Prayers of the Church, 1.1.12

Loving God, as we enter a new year, we have the opportunity to be aware and to be grateful for all the gifts you have bestowed upon us.  While our lives are not perfect, and we can focus on the negative, there is much for us to be thankful for.  As we survey our surroundings, we see your wonders, the majesty of the mountains, the bright colors of light through the stained glass, the laughs and smiles of the happy children as they learn and they play, the warm handshake or embrace of a brother or sister in Jesus Christ – you, O Lord, have richly blessed us. 

And, as we look around, we can also see those for whom 2012 is not starting out well – for those in hospice, for those who are sick, for those who don’t have a roof over their heads, for those who have lost a loved one or will soon, for those who are suffering a loss of relationship, for those who are suffering a crisis of faith, for those we may consider enemies.  You have laid before us many who can use our support – a kind word, a thoughtful note, a timely visit, a listening ear, a heartfelt prayer.

From whom much is given, much is required.

As we pass over this milestone, you give us yet another chance to start over, to be better than we’ve been before – to be more empathetic, to be more nurturing, to be more helpful.  Bless our efforts to make 2012 our best year – our best offering to you of ourselves and our best offering to our fellow human beings regardless of their religion, their race, their status or their lovability.

As we contemplate the incarnation and what it meant to the Father, what it meant to the Son, and what it means to us, instill in us your grace, your peace, and a greater understanding of what it means to be a child of God.

We are grateful, Father, that you hear our prayers.  Turn your face toward us as we bring to you our own personal joys and sorrows, our own celebrations and fears.

Thanks be to you, O God.

We ask your special blessings today, Father, on the Veals:  Warren, Julie, and their family, as they serve you in Mozambique as a part of Mission Aviation Fellowship.  Guide them, direct them, and cover them in your love as they share the Good News of Jesus Christ to isolated people, helping them become physically and spiritually transformed.

And now we pray together as Jesus Christ our Lord taught us to pray:

Prayers of the Church, 11.26.11

O, Great and wondrous God.  O, magnificent creator.  O highest of most high, the mountains quake at your presence, the nations tremble when they sense your majesty and aura.  Your children gather at your feet and call you Father.

We come before you as grateful servants, grateful that you love us so much that you did not leave us to drown in the depths of our sins and iniquities.  We know your love toward us has no end for when we were yet sinners without strength, you sent what was most precious to you as a ransom for our souls.

O that you would tear open the heavens and come down…manifesting yourself in an earthly form and dwelling among us…as one of us.

We anticipate your coming; we long for your return, the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory, gathering his children from the four winds.  You will deliver your people ultimately and finally from a sinful world.

Even as we anticipate your reappearance, we know you call on us to do much for your kingdom.  Even as we yearn to be united with you, we know we must be strong Christians, eager and willing to act in the name of God.

Help us to be people of action.  Let us act on your behalf.  Help us stand up for the cause of the Christ. Keep us ever vigilant, not only for your return but against the temptations of sloth, worldliness, and the love of comfort.

Now we come to you in the quiet, each one of us sharing our fears and our sorrows, our joys and our thanksgiving.  Turn you face toward us, Father, and hear our prayers:

Thanks be to you, O God, most high for your steadfast goodness and love.

We ask your special blessings today Lord on the Interfaith Hospitality Network.  Guide and direct their leaders and workers to be sensitive and supportive, while at the same time firm and forthright.  Help IHN’s clients as they work to keep their families together and find their way to financial stability and emotional strength.  Help us at Grandview be warm and welcoming, a blessing to our guests.

And now we pray together as Jesus Christ our Lord taught us:

Prayers of the Church, 11.13.11

Praise be to you, O God, as we contemplate your greatness.  Praise be to you, Lord, as we bask in your endless love.  Praise be to you, Father, as we bring our cares, our joys, our sorrows before you in the silence.

As we strive always to be your faithful servants, we call on you for aid.  We call on you to keep us centered and grounded in the truth, shown through the life of faithful saints and even more so though the life of our savior, Jesus Christ.

Open our minds to your scriptures.  Provide in us a hunger for your word, a passion to understand and to share.  Help us to live lives that are firmly anchored in your teachings.  Enable us to see how you have used your ordinary, flawed children to do great things for your kingdom and how you can use us, as well.

Open our hearts to the gravity of the cross.  Help us understand that the path we have to eternal life with you runs through Golgotha.  Help us understand while we are free to accept or reject your love, it is the depth of that love that made the cross so costly for you.

Open our spirits to your command to share the truth of Jesus Christ to all the corners of the earth.  Clothe us with power from on high to overcome the fear of being open and sharing your love with others.  Clothe us with power from on high to overcome our reluctance to invest in the work you lay before us.  Clothe us with power from on high to overcome our ambivalence and sometimes even our neglect as we focus on ourselves instead of on serving you through serving others.

Focus us, as Jesus focused his disciples, to spread his teachings:  to baptize all nations in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Praise be to you, O God.

We ask your blessings today, Lord, on Higher Ministries.  Guide them as they work to empower Christian leaders and the people they serve with a sense of purpose.

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

Prayers of the Church, 7.31.11

As we come before you in prayer, Oh Lord, we are full of gratitude.  We are grateful for your love, we are grateful for one another, we are grateful for this congregation - for our staff and volunteers, we are grateful for the opportunity to serve each other and the world around us.  We are grateful to be your children.

We are grateful for your Grace, O God, a grace so beautiful that it saved our souls; a grace so terrible that it caused you to sacrifice your beloved son for us.  We are grateful for your grace, Father, a grace often so easy for us that we barely recognize it, while so terribly expensive for you.

We are grateful for the Grace of Jesus Christ; a grace so painful for Him; a grace that allowed the cup to stop in front of him, the grace that allowed him to be tortured for our sakes, the grace that allowed him to take on the sins of not one, but many – in fact the sins of the whole world; a grace so freely given that we have the freedom to ignore it.  Thank you for that grace.

We are grateful for the Grace of fellow Christians – a grace so wonderful that it sometimes causes us to give with abandon, love without seeking return, share to the point where possessions mean nothing. 

Help us remember that to be generous, to be gracious, means to put ourselves aside.

We ask you to shower upon us the gift of a generous spirit, Father:

• Give us the generosity of spirit when we worship
• Give us the generosity of spirit when we pray
• Give us the generosity of spirit when we share and serve
• Give us the generosity of spirit even when we don’t feel like it.
• Give us the grace to never give up on each other.

Allow the grace of the Father, of the Son, and of the Spirit to be shown to those around us, those we would call family, those we would call friend, those we would call stranger, and those we would call enemy.

So often, silence is our enemy, too.  We are too busy for the quiet.  We are too wrapped up in our lives to pause even for a few moments.  Help us empty our minds of all our clutter as we embrace the quiet and share our prayers with you, Father.

We ask your special blessings today, Lord, for Milligan College and for their new president, our brother, Bill Greer.  We pray that your grace, your wisdom, your love enfolds him -  guides him - as he represents the school and represents you.

And now we pray together as Jesus Christ, our Savior, our redeemer, our king, taught us to pray: 

Prayers of the Church, 7.16.11

As we humbly bow before you today, O God, we are grateful.  We are grateful for your love.  We are grateful for our lives.  We are grateful for our blessings.  We are grateful for the chance to serve you.

Help us remember, Father, that we were bought with a price.  Help us remember the sacrifice of our Lord, Jesus Christ.  Help us remember the scourge, the pierced side, the crown of thorns.  Help us remember your beloved son as the sins of the world fell on his shoulders and crushed him…all for our sakes.  We didn’t earn this gift.  We can never repay this love shown to us.  We can never be worthy except by the grace that comes through the burial and resurrection of our savior.

 Help us remember our lives are not our own.  Place these words ever before us so that we never forget.  Help us remember that we are children of the King and we belong to you.  Help us be aware and act with that awareness toward our fellow human beings.

 Help us remember our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit.  You have called us to shun evil, to separate ourselves from it while we work to bless others in this world.  Help us remember that our actions have consequences even when no one else sees them, because you do.  Help us remember that where our minds are, so go our bodies and our spirits.  Help us be aware and act with that awareness.

 Help us remember that our enemies are not necessarily yours.  Please bless our enemies, Lord.

 While we have no problem remembering our needs and woes before you, we can often forget to praise you for your goodness.  Help us remember to praise you.  In the silence, hear our needs and our praises to you.

Lord, we often bring Interfaith Hospitality Network before you in our prayers.  We ask that you bless them as they work to keep families together while these families struggle to move forward in their lives.  We ask your special blessings on Brian Rosecrans and the board as they search for a team member to replace Patsy Glover.  We also pray for Grandview's role in this ministry and ask that you raise up leaders within our church who can help IHN be even a greater blessing to our community.

