Pastoral Prayer by Paul Meeks #8
Our gracious and loving Heavenly Father, we come to you
today in the name of Jesus. It's good to be in your house in fellowship
with you and with each other on this Lord's Day, the first day of a new
week. Last week is now behind us and we've had many kinds of
experiences. There have been some victories and some defeats, some
concerns and some joys. We've had some problems along the way, too, and
we sometimes wonder why life can't be all smooth sailing without any problems
to face. But we're reminded that life wasn't designed to be problem
free. You did promise to be with us and that you would never leave us,
and we sure do nee d you. Without the strength that comes from you we'd
never make it. Sometimes we feel broken inside because of what we've gone
through so we ask you to take even the brokenness in our lives and make us
stronger right at those broken places. We need you every day and we're
thankful that you are there.
And now, Lord, we want to bring the special requests that
are represented here today. Some of the requests are for a loved
one or a friend that may be going through a trying time. Maybe there is
someone that has wandered away from you and the prayer is that they will return
to you. Some requests are very personal, things that nobody else can see
and things that we might not be able to tell or confess to anyone else.
You look down inside each one of us and you see and know all the emotions and
feeling that are there. But you know, Lord, and you can do something about
them. And as we each reach out to you we know that you'r already reaching out to us. There
are many physical needs, too, and some are filled with uncertainty and anxiety,
wondering what's going to happen. We would like to have all the answers
now, but you in your love, have drawn a veil over the
future and it's not for us to know, at least not now. But,
Lord, our faith and confidence are in you and we can trust you completely even
when we can't see.
Lord, I ask that you would bring things into our lives that
will make us draw closer to you and make us more aware of you. We need to
see and acknowledge your divine hand even in the everyday, ordinary events of
our lives, because that's where you are. We believe in your divine
providence and we don't want to just casually accept the events of life.
We need to have an awareness of the divine. Save us from just being
matter of fact. You are with us, in fact, you're within us and we need to
be reminded of that truth.
And, God, we're concerned about the world we live in.
There are multiplied millions of people who live without the knowledge of you
and your eternal word and because of that they live in darkness and
superstition and fear. And they perpetrate all kinds of evil and vile
things. That's why there are wars and uprisings and suicide bombings and
insurgencies. Our world needs you. We pray against Satan and the
powers of evil that seem to abound on every hand. We pray for your
kingdom to come and your will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. And
help us to know how to be used as your instruments of righteousness and
holiness and truth.
We pray for the missionaries and national Christians that
are faithfully laboring for you all around the world. We read about the
wonderful things that are happening as the Jesus Film is being shown in country
after country with people coming to know you and people being healed
miraculously and churches being established. We pray for the continued
victory over sin and evil as thousands more see the film and hear the message
of your word.
We pray for Pastor Steve as he preaches your word in the
services today. Speak to us through him. Our hearts and minds are
open to what you want to say to us.
We pray this with thanksgiving in the name of Jesus, our
Lord and Savior who taught us to pray, "Our Father who art in heaven . . .
."
Paul Meeks