Pastoral Prayer
Almighty God, we praise you for you are great. There is none like you, O Lord; you are great, and your name is great in might. (Jeremiah 10:6, ESV) We are reminded of your greatness all through your Word. Heavenly Father, you revealed your greatness before there could be witnesses when you called into being out of nothing all that is. Jesus Christ, you walked on this earth as man, but you also were God, and so displayed your greatness by healing the sick, giving sight to the blind, even raising the dead. Holy Spirit, you reveal your greatness even today as you give spiritual sight and spiritual life to men and women around this world who are helpless apart from you. God in three persons we praise you for your astounding, far-reaching greatness that sets you apart from us and demands our worship.
We confess though that despite your greatness, we too often worship small things. Refusing to lift our eyes to heaven, we see greatness in the comforts of this life. We chase whole-heartedly after success without stopping to question what we’ll truly have if we apprehend it. We wallow in leisure as if these lives are unending, pushing away the reality that someday, soon, our lives, like a vapor, will be gone. We confess that we pervert the responsibilities you give us, working so hard that we forget you are our master, lavishing so much love on our children that there is none left for our heavenly father, serving our spouse so fully we neglect our duties as a part of the church, the bride of Christ. Called to mind, the carelessness with which we live is unbearable. And so, we cry out for your forgiveness.
And we thank you that you hear our cry. You have promised to “be merciful toward [our] iniquities, and . . . remember [our] sins no more.” (Hebrews 8:12, ESV) We thank you Lord that we are recipients of your great mercy and of your great love. We thank you that your care for us extends to and is perfectly sufficient for our daily needs in this life.
And because you instruct us to, we dare to come before you asking for more. We ask boldly, knowing that in Christ you have made us to be and receive us as your children. But we also ask humbly, understanding that your ways are beyond our finding out. Our confidence is in you.
We pray for those with authority over us because we understand them to have been given authority from you for our good. We pray specifically for those in the legislative branch. We pray that members of the House and of the Senate would enact laws that would further the interests of justice because you are perfectly just. We pray that their work would protect the vulnerable in this land from being taken advantage of because they are made in your image. We pray that you would grant them wisdom in their work for the benefit of all you have placed under them.
We pray also, Lord, for students who are preparing to enter or return to colleges and universities around this country. We pray that many will encounter your truth for the first time through the diligent witness of believing classmates. We pray that your gospel would spread to new places in the world as you bring young men and women from countries with no gospel witness to study here. Help us, through the American Friends program, and others to faithfully plant gospel seeds and we pray that you will grow them to fruition for your own sake.
We pray this evening for our brothers and sisters in Malaysia. Lord, give them grace to persist in their faith in the face of opposition and intimidation. We pray that you would provide the courage and the resources for them to take your gospel to the dozens of people groups in that country that lack any witness to your truth. By your Spirit, help them to live lives of such godliness and holiness that their profession of faith in you is judged credible, attractive, even desirable by many who oppose them. Bring many to yourself through them, we pray.
Finally, we pray for ourselves. As we prepare to give to you, we pray that it would be done with joyful hearts. We pray that you would make our meager gifts to be greatly multiplied in your economy. Then quiet our fears and our concerns. As we turn to your Word may it command our full attention. Help us to listen when you speak, we pray. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
