Sunday’s Congregational Prayer
Our Father, this morning we consider the mystery of your mercy, in what you’ve done to redeem rebels such as we. All of us, self-sufficient and at times proud, understand that the cross was no accident. It was your plan to send your Son as an offering for our sin.
Indeed, Jesus’ death for us was no afterthought, no Plan B, no redeeming of a good-story-gone-bad. No one could take his life from him; for Jesus freely laid it down.
However, we must confess, for as much as we celebrate and find comfort in your sovereign grace, we too often cling to our self-sufficiency. Too often we try to reverse the roles, to make ourselves the potter and treat you like malleable clay. To our shame, we prefer to have a “Play-Doh deity” instead of Almighty God.
Therefore, in view of this habit, we now silently confess our sins to you.
Thank you, Lord, for giving your Son to free us from our foolishness. Thank you for providing joy in simply being your pottery, jars of clay in which the treasure of Christ is contained.
We pray for our missionaries Paul and Mary Adams. May your word grip their heart.
Thank you for a fruitful youth car wash yesterday. Bless our youth and the Vite Trasformate ministry to exploited women in Italy.
Finally, Father, we confess that you are our “portion”—that is, our joy, our peace, and our song. Our hope is, therefore, in you; not in people’s approval, not in the fictitious demand-free life, nor in the pride of accomplishment. Give us, rather, the power and wisdom we need to do what is needful. Also grant us the grace we’ll need to finish this day with quiet, worship-filled hearts. So we pray, in Jesus’ name.
Amen