And now we pray together as our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, taught us to pray:

Prayers of the Church, 7.10.11

Most wonderful God; most majestic king; praise be your name for your greatness. You, oh Yahweh, are our sovereign, and we will worship you all the days of our lives. We are your creation. We are your people, your children. We look to you for our sustenance. We look to you for your approval and love. Turn your face toward us, Father and make it shine upon us for you are our king, you are our maker, you are our redeemer.

In the silence, hear our words of praise, thanksgiving, and honor. In the quiet, we bring before you our troubles, our fears, our needs.


Our enemies are your creation, your children, and you love them. Bless them, Lord.

Help us know our proper place in your world, Father. Help us to realize and adjust our lives so they are focused on you and your kingdom.

Help us be humble in your sight, Father. Let us not be boastful in your presence or in the world around us other than to boast of your greatness and of your love for all.

You are the highest of the high, Lord. No words or images can aptly capture your majesty. While we are tempted to try to exalt you with big words and beautiful imagery, let us focus on the simple yet powerful message of Jesus Christ and him crucified.

We need faith to follow, O God. We need faith to stand fast against the world. Please bless our faith that it might not rest on what passes for truth on the earth, but on your truth, found in your Word.

We need wisdom, O most high. There are so many around us who would love us to cling to their wisdom, to the wisdom that focuses on self instead of the wisdom grounded in blessing others. Bathe us in your spirit, O God, so that we may understand the gifts you have bestowed on us.

Try as we might to see otherwise, Lord, our only hope for meaningful life and meaningful service is through you. All praise and honor to you, gracious God.


We ask your special blessings on Higher Ministries. We ask you furnish them the tools and the wisdom ask they provide counseling and support for ministers, their families and the churches they serve.

Now, we honor the command of Jesus and pray as he taught us: 

Prayers of the Church, 7.3.11

We will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in our mouths. Our souls make their boasts in the Lord; let the humble hear and be glad. O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together. Let us look to him and be radiant so our faces shall never be ashamed.

God of all, you have given us so much. You have given us dominion over the earth and sea. You have given us riches beyond our wildest imagination. You have given us your Word. You have offered us salvation through your son, Jesus. You have given us life and life everlasting.

And you have given us freedom, Lord. As human beings, we have the freedom to accept or reject you. As human beings, we have the freedom to lift up or crush. As human beings, we have the freedom to love or hate.

Help us to realize that as human beings, we are flawed. We are sinful. We are often selfish and self-serving. Left to our own devices we can be dangerous: dangerous to others, to ourselves, to our world, to the cause of the Christ. Help us not place the love of freedom over the love for you.

Liberate in us the freedom to loose our shackles from love of sinful things, love of indulgence, love of self. Draw us close to the freedom that is found as servants of the King. Help us revel in the joy that comes from lifting others up rather than tearing them down. Bless our enemies…and bless us, as we work to sort our differences.

When we are focused on you, we can become more in tune with your desires. At our best moments, we work to be Christ-like. Help our best moments be the moments we exhibit most.

We thank you for this great land and the opportunities it brings. Thank you for the generations that have worked so hard to make it a blessing to so many. Help us put our love for country in its proper place in our lives.

In the silence, hear our words of supplication. We are in fear. We are in pain. In the silence, hear our words of praise. We are grateful. We are humble.


You are our God and we are your children. Smile upon us, Father.

We ask intercessory prayer for Gabe and Melissa Hillman, missionaries in Bulgaria serving the nation’s youth. Guide, direct, and strengthen their efforts as they continue their mission. We ask special blessings on the family as Melissa seeks medical help in the US for their son, Jonah.

Now, we pray together as Christ Jesus taught us to pray:

Prayers of the Church, 3.27.11

To you, O Lord, we lift up our eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens! As the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the LORD our God, until he has mercy upon us.

Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy upon us.

We ask, Father, that you give us the hearts of servants, people who give freely of ourselves. Give us hearts that welcome each other in the Lord as is fitting for the saints. Give us hearts to help others in whatever way they may require for we are all focused on the same goal, all working toward a common mission: sharing the love of Jesus Christ with all those in need, near and far.

Humble us, Father. Take the ambition that we may feel for the things of this world and focus it instead on service toward you. Help us revel in the success of others. Help us bloom where we’re planted, rooted firm in the knowledge that our desires for greatness are normal, but spiritually immature and misguided. Instead, keep us ever mindful that we who would be first must be last.

Thank you, Lord, for the steadfast work of those who risk their livelihoods for the gospel. Comfort and strengthen them with the knowledge and faith that you will provide for them, as you provide for all of us. Give them -- and us -- hearts like Priscilla and Aquila, hearts full of love for you and your commandments.

