God forgive our failure

God forgive our failure to speak to every person we meet about the gospel.

God forgive our lack of godliness and holiness and our love for the present world.

God forgive our selfish ambition and our pursuit of carnal passions.

God forgive our brotherly love grown cold.

God forgive our neglect of prayer and the Word.

God forgive our erratic discipleship, wobbling back and forth between submission to the Lord and our own stubborn wills.

God give us repentance from our willful ways, faith to follow in the darkest days, discipline to forge ahead, courage to speak truth and challenge error, love and fear for your holy name, devotion to the way of life eternal.

The prayer you taught us

Oh, Lord, the prayer you taught us to pray covers the bases. We direct our hearts and thoughts to you as he who dwells in heaven and is the source of all that is good. Your relationship to us as Father determines how we regard every other relationship. The deep reverence for your name awakens in us a corresponding respect for all you have done, for the life you place in others, and for the purpose you have given us here on earth.

That purpose is wrapped up in the kingdom, in your powerful and gracious rule over mankind. May more and more people acknowledge you. Help us to work so that others may confess you.

When they do, they, like we, will fulfill your will. What we want is not important. We have so little basis for judging what is good and right and beneficial. Our emotions get in the way. Our desires drive us far from the ultimate good. We confess our limitations. We want what you want, O Lord. Make your will predominate, just as angels and spiritual beings do your will without question or doubt in the heavenly realms.

It’s a hard world down here, while all seems to go smoothly up there. We work hard, money is tight, budgets get out of control. We worry about paying bills, at the same time that we spend on unnecessary items. How we waste our resources! In all that material confusion and weakness, Father, help us to depend upon you to provide for our needs. You always have. We’ve never gone hungry. We’ve always had clothes to wear. Give us control of our income. Provide us with work of dignity and sufficiency. Continue reading “The prayer you taught us”

Why are you sad?

Luke 24.13-17

  1. When Jesus conquered death?
  2. When God works providentially in your life?
  3. When God has made forgiveness available to you?

—Bobby Cloyd, Keltonburg TN congregation

Authority to forgive

Father, we are grateful that you know our deepest need and that Jesus has power and authority on earth to forgive our sins.

We are grateful that he comes to us and calls us to follow him, for we are sick people in need of a doctor.

Lord, we are grateful to devote ourselves to prayer and fasting while we wait for the powerful coming of our Savior from heaven.

We are grateful that the Christ is among us and willing to be touched with our petitions of pain and grief.

Sovereign God, we are grateful that our faith brings healing and that the mercy of Christ restores our senses.

We are grateful for his compassion that drives him to all the towns and cities and ask that you send workers into his harvest.

Based on Matthew 9.

Praise for every good thing that exists

God of heaven, you are to be praised for every good thing that exists, for you are good and in power bring blessing to our lives.

We thank you for your abundant mercy that spills over from us to others who also, like us, need your compassion.

Let not our failings hurt the progress of the gospel. Forgive us and place us in the work that pleases you.

Your will is to save as many as possible. Let this be our life objective.

Strengthen us against temptation, and give us joy in the task ahead.

We thank you for daily bread and daily life in Christ.

Blessed be the God and Savior of the saints across the earth! Let all creation raise its voice in praise to you!

We Judge Our Neighbor

Forgive us, O God, we judge our neighbor,
When we ourselves are guilty, too;
Instead of repentance, that vigorous labor,
We condemn the wrong that others do.

You Cramped Our Style

We paint ourselves into a corner, Lord,
And then complain that you have cramped our style.
Aren’t we cute? And cheeky? And perverse?—
Our great transgressions go from bad to worse.
We fall upon our faces, Lord, defiled—
The brush of sin we can ill afford.

Grateful to be called

What a blessing to be in your presence, heavenly Father! What security and peace we feel to walk before you.

Even to the unjust you show yourself benevolent. How much more do you care for and show concern for your righteous people!

Many people are concerned with freedom and privacy today. And even though they are legitimate concerns in the nations, we are grateful to be free in the way that really matters.

Many today run after possessions. We give thanks that we have what can never be taken away from us.

Many today seek pleasures. We are thankful for the profound joy of following Christ and having our separating sins removed.

Many today seek a better place to live, even moving to other countries in search of improved conditions. We praise you that we have been transferred from dark and evil powers into the kingdom of the Son whom you love.

Many want to change jobs. We are profoundly grateful to be called to the greatest work of all, that of explaining to those who are far away what you have done in Christ to reconcile us to yourself.

The alternative to freezing to death in our loneliness

The German philosopher Schopenhauer compared the human race to a bunch of porcupines huddling together on a cold winter’s night. He said,

“The colder it gets outside, the more we huddle together for warmth; but the closer we get to one another, the more we hurt one another with our sharp quills. And in the lonely night of earth’s winter eventually we begin to drift apart and wander out on our own and freeze to death in our loneliness.”

Christ has given us an alternative: to forgive each other for the pokes we receive. That allows us to stay together and stay warm.

Wayne Brouwer, via Glenn Hitchcock’s “Thoughts for the Day to Brighten Your Day

Our failures a reason to plow ahead

Our Father who reigns from heaven, we try and fail; we make the effort and fall short; in spite of doing our best, we stumble and leave so much undone.

Help us to keep from making our failures a reason for quitting.

Make us see that our failures are even more reason to plow ahead in the faith, to stubbornly strive for the Kingdom, to take the next step, and the next, and the next.

We ask forgiveness, O Lord, for our sins; we need the cleansing that only Jesus’ blood can provide; we confess our need.

Shore up our weak points; strengthen our fallen hands; put a bounce back in our step.

Let your joy return to us. Settle your peace upon us. Surround us with your love, so that it may irradiate outward to all.

Thank you for your faithfulness to your people.