Prayers of the Church, 10.25.09

We give thanks to you, O Lord with our whole hearts; we will tell of all your wonderful deeds. We will be glad and exult in you; we will sing praise to your name, O Most High. And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you. We sing praises to the Lord, who dwells in Zion. We declare his deeds among the peoples.

Lord, we are your servants and we sometimes live confusing lives. Our goal is to live righteously, worthy of you and the sacrifice of the lamb, Jesus Christ. Yet we throw so many roadblocks in front of that goal. We like to collect riches, whether money itself, or the things that money can buy. We like the feeling that power, or wealth or stature or education gives us. We like the freedom to care about just ourselves. Then we turn our eyes to you and we like the comfort of being your children.

You call upon us to choose: choose the power of man or choose the power of God. Having both is not an option. You make it very clear to us and yet we try our best to juggle it all.

Set us free from worldly greed and avarice. Our intentions are mostly pure. Money and riches are not the root of all evil, but instead our inability to see them for what they are and how they should be used along with all of your other gifts.

Give us the vision to comprehend the weight and the promise of the gifts you have given to us. WE ARE SAVED. Help us understand the great power we possess, the resources you have placed in our charge. WE ARE FORGIVEN. Whether we are rich or poor by our society’s standards, let us see the great riches you have bestowed upon us. WE ARE YOUR CHILDREN. Give us the wisdom and the restraint and the love to use your riches in a way that glorifies you. PRAISE BE TO YOU, O GOD.

Allow us to view your world through the lens of the gospel. Give us the patience and the understanding to love our fellow humans like Jesus loves us. Allow us to respond to our world with liberality and generosity. Give us the courage and the grace to share the fullness of the Gospel to all who will hear.

Bless our enemies, Father.

We come to you in silence, thankful for your great love and beseeching your intervention in the challenges of our lives.


We ask your blessings on Milligan College, especially as they celebrate another homecoming of students from past years. Guide the professors as they share their knowledge. Support the administrators, as they work to keep Milligan functioning and flourishing. Bless the students as they take what they learn and the experiences they gather, to go forth in Christian service.

And now we pray together as Jesus, the son of God, taught us to pray:

Prayers of the Church, 10.18.09

O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. When we look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; 4what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?

Yet, you do care for us, Father, each and every one of us. You are the God of the entire world, of all who live on this planet. We speak these words. We speak of how we are brothers and sisters with every human being. Too often, though, we look at our Christian family as those who are like us, those we relate to…in our denomination, in our institutes of higher learning, in our congregation, in our hour of worship.

We focus on our families and our friends in the faith. We unite in fellowship, we work and teach together, we have fun with each other. We know we are to live Godly lives. We know we are to lift each other up. Unfortunately, we often see “living the Gospel” as just taking care of those we are already close to, those in our local Christian family.

Give us the faith, Father, to step back from the familiar. Give us the faith to look outside of our families, and see the whole world, all your children, around us.

Help us experience the Gospel and remember that it wasn’t given just to us. Give us the realization of what your commandments really are. Align us to the Jesus who asked “who are my mother and my brothers”? Give us the strength to challenge the stereotypes that give us understanding and comfort. Help us experience the Gospel by sharing it with those who are not a part of us, those who hunger for a relationship with God, but don’t see a way. Help us experience the Gospel by spreading your Good News even to those who do not realize what they’re missing.

Glory be to God, the Father; the creator and master of all things.

In the silence, Lord, hear our prayers of concern and distress and our praises for the blessings you have placed in our lives.


We ask your loving touch, O God, on those who mourn and grieve. Help them feel your presence and give them your peace.

Bless our enemies, Father, and show us ways that we can bless them, too.

We now ask special blessings on Steve and Carol Jackson and their family as they prepare to step out on faith and serve you in Zambia. Keep them safe, Father, and help them as they work to spread the truth of Jesus to another part of your family.