Forgive of us our sins, O God, for they are many. Hear our words of penitence. Rejoice with us, Father, in the blessings of life that you provide. We come to you in the silence.


There is no room in your kingdom for enemies. Bless those who we might call enemies and give us the gifts of understanding, tolerance, and love so that we might love our friends and enemies, alike.

We rejoice with Milligan College as they move forward in their mission to send educated Christians into the world to serve your kingdom. We ask your blessings on the school’s leadership, and especially on their president-elect and our brother, Bill Greer.

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

Prayers of the Church, 3.13.11

Our souls magnify the Lord, and our spirits rejoice in God our Savior, for you have looked with favor on the lowliness of your servants. Surely from now on all generations will call us blessed.

Give us the devotion to respond to your favor, O Lord.

Give us the faith of Mary, Father. Give us the faith of the young girl, the young girl who was called upon by you, whose world was turned upside down when you chose her to be our Lord’s earthly mother. Give us the faith to say, “Here am I, Lord”.

Give us the courage of the midwives, who stood up to the Pharaoh; who loved and feared you. When evil is before us, give us the courage to stand up, to act, to respond with love, a love that may not always be easy to manifest. Give us the courage to say no to oppression, give us the courage to say no to injustice, give us the courage to turn our backs on the world’s approval. Give us the courage, Lord, to faithfully follow your word, regardless of the cost.

Give us the compassion of the Christ, who called upon his followers to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to visit to the sick, to comfort the lonely. Give us the compassion, the dedication, and the love to minister to the least of these.

Bless our enemies, Father. It is not enough for us to say “We love you, God”, when we do not love our neighbors. It is not enough to say, “We love you, God”, when we do not love our enemies. Give us a love so deep that we, from our hearts, bless our enemies. Give us a love so deep that we “put on Christ” for all those in our lives regardless of the state of our relationships.

Steadfast love surrounds those who trust in the Lord. In the silence hear us rejoice because of your grace. In the silence, hear our prayers as we come to you and share our pain.


Evil surrounds us on this earth, Father. We pray for those whose lives have been devastated by the recent tsunami. We also pray for those whose lives are just as desperate and upon whom the world’s light has never shined.

Lord, please bless the Interfaith Hospitality Network. We pray that you help the mission in its efforts to keep families together while they are being taught how to succeed and overcome adversity. We thank you for the selfless service of the staff and volunteers and ask that you bless their spirits and their efforts.

And now, O God, we pray together as our savior, Jesus Christ, taught us to pray:

Prayers of the Church, 3.6.11

Be strong and bold; have no fear or dread of the enemy because the Lord our God goes with us. You, O God, will never fail or forsake us.

You, O Lord, are our helper – Your help surrounds us in the scriptures, the lessons of Jesus and his disciples. Your help surrounds us in the Christian servants with whom we worship, serve, and live. Your help surrounds us in the form of your spirit, a spirit that never forsakes us.

Many of us, Father, have spent countless days and hours learning to be good Christians. Some of us have spent practically our entire lives learning the love of Jesus Christ. We know the words.

We know what to say and we know what to do. Our failing so often comes when we are called to put our Christian knowledge into action.

God, make us Christian people of action. When we see a need among our friends and family, give us the inclination, give us the wherewithal to act, to support, to assist.

Inside our families, among our friends, inside this congregation, we must think and act like a body, knowing that we are all your creation, all your children. Then we must act with hospitality to strangers, not just friends. Help us be a blessing to all those who come into our lives, individually and collectively.

You are the Lord of our enemies. Bless them, Father, and help us bless them, too, with our thoughts, words, and actions.

You, O Lord, are our rock and our strength – Give us the strength to stand fast against the lure of the world. Give us the strength to be content with what possessions we have, and to not covet what eludes us whether it be wealth, power, influence, physical beauty, fame.

Help us stand solid in our efforts to overcome weakness, to overcome our sin. Forgive us when we call on you to save us from the sins we wish to waive, the sins we wish to ignore.

You, O Lord, are our light – Your spirit shines on our path; guides us on our way. But so often you do not reveal the entire path, but a few steps. Give us the spiritual maturity, give us the faith, to follow you when we can only see a step or two in front of us for we know that you will care for us.

In the silence, hear our prayers of penitence, our words of praise for your help, strength, light:


We pray your blessings on Higher Ministries, Lord. Guide them as they support healthy church leadership, leadership which can help their congregations be a blessing to their communities.

And now, WE can say with confidence “The Lord is our shepherd. We will not be afraid. With the same confidence, we pray as Jesus taught us to pray: