This morning, we’re going to have a time of confession; a time in which we acknowledge our sins before the Lord and agree with what God has said regarding our sin. We admit that we have fallen short and that through Christ he forgives us. Please bow with me now in prayer.
Father in heaven – we acknowledge that you are the high and mighty God; that there is none like you. You are perfect, Lord, in all of your characteristics; you do not fall short in any of your attributes, God. You are majestic in all of your holiness. As the seraphim and cherubim surround you on your throne, they acknowledge that you are the thrice holy God. There is none on earth like you; none as perfect and beautiful and amazing as you are.
Altogether we are unrighteous; we fall short of your glory and magnificence. Even in our striving we have failed to keep your commandments. We have loved and cherished and worshipped other gods before you. We have even created images before which we have bowed down to worship; we have preferred ourselves over our own family members; we have taken your name in vain; we have, though not with our actions but with our intent and our heart, we have murdered each other as we have hated our brothers and sisters; we have lusted for things which do not belong to us, and we have coveted things that do not belong to us. So altogether, Lord, we are unworthy and fall short of your glory.
So, Lord, we do not boast on our own behalf, we simply stand as sinners in need of your mercy; your great, magnificent and steadfast love. We know that you will remove our sins as far away from us as the East is from the West. Even though we are dyed crimson in the guilt of our transgressions that you will purify us and purge us and make us clean because of the perfect blood of your Son. In His great and magnificent work we boast, glorying in the cross and glorying in the substitution of our savior; that he has taken our place; that he has borne our transgressions, and that in Him we are free.
So we rejoice, Lord, in fact, that there is no longer any condemnation for us; for those who are in Christ Jesus. You have saved us from the body of sin and death, and that you have given us new life in your Spirit. We ask that you would help us to walk in the power of your Spirit and not in the power of our flesh. That we would no longer look to ourselves for the effort that it takes to follow and obey you, but that we would look to you and wait for you to work in our hearts, to motivate us and help us to walk in obedience.
We thank you, Lord, for the great news of our forgiveness! And we boast in our Lord Jesus
Christ.
Lord, we think of those who have needs in our congregation here. We want to lift up to you the two men that we’ve been praying for. For *** and his recent diagnosis of prostate cancer, I believe he had surgery this past week and we don’t know the results of that, but we ask that you would continue to be at work in his life as he is near and dear to some here, and we pray that you would heal him and we ask for his recovery to be smooth. We ask that the doctors, as they prescribe treatment, that those efforts would continue to be successful. We ask also for *** and pray that you would lift them up and make sure that they are aware of your constant presence and grace for them to endure this trial. Help them to bear it well; to trust in you together. May they be working mutually to encourage each other. May you help them to lift each other up and build each other up and to face this with joy even though it is something that is unexpected. So please be encouraging them and helping them to deal with the difficulty that they’re facing.
Father, we thank you for those who are here. They have purposed to come together with other believers and decided to commit themselves to you and the people here; to be a part of this small community of faith. We ask that you would help everybody here to receive what it is that they need today, whether it be a word of encouragement or rebuke, or maybe just a loving hug; we ask that you be working through this body to build each other up. That we would endeavor to speak the truth to one another in love and strive to see each person here reach that full maturity in Christ; that we would altogether become the one new man you have created us in Christ Jesus to be.
So we ask for your grace, Lord, to encourage us to do this very thing, and we ask that you be our constant source of help as we strive to be obedient to you. Help those who are hurting; help those and encourage those who are discouraged today and we pray that you would be doing a work in our lives.
Father, we thank you for your word; your word that as we read, is a powerful word that will accomplish that for which you have sent it out. We pray that we would all be people who cherish the bible; that we would daily, weekly, bi-weekly, whatever it may be; that we would use the times and places and people in our lives as you have willed to us to do so, to be together in your word, and that we would seek to understand what you have revealed; that we would treasure your word more than anything else; more than any other book, however popular it might be; that we would really dig into your word and receive with joy and gratefulness.
We ask, Lord, for your grace to be upon us now as we continue in worship of you; as we sing your praise, and as we seek to hear from your word. Amen.
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