Prayers of the Church, 11.2.08

We come before You, Father, praising Your name and worshipping You with all our hearts. We love You, Lord. You are our rock, You are our redeemer, You are our Father, Mother, Creator. Regardless of how we act, regardless of what we say, regardless of how inadequate our efforts, You never forsake us. When our lives are good, You are present, when our lives are bad, You are there. You are our God and we are Your people.

We know all good things come from You. We know You will always provide. We know that. Still, we want so badly to feel in control of our lives and our world. When we see a problem, when we see an issue, we have to fix it…right away. We don’t trust You.

Time; we don’t have enough. We want more. We cram as many things into it as we can. One more thing, we just have one more thing to do. There’s so much to do. We fill our days, we labor…hard. Labor is good, but labor that betrays a lack of trust in Your ability to provide is simply a waste of time.

Give us the wisdom of balance. Assist us as we strive to be obedient to You, to trust in Your awesome power.

Help us make time, O Lord, time for You. Time for the things You love. Time for raising up our Christian families, time for serving the poor and downtrodden, time for prayer.

We are here today and gone tomorrow, but Your kingdom defies time…Your kingdom lasts forever.

Help us take time with our enemies. Bless them, Father and help us turn them into friends.

In the silence, Lord, hear our prayers of thanksgiving for the faithful in our past, those who have positively shaped our lives:


We pray for those who dedicate themselves to others. We ask Your blessings on emergency responders, home healthcare givers, medical professionals, educators. Bless our missionaries and those who serve in the military. Bless all those who put others first, especially in Your name.

And now we pray together as Jesus taught us to pray: