Prayer to End Abortion on the 44th Anniversary of Roe v Wade

  Heavenly Father, rise up to protect every unborn child in our land.  We pray to you for them with confidence 
and firm trust knowing that it is your Holy Will to remove the scourge of abortion from off the face of Your 
earth. Thank you that, on this, the 44th anniversary of our Supreme Court’s infamous decision about these 
things, You have helped Your people and given many victories in defense of unborn life since then.  Continue 
these victories by Your mercy.  Change the minds and melt the hearts of all who promote this evil, or who 
seek abortion as a remedy for the troubles of their lives, which troubles are – for many – very great. Make 
us – in our lives – a testimony of sexual purity; those who cherish human life, love and help our neighbors,
 guard and adopt the fatherless and unwanted, honor Your holy image wherever it is found in mankind, and 
willingly sacrifice of ourselves, our comforts and possessions, so that we might truly be your servants and in practical ways, bring about Your Kingdom and Your righteousness. Heavenly Father, we ask you this in the 
name of Jesus, Your Son.  
Amen.

Epiphany Prayer

Gracious Father,

Your Son is the desire of every nation. To Those who hunger for love, He is the Bridegroom rising like the morning sun;

To those who yearn for economic prosperity, He is the Creator who turns water to an overflow of finest wine;

To those in search of justice and righteousness, He is the King who brings the incomplete cleansing of the Law to its glorious fulfillment in grace;

To those who long for sacred purpose and devotion, He is the God Who calls many and when they have sacrificed all to come, He provides for them lavishly especially in the times when it appears that they have given up so much just to arrive at a dead 

end.

For those who long for social equity, He is the Lord Who blesses rulers and masters by drawing their servants closest to Himself, so that they are the only ones given to 

see His miracle as it is performed.

O Christ, You are the joy of man’s desiring; the One for Whom our hearts always 

hunger.

Even our sinful desires are just twisted impressions of the God-shaped void within us. And our hearts are always restless until they find their rest in You.

So shine the light of Your face upon us and bless us to draw us under the shadow of Your wing.

Set our feet to walk on Your path in Your steps, Lord Jesus, and fill us in our emptiness with your Holy Spirit. 

Amen.

Christmas Prayer of Praise and Adoration

Christmas prayer adapted from Augustine:

All praise to You, O King of Heaven and earth, this Christmas Sunday

For the incarnation;
As Adam was brought forth from the uncursed soil,
so You were born of a virgin;

When man’s Maker was made man,

that He Who made the Milky Way, might nurse at His mother’s breast;

the Bread hunger,

the Fountain thirst,

the Light sleep,

the Way be a tired Traveler;

the Truth slandered by false witness,

the Teacher flogged,

the Foundation hung upon a wooden beam;

that Strength weaken;

that the Healer be wounded;

and Life die.

For these great mysteries and for beautiful gospel of peace
we give You thanks today and forever.

Amen.

Good Friday Devotional Prayer

Good Friday Prayer

Oh Christ, You are the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world. 

You were sent from Heaven through a virgin womb to be our manna in a barren desert.

You, Who were anointed with burial oil at Your birth and again at Holy Week when You walked through Jerusalem smelling of a spiced tomb. 

By the sweat of Your brow you labored to feed Your bride the bread of Your own flesh, great drops as of blood falling to the ground, crying out to God, not for vengeance, but mercy - Father, forgive them.

At the sound of Your coming judgment You did not hide, but welcomed those who sought You with torches and weapons.  You were driven out of the garden by their fiery swords. And on that day, You surely died for us.  

You became shamefully naked and were found in the middle of the trees.  

But by Your death, we were clothed from on high.

Now men may once again walk with their Lord in Paradise, as You promised the thief at Your side.

You took our place on the altar, as the ram whose horns were caught in the briars.  You took our curse upon Your head with a crown of thistles and thorns of iron pierced Your hands and feet. 
On the wooden cross, that sharp iron was redeemed as if to float in the flowing streams and we who were lost and sinking deep were drawn out and returned to You.
By Your cross our bitter waters have been made sweet.

You were suspended in midair, between Heaven and Earth, our bridge; the Mediator between God and men.

Blood and water flowed from the rock of Your split side and from the cursed labor pain of Your belly, the Church was born of water and blood; Your Bride from Your rib.

Our first father Adam failed to look after the woman You gave him, but You remembered Mary and made provision for her even as You died on that tree, where the centurion's eyes were opened to understand good and evil.

You were lifted up like Moses’ brass serpent, so that he and every fatal sinner might look to You and be healed.  And it is by Your blood in the sign of the cross on our door frames, that our judgment passes over us. 
Like Moses between Aaron and Hur on the hilltop and like Samson between the pillars, You stretched Your arms wide to sacrifice Yourself and deliver God's people, gaining us the victory.

At Golgotha, You tread upon the skull of death and under Your pierced heel the head of the serpent was crushed.

Precious Jesus, You have made the Cross to be our Tree of Life, blooming with the fruit of Your own body, which by glad faith, we take, eat, and live.
You have made every day Good Friday, for  every day we live in the blessed joy of Your bitter Passion and death, the remedy of our sin. 
So we join our hearts and voices in the angel song:

Worthy is the Lamb Who was slain, to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise, now and forevermore.

Amen.

Pentecost Prayer 2014

All praise to You, our Heavenly Father, on this Pentecost Day!

At Babel, we said, 'Let us make burnt clay bricks,

and build a towering temple city to reach the Heavens

and thus make a name for ourselves.'

But you were displeased by our sinful pride and cursed our tongues saying:

“Let us go down and confuse their speech,

Lest nothing be impossible for them.”

But we were foolish to even attempt these things,

For Christ is the only One Who can ascend to the Heavens

And He has.  And now HIS name is above every other name.

And the temple city of God does not reach up to the sky,

but comes down from Heaven,

Just as You and the Son sent down the Spirit in tongues of fire,

And overcame the confusion of our speech

So that any tongue might call upon Jesus’ name for salvation.

By Your fiery Spirit, You’ve made us the burnt bricks, living stones, and pillars in Your holy Temple,

And You’ve given us new names by writing upon us Your name in baptism

And the name of Your City, which comes down from Heaven.

So we praise You this Pentecost morning, and thank You Father for the gift of the Son, and thank You Son for the gift of the Spirit, and thank You Spirit for the gift of the Church.

Amen.

Epiphany Prayer of Adoration adapted from Good King Wenceslaus of Bohemia [A.D. 907~935]

Blessed are You, O Lord the God of Jacob our Father, for ever and ever.  By the happy appearance of Christ, You have begun a new age of justice in the world.  Because You abide forever, Your throne is established for judgment and You will judge the world in righteousness. You will surely execute judgment for the peoples with equity.  You are a Stronghold for the oppressed; a Stronghold in times of trouble.  By Your Spirit, You make Your children royal regents, bastions of justice and mercy after Your Own Image.  So we praise You now for the gift of Your Son our Lord Jesus.  Please receive our worship as we offer it in His holy name.  Amen.

True Faith: Living, Active, Vocal ...

Faith is often confused with resignation. The prophetic word comes, cutting like a double-edged sword, and we respond with tight-lipped silence. This is not faith. Faith responds to God’s word, not with silent submission, but with confession, praise, earnest and anguished petition. Faith responds with the desperate cries of a Job, the “my God, my God” of David and Jesus, the “how long, O Lord?” of the Psalms. God’s word is not the end of a conversation, but an invitation to renew conversation. God does not judge and condemn to send us slinking away in resigned silence. God judges and condemns so that we can give our “amen” to his judgment, humble ourselves, and be saved. Ultimately, the issues go to theology proper: the Triune God, the God whose life is an eternal conversation, does not create a world as a stage where he performs soliloquies before a respectfully hushed audience. God creates the world and humanity to enter into a dialogue.

