Prayers

Grateful for How God Made Us

3 Sep , 2016  

Join me in bowing before our God in gratitude that we can speak directly and personally to Him. He is our loving Father, so we can embrace Him boldly, but respectfully.

God is Magnificent

Holy LORD God, How magnificent You are. Your majesty is past our finding out. Your resplendent glory fills Your Kingdom. You are the Sovereign Lord of all peoples—believers and unbelievers alike. At Your desire we live and we die. At Your commend our lives are blessed or they are cursed.

Nothing is beyond your knowledge or power. Nothing is beneath Your notice. You have placed perfect law to govern the Universe. Everything works in the finest precision. You built everything that exists on the foundation of atoms. In different molecular structure they form rocks, plants and animals.

God Created Us

Into one-third of Your creation you added sentience, the ability of know, to flee from danger, the instincts that make life possible. You imbued the higher animals with the ability to calculate to emote and play. You have inserted life into two thirds of your creation—plants and animals. You order our lives, our growth, our fruiting, our reproduction and our deaths. You created us interdependent. All life uses other life to continue living.

You selected mankind to be the apex of your creation. Wonder of wonders, You implanted in us Your image, giving us conscience, ability to love, ability to create, and most importantly that ability to recognize You and accept Your love and return it to You.

God Made Us for a Purpose

Almighty God, how glorious is Your creation. How marvelous is our part in it. You have made believers joint heirs with Your Son, so that we could work with You in fulfilling Your Purpose in and for this world.

We praise and glorify Your Presence. Hallelujah Our Grand and Holy Father. Hallelujah, Our loving Savior. Hallelujah, our blessed Guide to Jesus. We are deeply grateful. Amen. Maranatha!

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Prayers

While We Were Still Sinners

22 Aug , 2016  

March 3, 2013

But God proves His love for us in this:While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.   (Romans 5:8)

Pray as the Holy Spirit Leads You

First, we will pray for those we love. And then we will glorify God and present ourselves humbly before Him.

Personal Prayer

These are the words of The Revelation to St. John and the word of God.

The four living creatures, having each one of them six wings, are full of eyes round about and within: and they have no rest day and night, saying, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come.”

And when the living creatures shall give glory and honor and thanks to him that sitteth on the throne, to him that liveth for ever and ever, the four and twenty elders shall fall down before him that sitteth on the throne, and shall worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and shall cast their crowns before the throne, saying,

“Worthy art thou, our Lord and our God, to receive the glory and the honor and the power: for thou didst create all things, and because of thy will they are, and were created”.   (Revelation 4:8-11)

 

“And I saw, and I heard a voice of many angels round about the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; saying with a great voice, ‘Worthy is the Lamb that hath been slain to receive the power, and riches, and wisdom, and might and honor, and glory, and blessing’.

And every created thing which is in the heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and on the sea, and all things are in them, heard I saying, ‘Unto him that sitteth on the throne, and unto the Lamb, be the blessing, and the honor, and the glory, and the dominion, for ever and ever’.    (Revelation 5:11-13)

 

“And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunders, saying, ‘Hallelujah: for the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigneth.  Let us rejoice and be exceeding glad, and let us give the glory unto him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready’.

And it was given unto her that she should array herself in fine linen, bright and pure: for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.

And he saith unto me, ‘Write, Blessed are they that are bidden to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’ And he saith unto me, ‘These are true words of God’.”   (Revelation 19:6-9)

All creation proclaims Your glory.  Seraphim, Cherubim, Archangels, Angels, Patriarchs, Martyrs and myriads of the Redeemed all join in a host of praise.

Almighty Lord God we are like the centurion, who desired You to heal his servant, but declared, “I am not worthy that You should come under my roof, speak Your word only and my servant shall be healed.”

We are not worthy to join that host in giving You glory. We are lost in sin. Our lives are too much our own because we have not loved you with our whole hearts, souls and bodies. We have too often closed our eyes to sin to pursue our own pleasures. We like Isaiah, if we were honest with ourselves, would cry out in Your Holy Presence, “Woe is me! I am undone! I have unclean lips and I live in a society of unclean lips!”

Prayer of Contrition

Now we will glorify God and present ourselves humbly before Him.

