Pastoral Prayer November 15, 2020

Everlasting Father, we gather this morning to exalt Your great name in joyful worship. You are indeed our Redeemer, our Defender, our Saviour and our King. In Your infinite mercy and kindness, You have seen fit to love us with an immeasurable love. Because of Your great love, the Word became flesh and lived among us. He taught us in Word and by example, showed his love for us through acts of service, humbly submitted to Your will, and endured Your silence … all for us. All this so that we should not suffer the condemnation that our rebellion against You so rightly deserves. It is certainly in Christ alone that our hope rests. He is the cornerstone of our salvation, a never-ending source of life, strength, comfort and assurance. Because of Your great love for us, we are now reconciled with You through Christ, and can enjoy the privilege of being called Your sons and daughters.

We joy in the fact that You are a God who is not silent, neither are You distant. You drew near to us in the form of a man, our Lord and Saviour Christ Jesus. He was acquainted with sorrow and grief. He came to inaugurate Your kingdom, and to begin restoring all things. There will come a day when He will return in glory – the old will pass away, and the new will take its place. Then there will be no more pain, no more weeping, no more sorrow, no more brokenness. Lord, we long for that day to come!

As we live in anticipation of that coming day, help us to trust in Your goodness and in Your sovereignty over all things. You are a God who ultimately will not withhold justice. Thank You that in Your loving kindness, You have shown mercy to those of us who place their trust in You. We ask that You comfort those among us that suffer. We pray that You would use Your church here in Haddon to show compassion and hope to a hurting world lost in darkness and sin.

We confess our sin to You Father. We so easily become discouraged. We become lazy and rebellious and many of our days are spent without any communication with You through the Word and prayer. Cleanse us Father we pray and empower us, each one, to be radically obedient to Your revealed will.

May our hope and trust find true rest in Christ alone. May He be an anchor in the midst of pain, doubt, suffering and hardship. Thank You for reminding us this morning that as we gather, we do not gather alone, but rather in community. By the power of the Holy Spirit, kindle a new affection in our Hearts for one another. Help us to bear one another’s burdens, to humbly and gently speak the truth to one another with love, to graciously and selflessly serve one another, to love one another the way You have so lavishly loved us. Empower us to glorify Christ even in the midst of our circumstances, and that in doing so a world in desperate need might be drawn to You.

Thank You, Father, for making Yourself known to us, for beginning a conversation with us through Your Word. We pray this morning that through our worship and preaching You would rekindle our hunger for Your Word. Through the power of Your indwelling Spirit, make our Hearts’ desires to be conformed evermore to Your desires for us.

We pray this in Christ’s name and for His glory, amen.