Prayers of the Church 2.22.09

God of all, fill us with joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit we may abound in hope.

God of Hope, we cling to you. This life is so temporary. This life is so fleeting. Relationships come and go, Careers come and go, health is a temporary matter. You, O Lord, remain our one constant. We are here for the shortest time.

Even with our transient passing through this universe, a lot goes on with us. We build lives, we have families, we give or take from this earth. We have plenty of time for immature behavior. We have plenty of time for sin. Hell is what we deserve…and not by accident, but by our active wickedness, our overt disobedience. But you, o God, but you stepped in. You are more loving and merciful than we could ever hope. The last word is not our sin, but your grace—“where sin abounded, grace abounded all the more”.

God of Hope, you give us a reason to believe. Through the resurrection of the Son, we know we will return to the Father. When we are reminded of this great gift, our hope burns bright. But then we are weighed down by the problems of the world, the problems of our lives. Sin is heavy, too. It pulls us down, it changes us. We let our focus slip, we let our zeal fade, and we become one with the world again.

Strengthen us Father. Give us resolve. Through the power of your word, through the example of your son, through the strength of our brothers and sisters in Christ, help us grow and become mature. And as we grow in our Christian maturity, help us nurture that mature hope. Help us keep it crystal clear in our minds.

Bless our enemies, Lord. Let them experience your mercy and be changed by it.

We pray now in silence -- give us the maturity of hope -- that we seek you desperately, that we long for you fervently, that we serve you completely, that we know one day we’ll be reunited with you and the faithful before us in your heavenly kingdom.


Bless the Appalachian Christian Camp as they work with local youth to develop Godly principles and values in a way that challenges them.

We pray for Dennis and Fabienne Freeland and their family as they serve you and the growing Christian community in Cameroon and the surrounding area.

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