Personal Prayer

Nevertheless, our Savior, Your love for us exceeds all other love and breaks all bonds. While we were yet sinners you died for us. You shed Your precious blood to cleanse us from sin and all unrighteousness. You wiped the slate clean for all of us. And not being content with that, You imputed Your Righteousness to us. Now when the Father’s holy eyes fall upon us they see not our nakedness, but the righteousness of Christ. We are accepted in the beloved. We are adopted into Your family–sons and daughters of Yahweh Elohim Sabaoth, The Lord God of Hosts.

Prayer of Thanksgiving

Personal Prayer

Because of Your love and sacrifice, You have declared us worthy to join that magnificent throng. And having been cleansed, like Isaiah, You confront us with a call to ministry. Make us not of blind eyes, nor of deaf ears, nor of tongue-tied speech, but instead give us quick-hearing hearts and instantly obedient spirits and loud, clear voices to proclaim Your truth. Recognizing we are unworthy to carry Your glorious message, give us holy boldness to make Your name known to our world.

Personal Prayer

As we join together in the prayer our Lord taught us, let us reconsecrate our hearts to His service.

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name.
Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, for ever and ever.

Amen

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Prayers

Faith is God’s Gift

7 Aug , 2016  

April 15, 2012

Faith in Jesus

After Jesus’ entry into Capernaum, a Captain came to Him, and entreated Him. “Sir,” he said, “my servant at home is lying ill with paralysis, and is suffering great pain.” “I will come and cure him,” said Jesus.

“Sir,” replied the Captain, “I am not a fit person to receive you under my roof: merely say the word, and my servant will be cured. For I myself am also under authority, and have soldiers under me. To one I say ‘Go,’ and he goes, to another ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my slave ‘Do this or that,’ and he does it.”

Jesus listened to this reply, and was astonished, and said to the people following Him, “I solemnly tell you that in no Israelite have I found faith as great as this. And I tell you that many will come from the east and from the west and will recline at table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of the Heavens, while the natural heirs of the Kingdom will be driven out into the darkness outside: there will be the weeping aloud and the gnashing of teeth.”

And Jesus said to the Captain, “Go, and just as you have believed, so be it for you.” And the servant recovered precisely at that time.  (Matthew 8:5-13) (MSNT)

Prayer for Faith

Holy Father, It is eye opening to realize that faith is both a manifestation within our hearts of the Holy Spirit and it is a fruit that grows within us by Your Spirit.

Precious Jesus, You imparted faith to each one of us and sent the Holy Spirit to quicken in us the faith to believe that not only are You real, but You love us.

Holy Spirit, no one of us can believe in Your reality, except by the faith that You instilled in our hearts to respond to Your invitation to love You.

Gracious God, our desire is to show Your glory to the world, to give people a taste of what Your faith can do in and through a believer, so that those who witness our lives will hunger and thirst after You.

Loving Savior, fill us with a holy covetousness to yearn for more of You, and expect by faith to be empowered in serving You and those who need You.

Spirit of God, embolden us to have faith to believe that we can do greater things than Jesus did so that we can be markedly different from those who are worldly.

Hallelujah, What a glorious God we serve!

Now stir up Your faith in our hearts as we pray for those in need in our Fellowship and among our families and friends.

AMEN

Faith Offerings

In faith, LORD, we present You with our offerings. We fully acknowledge that this money comes from you. Without Your generosity to us we would have nothing to tithe; therefore in gratitude for the faith to believe and for Your grace given to us we present this portion of Your bounty.

In the name of our Gracious Savior we pray.

AMEN

Prayers

Deliver Us from our Enemies

1 Aug , 2016  

October 26, 2014

Then the people of Israel began once again to worship other gods, and once again the Lord let their enemies harass them. This time it was by the people of Midian, for seven years. The Midianites were so cruel that the Israelis took to the mountains, living in caves and dens. When they planted their seed, marauders from Midian, Amalek, and other neighboring nations came and destroyed their crops and plundered the countryside as far away as Gaza, leaving nothing to eat and taking away all their sheep, oxen, and donkeys. These enemy hordes arrived on droves of camels too numerous to count and stayed until the land was completely stripped and devastated. So Israel was reduced to abject poverty because of the Midianites. Then at last the people of Israel began to cry out to the Lord for help.   (Judges 6:1-7)

O Lord, deliver me from evil men. Preserve me from the violent, who plot and stir up trouble all day long. Their words sting like poisonous snakes. Keep me out of their power. Preserve me from their violence, for they are plotting against me. These proud men have set a trap to catch me, a noose to yank me up and leave me dangling in the air; they wait in ambush with a net to throw over and hold me helpless in its meshes.

