Many Ways, One Way
Let’s ask for the Lord’s help one more time. Our gracious heavenly Father, we are hard of hearing; give us ears to listen. We are slow to perceive; give us minds to understand. We are reluctant to follow; give us wills to obey. We need Your help. We ask for it in Jesus’ name. Amen….
An Example and an Exhortation
Father, as we come to Your Word we are mindful, and if we are not mindful, we should be, that our time will be wasted effort, wasted effort in speaking, wasted effort in listening, if You do not send your Holy Spirit to anoint the preaching of Your Word and to anoint the ears of…
The Pillars of Pastoral Ministry
We trust, Lord, that has been our prayer, that You would show us Christ, help us to meet Him in the pages of the Word that His Spirit has inspired. We pray that we would see Him more and more in our lives, reflected in the character of this church. We pray that You would…
Sent Out To Speak
O Lord, You spoke at creation, You spoke at the cross, You have spoken by the prophets, and in these last days You have spoken to us by Your Son, and so we ask that You would continue to speak through Your Son, by the Word which His Spirit inspired. Give us ears to hear,…
The Church of Earnest Prayer
O Father in heaven, indeed Your Son is worthy, worthy of all of our glory, majesty, power, praise, all of our attention, all of our obedience, all that we have to give of our gifts of our time, of our talent, our treasure, our lives, our children, our relationships. We pray, O Lord, that You…
Welcome to the Family
Out of our bondage and sorrow and night, Jesus, we come, Jesus, we come. Into Thy freedom gladness and light, Jesus, we come to thee. Out of our sickness into Thy health, out of our wanting and into Thy wealth, out of our sin and into Thy self, Jesus, we come to thee. We come…
Good News for “Good” People
We trust, O Lord, that those words have not passed by our lips in an unthinking or unfeeling way. May they be the cry of our heart, that though our sins are many, and they are many, sins of omission, sins of commission, that Your mercy would be more. And so we come now, standing…
The Word and Wisdom
O Lord, we come not simply because it says “prayer of illumination” in the bulletin and this is how sermons start, we come because we need Your help. And so we pray, come, Holy Spirit, come, heavenly dove, with all Your quickening powers, kindle a flame of sacred love in these cold hearts of ours….
The Grace of Giving
Our gracious heavenly Father, we ask now for Your blessing as we come to Your Word, that I might decrease and Christ would increase, that You would give us ears to hear that we might listen attentively and learn, and that by Your grace we would be changed and transformed as Your disciples. We pray…