the eternal and unchanging truth that you are just and righteous, forgiving your people as they humble themselves before you. Though we are like sheep often going astray, you are the Good and unchanging Shepherd who loves your people and seeks them when they wander. Thank you, Father, for being so kind and gracious to us. Thank you for giving us your Spirit who helps us in prayer and practice as we seek to honor you. As a Father, you stand able and ready to help us. Help us, Lord!

Therefore, we cry out to you for the state of our souls and the state of the world. We are grieved at the events of the world you have made. Men, made in your image, promote themselves and boast in their wisdom. Yet, they do so to their folly and shame. Professing to be wise, they are fools. We long for righteous leaders who fear you and walk humbly with you. We know that a nation rejoices when these things are so. Therefore, we ask that you would be pleased to rescue our leaders from their misery, shame, and sin and open their eyes to the only hope they have -- the Lord Jesus in whose name we pray. Amen.

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Prayer: Our Father in heaven, we praise you because you are good. Your righteousness is from everlasting to everlasting, and your holiness is beyond our comprehension. Since you are holy, your demands as given in your law are just and right, pointing us to how we must live if we should dwell on your holy hill. Yet, we cannot keep your law perfectly in thought, word, or deed due to our fallen condition. We transgress it daily, always falling short of your glory. Therefore, we need a Redeemer, your only begotten Son who accomplished everything necessary to purchase our freedom, bringing us peace with you. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to you without him. We thank you for so great a salvation, yet many refuse it. We have friends and loved ones who reject the offer of forgiveness in Jesus Christ. Seeing, they cannot see. Hearing, they do not hear. Father, we plead with you to open their eyes and ears to the hope of Christ. Be pleased to rescue them from their pitiful condition and show them the beauty of the Savior. Please spare them from the wrath to come and usher them into your glorious kingdom.

We further pray that you would help your people walk worthy of the calling that they have received. Please help us walk humbly with you, mindful of the needs of others more than our own. Please help us to love with complete patience, kindness, and gentleness. Please help us to forgive the trespasses of others who have wronged us. Please grant to us your Spirit that we would do what you command we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.

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Prayer: Almighty God and Savior of your people, we thank you and praise you just as the church of old sang songs of worship to you when you safely brought them out of the land of bondage and sin. Like us, they too were ensnared by the messiness of sin, yet, through a mediator, you rescued them. So we, too, have been rescued from our pitiful state and tragic end through the Mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ. In him, we have forgiveness of sin, peace of conscience, joy in the Holy Spirit, an increase of grace, and the hope of perseverance to the very end of our lives. Like the church of old, we now journey to that heavenly city, a city not made with hands, reserved for all those who love you. We look forward to a better country that the eye has not seen or ear heard what you have in store for those who love you and have been loved by you. From all eternity, you have loved us, placing your favor on us. You have demonstrated your love in being pleased to crush your Son for our sake. Though we are like sheep, often going astray, you still love us and care for us. We thank you, our God, that your love is not fickle; that it does not depend on our efforts or labors. Like the church of old, we too stray, but your love remains. Please forgive us and help us to walk worthy of the calling that we have received and grant to us more love for you we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.

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Prayer: Grant almighty God that you would help your ministers as they seek to be faithful to the Good Shepherd of the Sheep. We know that they, too, are prone to wander. They are not immune to the trials and temptations of this life and are, often, under great attack from the world and the Evil One. We pray that you would protect our pastors today and give them an extra measure of your Spirit as they labor to guide and protect the sheep of your pasture. Please grant them a greater love for your Word, causing them to drink from the well of living water that will never run dry. Please give them insight and wisdom as they ponder the mind of the Spirit and seek to prepare a bounty for your people. Please provide them with guidance and strength as they deal with many issues within the life of the church. Help them as they care for the sick, the afflicted, the struggling, and the downcast. Help them as they pursue the wandering and wayward. Encourage them with your presence, for they are often discouraged by the state of your church and the world and are often under attack by those you have charged them to love. Restore to them the joy of your salvation and help them labor faithfully, pointing others to the glory of Christ. Protect them and lead them in the paths of righteousness we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.

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Prayer: Grant almighty God that we, as your redeemed people, would heed the warnings and instructions found in your Word and seek to live in it all of our days. As we read and meditate on your Word, we receive your counsel and mind. Your Spirit is communicating your will for our lives through it. Though there are times when we receive counsel from the ungodly, we know that counsel cannot stand in your sight. We are ashamed at how often we take instruction from things that do not point us in the paths of righteousness. Your Word directs us to take counsel in you and delight in your Word as that light unto our path. Grant, therefore, holy Father, that we would bear fruit from finding our source of hope and instruction in the infallible Word written for our good. Please grant us a hunger and thirst for righteousness we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.

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Prayer: Our God in heaven, we lament and ask what it is that makes your people stray so easily from your paths. We take note of the ease with which we wander from the green pastures you have provided for us. We are ashamed at how easily the enemy of our souls leads us by the nose, enticing us with our desires, leading to disaster and destruction. We grieve the reality that we are prone to wander, Lord, we feel it, prone to leave the God we love. We are easily enthralled with the desires of this life, exposing the worldliness of our hearts. We trade that which is right for that which pleases the eyes, the flesh, and pride. No wonder your word calls us creatures of dust and unprofitable servants. Yet, despite all these things, you demonstrated your love toward us in that while we were still sinners, your Son died for us. He died because we do wander. He died because we are easily lured and enticed by the Evil One. He dies because we are sinful to the core. Through Christ, we now have peace of conscience with you. We thank you for so great a salvation. Please grant us a greater willingness to mortify the deeds of the flesh and serve you all our days we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.

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Prayer: Grant, Almighty God, that as Thou invites us daily with so much kindness and love and makes known to us Thy paternal goodwill, which Thou didst once show to us in Christ Thy Son -- O grant that, being allured by Thy goodness, we may surrender ourselves wholly to Thee, and become so teachable and submissive that wherever Thou guidest us by Thy Spirit, Thou mayest follow us with every blessing.

Let us not, in the meantime, be deaf to Thy warnings; and whenever we deviate from the right way, grant that we may immediately awake when Thou warnest us, and return to the right path, and deign Thou also to embrace us and reconcile us to Thyself through Christ our Lord. Amen.
(From Lifting Up our Hearts: 150 Selected prayers of John Calvin)

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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)

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