O Jehovah, my Lord and Savior, my God and my shield—hear me as I pray! Don’t let these wicked men succeed; don’t let them prosper and be proud.  (Psalms 140:1-8)

Please Pray with me

O God our Father, our enemies hate us. They have sworn in their wrath to destroy our nation. Their harassing persecution of believers has turned to grotesque murder. Our brothers and sisters now taste the evil that the enemy of our souls vomits out.

We can see what is coming to our nation. You have said in your Word that our compatriots will turn against us. They will deliver us to the slaughterer and think they are serving a god.

While we still live in peace and safety, open our hearts to those who are living in terror from these implacable evildoers. Give us the burden to raise our prayers daily on their behalf. Now, we implore You, Almighty God to spare our brothers and sisters in Syria, in Iraq, in Iran, in Turkey, in Jordan, in Egypt, in Ethiopia in Libya, in Sudan, in Mali, in Tanzania, in Indonesia,

Please Pray for our Brothers and Sisters

Offer your petitions for others and your requests for your family, friends and neighbors

Personal Prayer

In spite of the evil and terror in the World our Savior is triumphant. It sometimes does not seem so. Nevertheless, God is omnipotent and He is in control. Even those tortured and slain for their testimony of faith in Jesus, even they have the Savior that loves them and has them and us in the eternal security of His hands. No one can pluck any of us out of His hands.

Lift up your hearts in giving thanks to our God for His love for all His children

Personal Prayer

Join with me now in offering the prayer that our Lord Jesus taught us, saying

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name.
Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, for ever and ever.

Amen

Prayers

Jehovah Jireh

19 Jul , 2016  

September 1, 2013

Jehovah Jireh, God will provide

The Lord will bless your towns and your fields.
The Lord will bless you with many children, with abundant crops, and with many cattle and sheep.
The Lord will bless your grain crops and the food you prepare from them.
The Lord will bless everything you do.
The Lord will defeat your enemies when they attack you. They will attack from one direction, but they will run from you in all directions.
The Lord your God will bless your work and fill your barns with grain. He will bless you in the land that he is giving you.
If you obey the Lord your God and do everything he commands, he will make you his own people, as he has promised. (Deuteronomy 28:3-9)

 

But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, ‘Abraham, Abraham!’
He answered, ‘Yes, here I am.’
‘Don’t hurt the boy or do anything to him,’ he said. ‘Now I know that you honor and obey God, because you have not kept back your only son from him.’
Abraham looked around and saw a ram caught in a bush by its horns. He went and got it and offered it as a burnt offering instead of his son. Abraham named that place ‘The Lord Provides.’ And even today people say, ‘On the Lord’s mountain he provides.’
The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time, ‘I make a vow by my own name—the Lord is speaking—that I will richly bless you. Because you did this and did not keep back your only son from me, I promise that I will give you as many descendants as there are stars in the sky or grains of sand along the seashore. Your descendants will conquer their enemies. All the nations will ask me to bless them as I have blessed your descendants—all because you obeyed my command.   (Genesis 22:11-18)

Pray with me

Almighty God, you are infinite in all ways, and yet you condescend to love and care for us. You have the whole universe to watch over and order, still You have such concern for us that you called us into Your fellowship. You have just as much communion with each one of us as we open ourselves to You.

Father, when we stop to contemplate Your majesty and compare our paltry accomplishments, we are awestruck at the enormity of the difference between Your glory and our lives. We can hardly comprehend the magnitude of Your Gift to us, the sending of Your only and most precious Son to demean Himself to live as we live. We shudder when we become fully aware that Your Son, our Lord Jesus who is and ever was Lord God Almighty, took our place on the cross, bore our sins, experienced in our place the penalty for our sin. He has given us that most precious Gift, Himself.

