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: