Corporate Prayers

5.1.22

Lord, thank you for the wonderful joy it is to gather together to sing and celebrate the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is good news that saves sinners by the work of a perfect and holy Savior: Jesus Christ. It is Christ who redeemed us and it is Christ who continues to be our sure and steady anchor in times of trial and strife. Father, we are exceptionally good at convincing ourselves that in our time of weakness, in our hour of need, we can simply manifest the strength to endure our trials out of thin air. We take our eyes off of our precious Savior and stare into the mirror of ourselves, and no matter how much we hype ourselves up, no matter how many pithy slogans we barrel through, it will never be enough. We need a strength that is beyond our measure. We need a peace beyond our own understanding, and we find neither in ourselves because they exist only in Christ alone. Lord, forgive us for thinking we can simply just look elsewhere. Forgive us for reducing Christ to a mere totem rather than the mighty Savior who conquered sin and death. And Spirit, we pray you help us abide in Christ's deep love for us. Help us to find our strength only in Christ, our peace only in Christ, and to know him and enjoy him forever. It's in the wonderful name of Christ that we have gathered, and in his name we pray, Amen.

5.8.22

Loving God,

We come before your presence this morning in awe of who you are. You are holy and good and so worthy of praise. Your infinite power and majesty is almost more than we can comprehend. Your Word says that “before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting, you are God.”

Lord, we bow our hearts at your feet this morning. We gather together, we sing, we pray and we build one another up as a body of believers. Yet all too soon when we leave this place- even as we are here this morning Lord, we fall short.

JESUS, we confess that our hearts are not always inclined to worship you as they should be; that our first response to trial is not one worthy of your name; and that we continue to hold tightly to sin and patterns that weigh us down and separate us from the freedom that you offer us in your love. Jesus, forgive us. We are so very grateful for your everlasting love, grace and mercy that has made a way for us to be with you forever. It is because of your love for us that our sins have been forgiven. You have told us, from everlasting to everlasting your love is with those who fear you. We have been saved from satan, sin, death and hell and instead are promised eternity in heaven with You. Even on our best days, we could never come close to deserving such extravagant love. But that is who you are. Thank you, Lord.

Spirit, we pray that our praise and our worship would be pleasing to you and that all who would hear your words this morning would know that they are loved with an everlasting love- a love that went to the Cross on their behalf. We love you, Lord. It’s in your name we pray, amen.

5.15.22

Lord, we fall at your feet this morning in awe of your infinite glory. You are holy and worthy of all of our praise. Father, we’ve only seen a sliver of your majesty and power, but it is enough for us to tremble at the thought of being in your presence.

We confess that we have fallen short of your standard of holiness, Lord. Try as we might, we fail time and time again. Every time we think we have conquered sin, it trips us up again. We think we are good people, with good intentions who want to do good things. How quickly forget your word that says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” God, you are the only one who is truly good and empowers us to do good. You are the only one who has conquered sin and death and hell and covers our unrighteousness with the righteousness of your son.

Thank you Lord, thank you. We can never thank you enough for saving us and making a way for us to be with you forever. We are forever grateful for the unconditional love you have shown us through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Father, help our praise be pleasing to you this morning. Help it to be authentic and from a heart that has been changed and called by you. We love you, Lord. In your name we pray, amen.

5.23.22

Lord, we ask that you would hear us now, although we have done nothing to deserve your attention. You simply want to hear from us and answer us because you are good, loving, gracious and kind.

Father, we come here today with burdens and failures that weigh on our hearts. We have been impatient, angry, stubborn, prideful, and selfish. We have not loved one another as you have loved us. Forgive us. illuminate our hearts now to the joy of repentance. Make us a people that are quick to forgive and slow to anger, full of grace and love for one another that we would look more and more like your son, Jesus, so that we can be a blessing among our community, our nation and beyond, sharing the good news and hope that we have in you. Thank you, Jesus. And Spirit, give us ears to hear as we listen to the word today. We praise you. Amen.

5.29.22

Heavenly Father, we thank you for the gift of this gathering - this time when we can gather together and stir one another up in our affections for Jesus Christ and remind one another of the great hope we have in Christ. There are seemingly endless opportunities to despair. There's an enormous amount of suffering to go around; so much so that if you are not personally experiencing tragedy, you know someone who is. It's in our homes, our neighborhoods, our schools, on our screens; it's here in our churches. The suffering is endless and it sometimes drives us to live as though we are without hope. And when we do that, we've taken our eyes off of Christ. Father, forgive us. For all the times when the world has seemed just a little too heavy and we've allowed ourselves to think Jesus couldn't possibly be bigger than it all, forgive us. Because we know he is. We know he has been faithful to us even when we are not faithful to him. We know he understands our suffering, he understands our grief. And we know he has given us a hope that stretches far beyond our suffering, because he covered it with his own. Spirit, help us to remember how bright the light of Christ is on the days when it feels terribly dark. And help us to remember that when we are deep in the valley, Christ is with us. It's in the wonderful name of Christ that we have gathered, and in his name we pray, Amen.