Before our Savior placed Himself on the cross, in His celebration of the Passover, He included those of us present here today in his blessing of the Disciples, in His declaration of love, in His Communion of His Body and Blood, and in His High Priestly prayer.

We are tremendously blessed by Your love, Your complete acceptance, and most generous gifts. We acknowledge our unworthiness. We can barely begin to appreciate the magnitude of the gifts you have given us.

Because of all you have done in our lives, we open our hearts to give you thanks. Because of all you have given to us we lift our voices in praise.

Speak aloud to God what He has done in your life, giving Him thanks

Personal Prayer

Speak aloud your praises of His majesty for what God means to you

Personal Prayer

Speak aloud, so we who are you brothers and sisters can add our amen to your prayers

Personal Prayer

While these promises we have read were for us, they were specifically granted to God’s Chosen People. This day Jews in Israel are surrounded by enemies who desire to drive them into the sea.

Pray for Peace in Jerusalem

Personal Prayer

America has not only been a bastion of freedom, but also an example for all the world to see how God blesses the nation whose God is the Lord. And yet we have begun turning our backs on YHWH to pursue our own interests.

Pray for God to raise up godly leaders to draw our Nation back to Christ

Personal Prayer

Acknowledging that we cannot live a godly life without the power of the Holy Spirit, and confessing our sins—blatant, secret and unknown to us. Let us before we come to Communion, ask Forgiveness for ourselves and confess our need for Christ.

Personal Prayer

Absolution

Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time; casting all your anxiety upon him, because he cares for you.  (1 Peter 5:6)

 

The grace of our Lord abounded exceedingly with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. Faithful is the saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners;   (I Timothy 1:14-15)

 

… that ye were at that time separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of the promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus ye that once were far off are made nigh in the blood of Christ. For he is our peace.   (Ephesians 2:13)

 

… for by grace have ye been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God not of works, that no man should glory.   (Ephesians 2:8)

Therefore, ministering to you in the name of Christ, I declare that your sins are forgiven to the glory of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
Amen

Join with me now in offering the prayer that our Lord Jesus taught us, saying

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name.
Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, for ever and ever.

Amen

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Prayers

He Makes All Things New

30 May , 2016  

January 6, 2013

Behold! All Things New

“And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth are passed away; and the sea is no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven of God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.

And I heard a great voice out of the throne saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he shall dwell with them, and they shall be his peoples, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God: and he shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and death shall be no more; neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, any more: the first things are passed away.

And he that sitteth on the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he saith, Write: for these words are faithful and true. And he said unto me, They are come to pass. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.

He that overcometh shall inherit these things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God: her light was like unto a stone most precious, as it were a jasper stone, clear as crystal: having a wall great and high; having twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel:

And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the several gates was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.

And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God the Almighty, and the Lamb, are the temple thereof. And the city hath no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine upon it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the lamp thereof is the Lamb.

And the nations shall walk amidst the light thereof: and the kings of the earth bring their glory into it. And the gates thereof shall in no wise be shut by day (for there shall be no night there): and they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it: and there shall in no wise enter into it anything unclean, or he that maketh an abomination and a lie: but only they that are written in the Lamb’s book of life. (The Revelation 21:1-7; 10-12; 21-27)

Please participate in this bidding prayer

I will pray a short prayer covering a topic, and then it will be your turn to pray aloud about that topic. Everyone is free to pray. Once you have prayed, please allow others to pray before you pray again.

Pray for this Troubled World

Our Father and our God, the news is filled with evidence of the fallenness of this world. Earthquake and famine, war and economic failure plague the nations. Our Sovereign Lord save us.

Personal Prayer

Pray for Peace in Jerusalem

God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Your Chosen People in Israel are threatened on every side. Deliver your people from those who would wipe them out.

Personal Prayer

Pray for Our Nation and Its Leaders

Sovereign Lord, You are to God of all nations. Exert Your mighty power and return our nation to godliness.

Personal Prayer

Pray for Our State

Come Holy Spirit and enliven the spiritually dead churches in Washington and especially along the I-5 corridor to Christ-centered holiness.

Personal Prayer

Pray for Our Church

Lord Jesus, you have placed Grace Fellowship Church in Maltby and on Paradise Road for a reason. Motivate us to fulfill Your purposes.

