Posted on

This age is passing away

Our blessed Father in heaven, forgive our sins. Keep us from sinning. Help us overcome temptation. We rejoice in the remission of all our transgressions. Help us to live worthily of the gospel. We want to be righteous people. The gift of Christ’s sacrifice is precious to us. Praise to you for your grace.

Let our souls rest in you. Keep the worries of the world at bay. Remind us that you are our guarantee and protection of security in this world. Show us the ephemeral nature of this age. It is passing away. All that it contains will be destroyed. So we want to trust in you and find our peace in your Son.

We pray for our governing authorities. May they rule fairly. Let us live in peace and quietness. May our society be more just. We are grateful for the justice of the final day and for the mercy you extend to us. In the present, we ask that we may live in security and confidence, thanks to the proper actions of government.

Build up your church. Let us place upon it its proper value. Let us see in it the expression of your rule. Help us to dedicate ourselves to your people. Make the body of Christ a priority for us. Show us ways to do good, especially to those of the family of faith. Thank you for giving us a loving community of saints, among whom we may grow, learn to serve, and develop our hope.

Give us a word of encouragement to speak to the tired and weary. Show us how to admonish and correct with love and tenderness. Teach us to love sincerely and earnestly. Restore in us your image, in Christ, that we might, with patience and strength, be people who care and share. Above all, help us to share the message of salvation.

May you be glorified among us and in the world, as we live by the power of your Spirit and walk in the ways of your commandment.

—•••—

Please share this prayer with others. Invite them to say amen. Send the link by email and share it on social media. Please subscribe and join us regularly in these prayers.

Posted on

Where Joy Descends Like Rain

O Lord, to walk before you I’m content,
Where peace flowers along the rocky way,
Where joy descends like rain to liven the heart,
And love perfumes the air with heaven’s scent.

Let not the flesh make us, your saints, lose sight,
Keep feet from stepping aside, in mud and clay,
From us let not the Spirit’s breath depart,
Permit us to walk under your warming light.

Posted on

Keep us from the viper’s bite

Heavenly Father, praise belongs to you, and power and glory. Thank you for this fine day. Bless us as we go about our tasks. Protect our family from harm. Forgive us our empty words and senseless acts. Make us aware of your presence.

Give us peace and cause our government officials to work for the benefit of society, providing security and justice to all. Wake people up to your commandments. Bring honesty and fairness to transactions and interactions among people. Thank you for the progress made to live in a mutually beneficial society. Let civil and friendly discourse prevail. May Christians lead the way in blessing when we are cursed.

Show us how to love our family in Christ. Help us to give them priority, even above our physical families. Make our love for them sincere, earnest and intense. Give us openness, transparency, and honesty among us. Let truth prevail, and not lying, as we put on Christ and assume your image according to true knowledge.

Give us patience. Let us learn from life’s detours. Keep us from the viper’s bite! Teach us gratitude, that we be not impoverished by our blindness. Give us new eyes in Jesus Christ.

Posted on

The Night Is Gone

The night is gone, the day has dawned,
And God smiles on his chosen people;
Be the love of Christ our strength and bond:
When trials assail, let hearts be peaceful.

Posted on

Visions of heaven and peace in our country

Our Father in Heaven, let the words of Scripture leap from the page into the deepest recesses of my heart, with your power recreating life and rearranging priorities, purifying motivations and replacing worldly thoughts with visions of heaven and your divine love.

At the same time, we pray for peace in our country. May violence be contained. May the economy permit productive activity and lives of prosperity. May justice prevail within society. May corruption be rooted out. May local and national leaders rise who are honest and who sincerely work for the security and peace of its citizens.

Make us promoters of peace and proclaimers of eternal hope.

Posted on

You are my victory

Lord God, give me deep peace in spirit and strength in body. Let me not fear, but trust deeply in you to provide and protect. Redirect my vision outward, to the needs of others, to the salvation of many, to the edification of the saints, to the encouragement and love of family.

You are my light and my salvation. You give me confidence for my task. You secure my feet along the way. You are my victory.

So I seek your face. I desire your presence. I need your love. Without you I have nothing and I am nothing.

You are to be praised for pulling us all out of the fire, for giving us new life, for rescuing us from the evil one. You put us in a wide place, brought us to security, placed us where we may grow and serve and love.

You know, O Lord, our failures and fears. You see our weaknesses. Have pity on us, O God, that we, in following the Christ, might become like him. Perfect us for your eternal fellowship. Make us strong in our weakness. Bring forth fruit from our efforts to serve others. Bless us that we might be a blessing.

In you I rest, O Lord. In you I am comforted.

By Jesus Christ who brought us life, amen.

Posted on

Everything we want

Father, everything we want to see happen in this world — justice, peace, prosperity, joy, love — is contained in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

We desire and pray for a peaceful and and quiet life in our respective cities and countries. We pray that persecution, when it comes, may not cause us to question our faith.

Let our constancy be firm, our kindness always evident, our love unwavering in the face of hatred, meanness, and evil.

Let no one rob us of our joy in Christ.

Posted on

A Prayer for Peace

We pray for peace, and in our prayer we know
That only Christ can give it — To him we go,
To him we point when others moan and sigh
And want the world to cease its conflicts, try
As it might in human councils. Lord, it takes
Conversion — how well we know — to put the brakes
On man’s agression. Use us as your agents
Of reconciliation, give us patience
To speak and point to Jesus as the way —
To call for our repentance, for comes the day
Of judgment, when every soul’s deep thought is bared
For your appraisal — when only the saints prepared
For the end will enter that city’s calm to share,
When we’ll experience the peace of answered prayer.

Posted on

Where Hatred Screams

Where hatred screams, let peace prevail,
Where strife strikes blows, let love not fail;
Let faith hold fast and pass the test,
May we in hope believe the best.

Posted on

Within Us Reign

Give us peace, O God, in life and death,
In work and rest, among the frenzied crowds;
Within us reign, our Lord, while we have breath,
While we await your coming in the clouds.

—JRMatheny