- Peter Leithart

Restoring the "We" to our Vocabulary

As our congregation has been working through Luke's Gospel, we recently came to the Disciples' Prayer [aka "The Lord's Prayer"] in chapter 11 and we took a great deal of time to notice the pronouns.  The only pronouns Christ gave us to pray were You [Thou] to the Father and first person plural [us, we, our].  Here is a great summary of that point from a different angle - the stories of Wendell Barry as described by Eugene Peterson.  Enjoy!

Prayer for Mother's Day

"Father, because our nation was founded upon Your Law, and in many ways still reflects this, for indeed it is impossible to live and thrive apart from obedience to You and Your will, we as a nation have set aside this day as a special day of honor to our mothers.
So we lift each of our mothers up before Your holy throne today. Shine the light of Your face upon them, for theirs – above every other station – follows after that of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who showed forth His greatness by washing the feet of the lowly and serving and caring for the little ones when the others would send them away.
We are so grateful for the priceless gift You have given to us in our mothers. God bless, guard, keep, and strengthen them. Encourage their hearts who the world despises, but who are precious in the sight of God, which is to be truly precious indeed."

Pray for Rome

Okay, if you're like me, you're a pretty Protestant Protestant, but I want to encourage the rest of you to add your prayers to mine and the countless others being offered up around the world for the Cardinals gathered today who will be electing the next Pope.
I am much more nervous about this election than I ever was for the race [so-called] between Obama and Romney.  The Roman Church, for all its problems, has been an unflinching pillar of prophetic strength in defense of the unborn as well as a stalwart testimony to the fact that God has made men and women different and that these differences have- according to HIM - ramifications for differences of ministry and restrictions of ordination.  It has also been uncompromising, in a way that no mainline Protestant denomination can claim to have been, by officially upholding a more or less Biblical standard of human sexual ethics.  In the face of so much fierce social and political pressure, the ramifications for this appointment, the potential to shift cultures in the direction of unrighteousness and sinful compromise as well as to further mar the name of Christ in the world is truly significant.

At the start of this meeting, the Cardinals prayed for the Holy Spirit's guidance in their deciding.  May He indeed be pleased to appoint a righteous, brave, and holy man.

All right, now because you're worried about how non-Protestant I sound, here is a great quote from Carl Trueman:

Rome has chronological priority over any Protestant denomination. Thus, Protestantism was and is a movement of protest. We are by definition protesting against something: the claims of the papacy, the burying of the gospel under garbage, the denial of assurance to ordinary Christian believers. We must never forget these things. We should respect our Roman Catholic friends; we should rejoice in the great doctrine we hold in common; but we must not minimize that which divides us from each other.

Pentecost Sunday Prayer

We praise You, Lord, because You have heard our prayer.  Once again, You breathed out Your Spirit upon Your disciples and restored to us times of refreshing so that men might walk with You in the cool of the Day.  We thank You, Christ, that You did not leave us to forsake us, but ascended so that in the fullness of time, You could send us a Helper - another Comforter, reversing Babel with tongues of fire and sending forth Your Word into every nation.  So bless us with Your presence this morning and send Your Wind into the four corners of the earth for the good of Your Kingdom and glory.  Amen.

Worship Guide: Trinity Sunday: OT Lesson

Every week at All Saints, the leadership sends out a traditional-style worship guide for use by our families to prepare for the coming Lord's Day with the readings we'll hear and [hopefully] heed then.  Here's a sample of mine for next week:

Gen 1.1-2.4a

INSIGHT: There is so much to mine from this famous passage, but the main thrust of the author is in the order of the creation process. Notice that if you take the first three days and line them up above the last three days, they perfectly correspond to each other, day by day. God was working in the first half of the week to prepare and then in the second half of the week to fulfill and complete His creation. If you were there on the first part of the first day, it would have been unclear that God was up to anything “good”. Even by the third day, it ‘did not yet appear what the earth should be’. But by the end, God brought it all together in beauty and completion. He loves order. He loves preparation. He works things out to fulfillment according to His plan. Remember where we are in the lectionary readings [and Church History]. This is the Sunday after Pentecost, Trinity Sunday. We remember the way that God had been working throughout all of human history to prepare, then “in the fullness of time” when it was just right, He sent Christ. Then, following this, He sent His Spirit. At the end of this process, we can join Him as we look back on His work in the world and declare it all to be “very good”.

