The Pastor’s Corner

Prayer: Our glorious God in heaven, we thank you for another Lord's Day that you made for us. We know that the Sabbath was made for man and your word declares that you set this day apart from all the other days of the week as one that is holy. On this day, you gave us an example by resting from all of your work. It is this day that points to our Sabbath rest -- the Lord Jesus Christ. You have commanded us to keep this day holy and cease from our normal worldly recreations and employment. You have further commanded that we delight in it and seek your face in the public gathering of worship and the enjoyment of Christian fellowship. Yet, we so often fail to seize this opportunity. Too often, we get caught up in our affairs and fail to worship you publicly and privately. We sin against you when we absent ourselves from your worship. We value the things of this life too much, and that is why we miss those common, ordinary things that you allow us to enjoy every other day. How sad it is that we a drawn to things that will never satisfy and replace your presence with the things of this world. Forgive us, Father. Please help us see the value of this day and the great opportunity afforded us to be in your presence and with your people. Please grant us a great love of the Lord's Day and be pleased to meet with your people as we gather to adore you. These things we pray for in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

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Prayer: Our Father in heaven, we thank you for the great privilege to commune with the sovereign God of heaven and earth. You are our refuge and strength, a very present help in times of trouble. Oh, Lord, we live in difficult and trying times. Though we know that nothing is new under the sun, we also know that sin has wrecked all that you have made and called good. We grieve at the state of our world and country. We see men, made in your image, professing and boasting to be wise, yet their rebellion against you only proves their foolishness. We know that this world is a mess because of sin, and we are ashamed that we, as your people, are still prone to sin and sinful behaviors. We are thankful to you that you are a God who delights in the forgiveness of sin. Yet, we long for the day when sin will be no more -- when we will no longer feel its effects and languish in it. Therefore, holy Father, we pray that you would grant us a great desire to follow you, being the church militant, until that day when we are the church at rest. Please grant us a greater zeal to advance your kingdom and righteousness and offer to all who can hear the only hope this world has: The Lord Jesus Christ, your begotten Son. We thank you that you have rescued us from the land of bondage and sin and redeemed us from slavery. We thank you for feeding us and reminding us weekly of your favor and love. We thank you that you do not treat us as our sins deserve. Therefore, Father, help us walk in your ways resting on your eternal and divine providence, knowing that you will bring your people safely to their eternal home. These things we pray for in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

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Prayer: We thank you, Almighty God, for the kind and loving provision you give to your people each day. We pray, "give us this day our daily bread," and we see you answer that prayer each day by giving to us what we need and more. We enjoy your bountiful blessing, not receiving what we deserve but receiving what we do not deserve. We thank you for our homes, transportation, friends, family, and many other things. We confess that we are often thankless and forget to pray with hearts of gratitude for the many ways you care for us. Forgive us, Father. Please help us live lives with a thankful frame towards you, our God who provides abundantly for us.

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Prayer: Almighty God and Father in heaven, we praise you that you are holy -- the thrice-holy God. Though your ways are far above our ways, and your glory far exceeds all that you have made, you are pleased to condescend to help and aid your fallen creatures. In Christ, we have been given a sure and steadfast hope knowing that our High Priest has gone through the heavens laboring, serving, and praying for his people. We thank you for the comfort that brings to us pitiful servants of dust. We know that we are unprofitable servants on our best day, yet you are pleased to use us and help us. We confess to you, Father, that we often forget to live each moment to your glory. We easily forget that we were made to honor and adore you in everything that we do. Please forgive us and help us. We thank you for the gracious provision of your Spirit, who guides, instructs, and watches each step we take. We thank you that you direct our paths. Please do so today. Please remember your promises to your people and bless us we ask through Christ our Lord. Amen.

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Prayer: Our God in heaven: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we thank you and praise you for a new day ordained by you and pray that we would use it for your glory. We are thankful that your faithfulness to us is not dependent on our faithfulness to you. You have told us that your mercies are new to us each morning and your faithfulness to us will never end. We are ashamed of how often we wander from your commands. We are accurately described as sheep because we stray from the Good Shepherd of our souls and seek rest in pastures that prove unhelpful to us. We know that your sheep hear your voice and follow you. We know that your voice is heard in your Word. Therefore, Father, please help us to listen carefully to the voice of the Shepherd. Please help us to drink deeply from the well that will never run dry. Grant to us a greater hunger for your Word and a deeper desire to do all that we hear, read, and study. We know that there is nothing we will ever understand if your Holy Spirit does not help us, guide us, and teach us. Please help us and be merciful to us we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.

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All look unto you, O Lord; and you give them their meat in due season; that you give them they gather: you open your hand, and they are filled with all things in abundance (Ps. 104:27.)
O Lord, in whom is the source and inexhaustible fountain of all good things, pour out your blessing upon us, and sanctify to our use the meat and drink which are the gifts of your kindness toward us, that we, using them soberly and frugally as you enjoin, may eat with a pure conscience.
Grant, also, that we may always both with true heartfelt gratitude acknowledge, and with our lips proclaim, you our Father and the giver of all good, and, while enjoying bodily nourishment, aspire with special longing of heart after the bread of your doctrine, by which our souls may be nourished in the hope of eternal life, through Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

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Prayer: Grant almighty God that we, as your redeemed people you have loved from before there was anything made, would be pleased to do all your holy will today. We thank you that your love for us has no end, even as it had no beginning. Each day, that love is demonstrated to us as you guide, protect, lead, and deliver us. As a Good Shepherd, you lead us to those green pastures and those dark valleys. Yet, we have no reason to fear because you are with us. As our Father, you rescued us when we were strangers and aliens -- when we were orphans. It was when we were most miserable in the affliction of our sins that you visited us, setting before us an example that we, too, should be a people who care for the hurting and dying of this world. Forgive us, Father, for being so self-absorbed and consumed with our own lives that we miss those opportunities to show your love to the weak, hurting, and forgotten of our world. Forgive us for neglecting hospitality -- kindness to strangers. Forgive us for not emulating your kindness to others. Please grant us a better understanding of your eternal love moving us to show that love to the outcasts in this world. These things we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.

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