Corporate Worship Prayers

5/2/21

Father God,

Thank you for the privilege to worship you this morning.

You created the universe and created us. You had a plan for us to be with you forever.

But God, we chose another way. We chose the way of this world and it created a separation for us from you. It created an insurmountable chasm that we could not overcome on our own.

But your plan would not be shaken. It was your plan all along to save us, despite our mistakes.

So you sent your own son Jesus to live a life free from the sin that entangles us on this earth. He died the death that we deserved for our sin but that death was only temporary, for 3 days later Jesus rose from the dead, conquering sin for us and making us right with you.

Thank you, God, for making a way.

Please help our hearts be opened to receive your message and your good news today.

5/2/21

Merciful Father, only you can clean our hearts. Only you can give us hearts that want to love others the way you do and so we ask Lord, as we just sang, to make it so. But we know Father, that the process of cleaning and purifying isn't easy or simple. It can be painful and hard that we often avoid this prayer. The prayer that begs you to reveal what lies in our hearts so that we can no longer claim ignorance. God, in your severe mercy, cast your light into the darkest corners of our hearts. For although it feels safe to keep our sin a secret, ultimately it leads to death. Some of us today struggle with anger, and we have severed relationships because of it. Would you unearth what lies under the seed of bitterness and bring about healing? Some of us today have tried countless times to overcome any sort of addiction but never win the battle. Deliver us, Lord. Help us to fully believe that you are greater than any sin that has bound up our hearts. Some of us have come today, simply not believing and trusting you. Open hearts today Lord to taste and see that you are good. We cry out with the Psalmist: Lord, to save us because of your unfailing love! You are glorious. Amen.

5/9/21

Loving God,

You, who spoke and this world was,
Who breathed and this world lived
Who counts the hairs upon our head,
Who sees our thoughts and reads our hearts,
Who loves us more than we deserve,
We bring to you our sacrifice of praise this morning!
Jesus, we confess that we are prone to wander and worry,
We worry about our futures, our grades, our jobs,
We worry about our our safety, our health, our financial security,
and our comfort. We wander about our lives searching for things to quench the
insatiable longing in our hearts that only You can satisfy.
How long will we worship the idols of this world rather than the
One who created all things?
How long will we chase after temporary pleasures rather than
eternal treasures? Forgive us
for our roving hearts and help us to fix our eyes on only you.
God, we give you thanks for your presence with us this morning.
Thank you for sending your Son to die a death that we deserved
so that we may enjoy an eternity with you - free from the suffering
and pain that this world brings.
We pray that you would mold our hearts to be more like yours so that our lives would be a light and love to all those around us.
We ask all of these things in the Name of your beautiful son,
Jesus Christ...
And all of God’s children said together—- Amen.

5/16/21

Almighty God, be glorified here today. Be glorified in our worship, be glorified by your Word and be glorified in our hearts. May our lives reflect the goodness and holiness of your name.

Lord, as we gather here today, we know it is but a glimpse of what we will one day experience. One day we will no longer be bound by our sin and brokenness. We will worship you with a heart that is fully restored and every aspect of our lives will be done with the purpose that we were meant for, to glorify and enjoy you. And each of us yearns for that, whether we acknowledge it or not. Every day we go about our lives tainted by wrong motives and we feel the weight. We do good deeds but with ill intent and we hear the whisper of shame. We gratify our longings with impure desires and it leaves us empty and restless. Forgive us, for even in our best attempts we often still miss the mark of what you have called us to. Help us to realize that we don't need just an example in Jesus, we need a substitute. We need someone to stand in our place with only right motives, only good intent and only pure desires. We need a savior. For it is only there that we find true freedom and rest, bound by the strongholds of grace. Hear our cries to save us from ourselves and let us rejoice in your faithfulness. Amen.

5/23/21

Father, we are so thankful for your unending love. We can’t fathom its size. If we climb the highest mountain, your love is higher. If we dive to the bottom of the deepest sea, your love is deeper. If we stand in the middle of the widest desert, your love is wider. If we fly to the furthest reaches of the universe, your love reaches further.

Yet, even though we know your love is beyond our understanding, we still fall into the trap of thinking that we are unlovable. We battle against our sinful nature on a daily basis and we fall into the trap of temptation over and over and over again and we begin to think that we will never win the war . . . that we can never be forgiven . . . that we can never be loved again.

But how wrong we are, for you knew us before we were ever born. You knew the battles we would fight. You knew the depth of our sin . . . yet you still sent Jesus to die for us, so that we would know the depth of your love.

Father, thank you for saving us from the grip of sin. Thank you for resurrecting our dead hearts and making us alive in you. Thank you for pouring your love into our lives. May your goodness and love fill us up so much that it overflows our cup and pours out into the lives of those around us. Lord, only you can use sinners like us to carry your gospel to the world and for that we thank you. In your name we pray, amen.

5/31/21

Father in Heaven, we thank you and praise you for the joy it is to be your people. To be the sheep of your pasture, safe and secure in your keep. We can walk with such good confidence because we know the Lord our God goes before us and nothing can separate us from your love, yet we somehow conjure every motive to doubt this promise. We're very good at convincing ourselves that the problems of this life will somehow separate us from your love and we impute our times faithlessness to you, like it was you that broke stride, not us. Father, forgive us. Forgive us for doubting your love for us, for doubting that your promises are good and true. Forgive us for taking our eyes off of Christ. And, Spirit, help us to remind ourselves each day that we are loved more deeply than we can possibly comprehend. That you are more near to us than we are to ourselves and the love we have been gifted through Christ is imperishable and untouchable to any assault. Help us to know in the deepest recesses of our soul that this world will throw the kitchen sink at us in order to convince us that our God couldn't possibly love such wretched sinners, but, he does. He really does. What a blessing it is to be your people and we are grateful. It's in the wonderful name of Christ that we have gathered, and in his name we pray, Amen.