Personal Prayer

Before we come to Communion, ask Forgiveness for Yourself and confess your need for Christ.

Absolution

“Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; learn to do well; seek justice, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.
Come now, and let us reason together, saith Jehovah: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:” (Isaiah 1:16-19)
“He hath not dealt with us after our sins, Nor rewarded us after our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is his lovingkindness toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, So far hath he removed our transgressions from us.” (Psalm 103:1-12)

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name.
Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, for ever and ever.

Amen.

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Prayers

Easter Praise

30 May , 2016  

Maranatha! Resurrection Day!
March 31, 2013

First, let me share with you the traditional Easter greeting.
The greeting:
Hallelujah! Christ is risen!
The Response:
Christ risen indeed! Hallelujah!

We are elated that God’s promise of the resurrection was proven to many witnesses. They saw the death of Christ. They knew that He was dead and buried. And yet, they saw him alive. They testified to us that Jesus was and is alive from the dead. Therefore, we believe in the resurrection. We have embraced God’s promise for us.
But what if – what if it is not true. Paul addresses this question.
“Now if the rising of Christ from the dead is the very heart of our message, how can some of you deny that there is any resurrection?
“For if there is no such thing as the resurrection of the dead, then Christ was never raised. And if Christ was not raised then neither our preaching nor your faith has any meaning at all. Further it would mean that we are lying in our witness for God, for we have given our solemn testimony that he did raise up Christ—and that is utterly false if it should be true that the dead do not, in fact, rise again!
“For if the dead do not rise neither did Christ rise, and if Christ did not rise your faith is futile and your sins have never been forgiven. Moreover those who have died believing in Christ are utterly dead and gone. Truly, if our hope in Christ were limited to this life only we should, of all mankind be the most to be pitied!
“But the glorious fact is that Christ did rise from the dead: he has become the very first to rise of all who sleep the sleep of death. As death entered the world through a man, so has rising from the dead come to us through a man! As members of a sinful race all men die; as members of the Christ of God all men shall be raised to life, each in his proper order, with Christ the very first and after him all who belong to him when he comes.” (1 Corinthians 15:12-23 J.B. Phillips)

Thus, we have reason to celebrate!
Leader: Hallelujah! Christ is risen!
Response: Christ is risen indeed! Hallelujah!
Leader: Hallelujah! Christ is risen!
Response: Christ is risen indeed! Hallelujah!
Leader: Do not be afraid to make the walls ring and the windows rattle
Response: Hallelujah! Christ is risen! Christ is risen indeed! Hallelujah!

Speak aloud your praise to God the Father. Speak aloud your adoration of the Lord Jesus. Speak aloud your thanksgiving to the Blessed Holy Spirit.

Pause for Prayer

Adoni Sabaoth, Jehovah Jireh, We magnify You for the glorious provision You have bestowed upon us. You came into our darkness and took us by the heart and led us into your magnificent light. You opened our blind eyes to your splendor.
If that is all you had done it would have been ample, since we were lost in darkness without You. What was sufficient for us, was not enough for You. You had far more and abundant riches to bestow.

Pause for Prayer

You not only revealed Yourself to us, You gave us a beautiful and fruitful world in which to live. We offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving for Your amazing generosity.

Pause for Prayer

You not only gave us this abundance, You adopted us as Your sons and daughters, making us family. O how we praise You our glorious Father.

Pause for Prayer

You not only adopted us, but You gave us an exceedingly great legacy as joint heirs with Christ.

Pause for Prayer

You not only made us joint heirs with Jesus, but you gave us the outstanding promise of resurrection, transfigured bodies and eternal life. Your love and openhandedness are overwhelming. We lift our voices in praise of your astounding grace

Pause for Prayer

Having experienced Your love and benefited greatly from Your mercy we lay before you these concerns for others and ourselves, confident that you gladly receive our prayers.

Pause for Prayer

We rejoice in Your resurrection and in the promise that we too will rise. Now, Lord Jesus, we join our hearts together offering the prayer you taught, saying.

The Lord’s Prayer

Leader: Hallelujah! Christ is risen!
Response: Christ is risen indeed! Hallelujah!

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Prayers

Prayer for the Deceased

30 May , 2016  

Untitled design (21)Into Your hands, O merciful Savior, we commend the soul of Your servant                        , now departed from the body. Through Your grace, she/he is a sheep of Your fold. She/he was a sinner who You in love and through sacrifice redeemed to become

She/he was a sinner who You, in love and through sacrifice, redeemed to become Your beloved lamb. Our hearts are gladdened that You have not only received her/him into your arms, but You have granted her/him a celestial body, incorruptible and undefiled.

Endow her/him with Your blessed rest and everlasting peace as she joins that glorious company of saints gathered around Your throne basking in Your glorious Presence.

Amen

 

 

For more discussion on Death, read Comments Inspired by the Death of a Loved One.

Prayers

Mission Prayer

30 May , 2015  

“And Jesus came to them and spake unto them, saying, All authority hath been given unto me in heaven and on earth. Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” (Matthew 28:18-20)

This is not a suggestion. It is a command and a mandate. Our responsibility as believers is two-fold:
First we are to grow up, to mature in the spirit “till we all attain unto the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a full-grown man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:”

Second, we are to make disciples. We are to be lights in the world, and to share the light we have with those who do not have Christ’s light. We are to, by every means possible, place the possibility of salvation in Christ before the lost and blind.

We have taken Jesus’ Command seriously and opened our hearts and wallets to support four missionary families.

Please Pray

Father, stir in our hearts to begin to appreciate what it means for a man or a woman or a child to die without Christ.
Jesus we are deeply grateful for Your bearing our sins on the cross. give us the desire to speak to others directly about what you have done for us and for them.
Holy Spirit empower us to personally spread the Gospel among our friends and acquaintances.

Lord we praise you for your work Among us and through our missionaries. Now we ask your blessings as we pray the prayer Jesus taught us, saying…

The Lord’s Prayer

“This, then, is how you should pray:

‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
 but deliver us from the evil one.'”

Matthew 6:9-13

Prayers

God Makes Us Holy

9 Jan , 2015  

January 11, 2015

Let Us Hold Fast

We live in a world that is primarily secular and non-Christian. In our culture we are bombarded with messages that encourage us to engage in ungodly pursuits. Advertising not only urges us to buy excessively, but encourages us by appealing to our fleshly and sexual desires.

We are surrounded by temptations to think and speak in worldly ways. Even former profanity has become adopted in common usage. In our modern culture, to be holy before God and man is to be considered strange.

Yet that is exactly what God requires of us.

“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” (Romans 12:2)

So, as we pray this morning let us follow the guidance of Scripture

 let us draw near with a true heart in fullness of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience: and having our body washed with pure water, let us hold fast the confession of our hope that it waver not; for he is faithful that promised: and let us consider one another to provoke unto love and good works; not forsaking our own assembling together, as the custom of some is, but exhorting one another; and so much the more, as ye see the day drawing nigh.” (Hebrews 10:22-25)

Please participate in this prayer

Our Father and our God, the news is filled with evidence of the fallen-ness of this world. We have this week seen the outbreak of evil. The enemy of our souls is active in our world causing terror, and bloodshed. Our Sovereign Lord, save Your People wherever they are in this world.

Pray for this Troubled World

Personal Prayer

God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Your Chosen People in Israel are threatened on every side. Deliver Your People from those who would wipe them out.

Pray for Peace in Jerusalem

Personal Prayer

Sovereign Lord, You are the God of all nations. Exert Your mighty power to redirect our leaders to godly ways and establishing of godly policies.

Pray for Our Nation and Its Leaders

Personal Prayer

 Lord God Holy Spirit, guide us into Christ’s truth. Strengthen our faith to withstand the onslaught of the world. Make us humble enough to open our hearts to embrace Your truth. Convince us of the idolatry in our hearts. Lead us to repent and return to walking with You in God’[s holy path.

Lord Jesus, you have placed Grace Fellowship Church in Maltby and on Paradise Road for a reason. Motivate us to fulfill Your purposes in this community.

Pray for Our Church

Personal Prayer

You have called us to holiness and made us into a nation or priests; therefore we come boldly before you, cleansed of our sin, made righteous in Christ. We come to intercede for those we care about.

Pray for our loved ones

Personal Prayer

Join with me now in offering the prayer that our Lord Jesus taught us, saying

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name.
Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, for ever and ever.

Amen.