Pastoral Prayer by Paul Meeks (# 14)
Our gracious and loving Heavenly Father, we come to you
today in the name of Jesus, the name that’s above every name in heaven and on
earth. We read in your word that some day at that name every knee shall
bow and every tongue confess that he is Lord. We’ve already done that.
Jesus Christ is already our Lord. We serve him gladly and with
honor and respect. What a difference that makes in our lives. All
of life is different, and all of life has meaning and significance. How sad
that many people want to order their own lives and leave you out and although
your Holy Spirit is faithful to strive with people in ways we can’t even
imagine, yet they go on in their own self-centered way. And you have to
say to them, “Okay, then, have it your way, go your own way, but it’s the wrong
way.” There are some right here today that are struggling with doing your
will and we pray that they will make the wise decision to let you have your
way.
Lord, we pray for the families of our church, the moms and
dads the little babies and children. These are such important days when
their young lives are being developed and habits and patterns of actions are
formed. What awesome responsibilities the parents have. We pray for
our teens that are facing so many challenges and pressures from their peers and
from our society with opportunities for wrong choices. We thank you for
all of those that are committed to you and are endeavoring to discover how they
should live and what their future holds. Help us as a church to set the right
example before them and to teach them the right way. Satan has always
tried to destroy families and cause dissension and strife and to inspire people
to divorce and separate. That’s not your will, but you want husbands and
wives to be godly men and women and to be committed to each other and to
you. We pray for those of this church who are in the throes of
decision. We pray that they may not make the wrong decisions but will be
led by the Holy Spirit to obey you.
We pray for our nation again today, for our president and
the men and women of the congress and those in the courts of our land. We
pray for the president as he leads the military forces around the world.
We ask for wisdom and strength as he works with the military leaders especially
in
We pray for wisdom for our pastoral staff and leaders of the
church in the many important decisions that are being made day after day.
May they all know how to discern your will and to follow your plan for our
church during these important days.
We pray for Pastor Steve as he ministers your word
today. May his words come from you and may they be effective to
accomplish what you have in mind for us today.
We pray all this in the name of Jesus, our Lord and Savior,
who taught us to pray, “Our Father which art in
heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily
bread. And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass
against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from
evil: For thine is the
kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
Paul Meeks