Dearest Father, holy, holy is your name. We bow before your greatness and majesty. Thank you for allowing us to call you
Father. Thank you that we belong to
you. Thank you for never separating us
from you and for allowing us to be your children.
We pray that your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Help us to mean this. Reveal your will to us, and help us follow
it. Your will, not our will; your plan,
not our plan; your direction, not our direction. We thank you that when we stray from your
will, you are ready to lovingly and gently accept us back…any and every time. Help us remember that you never promised us a
world or lives free from pain, suffering, or discomfort. Help us remember, help us internalize, that
what you promised through the death, burial, and resurrection of our Savior,
Jesus Christ, is that we don’t have to endure alone. You are with us, and you have given us the
body – our brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ – as our earthly support,
guidance, and care. Help us be present
for each other.
We ask, Lord, that you give us what we need, every day. We have that promise from you. Help us expect it. Let us be satisfied with what you give us; let
us be generous, we pray, and give us caring and sharing spirits. Help us to be aware and to act to bless those
you constantly put in our paths.
We ask your forgiveness for our sins. We are thankful that we have this promise,
too, and that you are always ready to forgive.
Help us be forgiving of those who wrong us or who we think wrong
us. Help us be forgiving of our own
failures. Bless those who are different
from us, and help us bless them, too, recognizing and focusing on our
similarities. Bless our enemies. Help us
make the effort to understand them and see them how you see them – as loved, as
valuable, and as made in your image.
Father, help us fight all the temptation that we constantly
face. Give us strength to constantly
seek your kingdom first, putting our personal desires and wants away while we
focus on what you want for your world, your kingdom, your children.
In the silence, accept our thankful prayers and our hopeful petitions.
Silence
Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory
forever.
As we thank you for your love and your care, we thank you
also for the wonderful servants you raise up, prepare, and send out to every
part of the globe. We are grateful for
the Headens and their decades of selfless ministry to the least, the last, and
the lost. Thank you for their example of
sacrifice. Thank you for their example
of seeking your kingdom first over all else.
Thank you for allowing us to serve with them to better your world.
Now, gracious God, we raise our
voices together and pray as Jesus taught us to pray:
Our Father in
heaven, may your name be kept holy.
May your Kingdom
come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us today our
food for the day
And forgive us our
sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us.
And don’t let us
yield to temptation but rescue us from the evil one.
For yours is the
kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
