Pastoral Prayer by Paul Meeks

Our gracious and loving Heavenly Father, we come to You today in the name of Jesus.  We come confidently and we come in faith, but we also recognize that You're the great God of the universe and that You rule both heaven and earth so we approach You with awe and wonder.  We can't begin to comprehend You and Your awesome power and wisdom, but we can trust You and know that You do all things well.  You're too wise to make a mistake and You're too good to be unkind.  Your word tells us that as the heavens are far above the earth, so are Your ways above our ways and Your ways are past finding out.  You are the sure foundation of our faith and even of our very lives, so that we can say with confidence, "On Christ, the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand."  Help us to trust and rest secure in You.

Lord, we're reaching out to You and we know that You're already reaching out to us.  We need You and we need to feel the sense of Your presence.  We each need You in our own individual lives.  You know us, Lord, and You look down inside us, in our emotions and our minds.  You see our joys and our sorrows.  You see our frustrations and our fears.  You see our strengths and our weaknesses.  You see our victories and our failures.  You see where we've been defeated and where we've failed You.  And in spite of all that, amazing wonder, You still love us and You still want to work out Your will and Your plans and purposes for us.

We pray for the Matchette Family today in their sorrow and loss of their loved one.  They all need You in very special and personal ways.  We pray for the Strawser Family, too, as they grieve over the loss of their loved one.  There are others, too, who have lost loved ones recently and they need the comforting presence of the Holy Spirit.  Be to all of them the special help that they need this very day.

There are many with serious physical needs.  You are the Great Physician and we pray for Your healing touch on their bodies.  They also need the encouragement and uplift of Your presence.

We pray for our community and the many areas of need.  We pray for an awakening and for revival that will change men's hearts and minds and cause them to turn to You.  We're sure that would change many things all around us and that's what we need and what we pray for.

We pray for our nation, for President Bush and the leaders in government and those in the courts of our land.  These are momentous days and times of great need.  It seems that the very foundations of our country are being shaken as things that we have stood for are being called into question.  We know that it's not just a struggle between ideologies and political parties but its between God and Satan and between wickedness and godliness.  Have mercy on us, oh, God.

We pray for Your word as it preached around the word.  Many of our Christian brothers and sisters are suffering persecution for their faith.  We pray that their faith may not fail but that they may be strong in their stand for You.

We pray for our pastor as he preaches Your word in the services this morning.  Touch his heart and mind and spirit and enable him to give the message that You have inspired.

We pray in the name of Jesus.  Amen.