Thine is the Kingdom Prayer

I will extol You, my God, O King; and I will bless Your name for ever and ever.
Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable.
One generation shall praise Your works to another, and shall declare Your mighty acts.
And men shall speak of the might of Your terrible acts: and I will declare Your greatness.
All Your works shall praise You, O LORD; and Your saints shall bless You.
They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom, and talk of Your power;
To make known to the sons of men His mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of His kingdom.
Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and Your dominion endures throughout all generations.
~ Psalm 145 [excerpts]

Almighty God and Sovereign of all the earth,

The kingdom is Yours, and not ours.  For this we thank You, knowing that by Your might it cannot fail.  We praise you and rejoice to see it like leaven working through this world.  Despite our countless failures, You are faithful throughout every generation. 

We confess ourselves to be but unprofitable servants in Your house among Your people.  Deliver us from the proud pursuit of our own petty kingdom agendas, self interests, and the enticements of this world.  Make us to be men who really do seek Your kingdom and Your righteousness.  Make us into the poor in spirit and even - by the strength of your Spirit - the persecuted righteous, knowing that Your kingdom is given them.

Rest and establish our hearts in this: that the Kingdom belongs to Our Father in Heaven and to His Son our Lord Jesus Christ through Whom we also have been given the victory and in Whose name we pray,

Amen. 

Prayer of Praise and Adoration 11/7/2010

The LORD reigns; Let the peoples tremble! He dwells between the cherubim; Let the earth be moved!

The LORD is great in Zion, And He is high above all the peoples. Let them praise Your great and awesome name— He is holy...

Exalt the LORD our God, And worship at His holy hill; For the LORD our God is holy.

-Psalm 99



Heavenly Father and Almighty God,

You are God and there is no other. The idols of men are blind, deaf, and dumb and those who worship them are made to become just like them. But you are the one, true, and living God, omnipotent. You cause Your people to go from strength to strength. And You do this every time without a single sin. In You is all goodness, never-changing justice, and white-hot holiness. We read this in Your Word; we find it in Your Providence; and we see it wrapped in flesh through Your Son, our Lord Jesus, through Whom we pray, and to Whom with You and the Holy Spirit, we offer our worship this morning and always. Amen.

Lord's Day Prayer - 13 June 2010

If You, Lord, should keep track of all our sins, Oh Lord, who could stand before You.  But with You there is forgiveness so that You will be feared.


-Psalm 130

Merciful Father, we are a people who know Your forgiveness, help us to be a people who know Your fear.    We have not been forgiven little, help us not to love little.  Keep us from luke-warmness, which is our natural response to your constant goodness.  Make us to be like Your Son, consumed by zeal for our Father and zeal for the glory of His name.

Amen.

Prayer of Petition - 4th Sunday of Eastertide

Our Father in Heaven, we bring our petitions to You now, knowing that You hear the prayers of Your people and delight to show Yourself mighty in reply.

We lift up our local and national authorities to You, that they might serve You in righteousness, kissing the Son and acknowledge Him as Lord.  

We remember our congregation's servicemen. ... We thank You for them and pray that You would uphold and protect them to be faithful to their duties both to God and man.  

We ask that You might bring our nation's conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq to a swift and successful end and that our troops might serve and even fight with honor and justice.  

In many ways, these things are in short supply among us, so we plead, Oh Lord, for Your mercy upon our nation, that You would grant us repentance, so that we might see the day when our leaders would say with all sincerity: 'Oh how we love Your law; it is our meditation day and night.'

Of course, we would not expect this from our government when it is not found in our churches, and so we cry out to You to send reformation, revival, and unity in this congregation, our denomination, and Your Church catholic.

We pray for our brothers and sisters within that Church who are persecuted overseas, particularly the Christians in Northern NIGERIA where a Pastor and his Wife were killed just last month — We pray for the Ishaku family, their church, and the Christians of that region.  We ask You to grant them increased resolve to love their enemies in sharing the gospel and seeking peace rather than vengeance which belongs to You alone.  

We also pray for the persecuted Church in Madhya Pradesh, India who were also attacked last month.  We ask You to comfort the mourning, heal the wounded survivors of the attack, and pour out your grace on those who live there in these circumstances every day.  

We ask Your blessing for each parent – that we might faithfully educate our children as you have commanded. God, give us their hearts, and cause them to rise up in faith and righteousness.  Uphold and enable each student, teacher, and administrator as the close of the academic year approaches that all might be done to the glory of Your name and the benefit of Your kingdom.

We’ve gathered to seek that kingdom on this, the first day of the week, that it might be made our first pursuit in every other way as well.  We look to You, Gracious Father, for all the other things: our food, shelter, and material comforts.  Please bless those among us who are struggling with regard to money.  Provide both the opportunities and abilities, and grant that we might, by Your Spirit, trust You for every physical need exemplifying contentment with all we’ve received from Your Hand. 

We remember our beloved Pastor and his wife as they travel.  Would you bless, refresh, and protect them as they travel.

Lastly, we look to You for the repentance and restoration of [our wayward ones] and the comfort and preservation of [their families].

Our Father, You are able to do exceedingly more than we ask or think.  So we bring our requests in the strong name of Jesus Christ.

Amen.

Corporate Prayer of Praise and Adoration - April 2010

I will praise you, O LORD, with all of my heart; 
      I will sing your praise before all the inhabitants of Heaven.

I will bow down toward your holy temple 
       and praise your name because of your love and faithfulness, 

because - above all things – you’ve exalted
       your name and your word.

All the kings of the earth shall praise you, O LORD,
   because they will hear the words of your mouth,

They will sing of  the your ways,
   because of the greatness of Your glory. 

Today, our Father, we rejoice to be a small part of this praise –

we, who were once blasphemers and rebels, now join You in prizing and exalting Your Name and Your Word above all things. 

As the millennia pass, stars fall from the sky and mountains are ground to dust but Your glory, wisdom, righteousness, power, goodness, and holiness will shine as brightly then as the day You created light itself. 

Generation follows generation and the wisdom of man goes with him into the ground, but the words that You have spoken, which cannot fail, stand and stand forever.

The nations foam and rage, the heathen rise up like waves against You, but they do these things in vain.  All together they are like dust on the scales before You.  Your Son is already their King, and they will confess - along with every tongue-  what we are gathered here to confess today: 

Worthy is the Lamb, Who was slain and has redeemed us to God by His blood, to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing forever and ever.  Amen.

Corporate Prayer of Thanksgiving - April 2010

Give thanks to the LORD, because of His goodness

and His love which endures forever.   

Let those who’ve been redeemed by the LORD say this— 

those He’s redeemed from the hand of the enemy,

 Those He’s gathered from the lands, 
      east west, north and south.

  He lifts the needy out of affliction 
       and increases their families like flocks.

 The righteous see these things and rejoice, 
       but all the wicked shut their mouths.

 Let the wise learn from these things 
       and consider the great love of the LORD.

 Let them give thanks to the LORD for His unfailing love 
       and His wonderful works for men …

We do, Our Father, remember Your unfailing love, expressed in the bounty we know all around us day after day.  It is from Your hand that we receive the gifts of health, peace, sanity, food, drink, shelter, and so much abundance beyond our mere survival. 

It is You, our Gracious Lord, Who lovingly gives life and lovingly takes it. It is You we thank for the births of our dear children this past year, and it is You we thank for tenderly overseeing the deaths of Your people as a loving Father. 

We thank You for Your provision to us in the formation of this congregation of Saints, and the dear pastor and elders You’ve appointed her. 

And we thank You deeply for preserving and propagating Your Word, for the ability to own, study, and hear it taught and proclaimed today. 

Finally we thank You for the privilege of seeing Your Kingdom advance unstopped and unstoppable, for this and every other blessing we know because of the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Your Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, in Whose great name we offer this prayer of thanksgiving,

 Amen.