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

Prayers of the Church, 10.11.09

Great and Wondrous God, through the abundance of your steadfast love, we enter your house, we bow down toward your holy temple in awe of you. Let all who take refuge in you rejoice, let us ever sing for joy because you are our rock and our redeemer.

You shower us with grace upon grace, Father. Through your limitless love and the blood of the Lamb, our sins are forgiven, our souls are cleansed, and we are made whole.

We can never repay you for your great gifts, your great love, and you do not command repayment. What you do command us is to respond, to follow the words of Jesus: that we love one another like he has loved us and that we take up our crosses and follow him. You call on us to commit our lives to you, not a portion, but our entire lives so that all we think, all we say, and all we do serve to glorify you and your kingdom.

Free us, Lord. Free us to follow you. When we worry about our lives, turn our eyes toward you. When we fear evil, give us the strength to cast the devil away. When we focus on our pleasures instead of your will, call on our Christian brothers and sisters to set us straight. When our earthly plans get in the way of serving your kingdom, remind us of the empty cross.

Free us from our earthly clutter, Father. Teach us, gird us, focus us, strengthen us…to take on the full armor of God and serve you like our lives depended on it.

Forgive us when we fail you. Help us not lose heart, but redouble our efforts to please you. Bless us as we work through the process of commitment and recommitment to you.

We ask your blessings, Lord, on those who are sick or in need, whatever the need may be.

In the silence, hear us as we share our joys and our sorrows, our pain and our thanksgiving.


Bless our enemies, Father. Have mercy on them as you do on us.

We ask special prayers today, gracious Lord, for Dennis and Fabienne Freeland and their family as they serve with other missionaries in Cameroon to spread your word in their part of the world. Bless them and keep them, especially Dennis and the other pilots, as they support operations in western Africa.

And now we pray together as Jesus, our rock and our redeemer, taught us to pray:

Prayers of the Church, 10.4.09

You, O Lord are our light and salvation. Whom shall we fear? You, Father, are the stronghold of our lives. Of whom should we be afraid? Our souls praise you and are not silent. O Lord our God, we will give thanks to you forever.

Wondrous God, you shower us with blessing upon blessing. In your kindness, you invite us to your table, the King’s table. You bid us to partake with you, we who are sinners, we who are so unclean, we who are as worthy as dead dogs. You are not ashamed because we are your children. You love us and have promised us that we may always eat at your table.

Glory be to God.

During times like this, during moments of lucidity, we understand what an awesome gift you have given us, to join around the table of the Lord, as a community of believers, as your beloved children.

Yet, so very often, instead of realizing your gifts, instead of realizing what it means to be a child of the King, we focus on what is wrong in our lives, on what we’re missing, on what we don’t have. Instead of praising your name for our salvation through Jesus Christ, instead of shouting to the rooftops of your great goodness, instead of proclaiming the Gospel to all the earth, we blame you for our circumstance. We ask each other why you, O Lord, let bad things happen to us, why you have forsaken us.

Thank you for your forgiving our stupidity and self-centeredness, Father. Thank you for not giving up on us. Thank you for the gift of Jesus, whose death, burial and resurrection we celebrate each week…around your table.

Bless our enemies, Lord. Help us forgive their trespasses, as you have forgiven ours.

In the silence, Father, allow us a few moments of clarity in which to understand your great gifts and to fathom your wonderful grace. Hear us as we lay our burdens at your feet and as we whisper our joys of thanksgiving to you.


As we gather in communities around the world to celebrate and commemorate the heritage of our Christian movement today, we ask your grace and blessings on our communion partner, the North Turramurra Church of Christ in Sydney, Australia. Let us be connected with one another and with the other churches in our movement as we seek to glorify you this day.

We now ask your special care and blessings for Don and Peggy Orth, as well as Michelle Ramsaran, as they work to serve your children in Guatemala through their dental ministry. Keep them safe and allow your light to shine through them.

Now we pray together as Jesus, our Savior, taught us to pray: