The following prayer is given without attribution as it is a collaboration of more than one author:
Great God of all light, wisdom, glory, and power, we come to you this morning believing that you are good, and forgiving, and abounding in steadfast love to everyone who calls on you. You are a God gracious and full of compassion, long suffering, mercy and truth. In the middle of our fallen world, in the darkness of our own trials, and over every vexing problem of life, you reign and work as the Almighty and Everlasting God.
We as your Church come to you now as our Father, as you welcome us in your Son, the One whom you have given to be our light and our salvation. We know our guilty hearts, so we marvel that you count us as righteous in your sight because of our union with Christ. Not only as we pray, but as we live each day, you see us as saints, set apart in our Savior, in dwelt by the Spirit to live for our Savior. We thank you for your mercy, for your kindness, and for the joy of our Savior, which he seeks to perfect in us as his beloved friends, his brothers and sisters in the Spirit.
Yet we all know too well that we have not lived in ways that please you. We have not answered the call of our birth under your covenant love, or our baptism into your triune name. We have heard your Word, but we have forgotten it day after day. We profess our confidence in your Providence, but we have been easily angered by unexpected inconveniences. We dream of walking by the Spirit, but we wake up, and once again we gratify the desires of the flesh.
Oh, Father, forgive us, and remake us into the image of your Son, who suffered according to your will and entrusted his soul to you while doing good. Where frustration and confusion have taken hold, dispel it. Revive in every one of us here true faith in Christ, and stir in every one of us a burning zeal for heaven and for Christ’s glory. As we face physical pain, or mental anguish, or hurt relationships, or simply the consequences of our own foolish choices, pour out your grace on us! Let the Spirit of Christ lead us back to your Word — to believe it –, back to quiet prayer — to unburden ourselves to you — and back to Christ — to find him to be All Sufficient for us. We know that you are pleased to do this, because such grace to us reveals your glory, and you are making your Church into a glorious reflection of your being.
Father, we ask all of this. Dare we ask more? We pray that you would remove your disciplining hand from us only when you complete your work. We pray for you to make your Church, even our Church, a place where love informs action, where joy runs deep, where peaceful hearts produce patient people. Will you give us the pleasure of seeing kindness among Christian children? Will you let us see a day where the pursuit of true godliness is the mark of our young men and women, where faithfulness is the hallmark of our marriages, where gentleness and self-control are the features of our parents, and of our pastors?
Let our friends and families, our neighbors and strangers — let all the ends of the earth! — see the salvation of our God. To that end, we pray for the churches in our midst. We pray for the churches in every place where the gospel is preached, and even where the gospel has been lost.
We come to you with these requests, because there is no one else who can work these wonders that we long to see. Do it because you will soon bring us into the splendor of heaven, and we wish to see a bit of heaven now. Above all, hear us and answer us for your name’s sake, as we confess you as our one and eternal God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, in whose name we pray, AMEN.
