A Pastoral Prayer for Sunday

 

Lord, love Your people through our worship.

May Your truth be spoken in prayer and praise.

Attend Your word to their mind and heart;

And may mind and heart and soul be lifted

up to You.

Lord, love Your people through the preaching.

May Your truth be in every word spoken.

Attend Your word to their mind and heart;

And may each piece of dross be removed,

  each facet of godly character be refined, each godly

 motive be reinforced, and each stain

of soul be cleansed through repentance.

Lord, love Your people through Your presence.

May Your presence be in our prayer, and praise, and preaching.

Take away all other thoughts than You.

Make Yourself our only desire, and Your will

our greatest delight.

A Prayer for a Generous Heart

           Watch over your heart with all diligence,

          For from it flow the springs of life.

                                   Proverbs 4:23                                 

Lord, move in my heart so that I will be a faithful and trustworthy steward with all You have given me (I Corinthians 4:2); and with the confidence that no matter my circumstances You will always make Your grace abound towards me, so that I will have an abundance for every good deed (II Corinthians 9:8). Grant to me a life that is free from the love of money (I Timothy 6:9-10), but instead a life that is content with what it receives from Your hand (Philippians 4:11-13, I Timothy 6:6-8).  

Father, protect me from a greedy and hoarding heart, but instead give me a heart that is rich toward you, knowing that my life is about more than my possessions (Luke 12:16-21). Cause me to always acknowledge that it is you that has given me the power to make wealth and not myself (Deuteronomy 8:17-18). It is You that has commanded the blessing (Deuteronomy 28:8), and all things are from Your hand (I Chronicles 29:12-14).

Set me free from covetousness, and may all my prayers be prayers guided by right motives (James 4:3).

Guard my heart, O Lord, guard my heart.

Praying for the Revelation of Sin in Our Life...Psalm 139:23-24

Search me, O God, and know my heart,

Try me and know my anxious thoughts;

And see if there be any hurtful way in me,

And lead me in the everlasting way.

Psalm 139:23-24

What the Psalmist is really asking the Lord here is so show him his sin; and having shown him his sin, then to lead him away from that sin. He asks the Lord to examine his heart, his thoughts, and his way of living. In the context of this Psalm we see that the Psalmist understands that the Lord knows all about him, in fact, knows everything about him that can be known, even to the point that the Lord knows what he is going to say before it is said. So in the last two verses the Psalmist, in light of this knowledge, asks the Lord to examine him and lead him in His way.

In Romans 8:13 we see that we are to be putting sin, the deeds of the body (and the thoughts of the mind), to death; or to phrase it as the Puritans would, we are to be mortifying our sin. But the trick for many of us who have been Christians for a while is that while we have dealt with the obvious sins, the overt sins, what is left are the more subtle sins, the sins which are such a part of us that we don't see them for what they are; sins that we have gotten so comfortable with that we are not sensitive to them. My wife calls them the sneaky sins.

You know, before we can deal with sin, we must confess it as sin; and to confess our sin we must see it for the sin that it is, and call it as such. This is why we must ask the Lord, just as the Psalmist, to show us our sin, and then to lead us away from that sin. This is a prayer that we know the Lord will answer, because He wants us to be holy as He is holy; and He wants us to desire to be holy.

Remember, the Lord is good and ready to forgive; and when sin is confessed and forgiveness is requested, He removes it from us as far as the east is from the west. Let us ask Him to search us and reveal to us the sin that He wants us to put to death. 

Warfare Praying

Pray then in this way:

Our Father who is in heaven,

hallowed be Your name.

Your kingdom come.

Your will be done, on earth

as it is in heaven.

Matthew 6:9-10

I always get amused when I hear the term "warfare praying," like it is some type of special praying, praying specifically designated for the spiritual battlefield. When people use that term I think they are missing something, something noted in the verses above.  

When giving instructions on how to pray, Jesus states that we are to request that the Father's will be done on earth as it is being done each and every moment in heaven. Think about it, each and every prayer should include the request or should be prayed in light of the Father's will being carried out here on earth (beginning with our lives first). If that is how we are to pray each and every prayer, and it is; then each and every prayer is a prayer of spiritual warfare.  

The minute we pray for God's will to be done we are praying against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places, as they are always full out against the will of the Father. The minute you pray for the Lord's will to be carried out in your life, the life of the church, or the life of your friends and family, then you have entered into the spiritual fray. If you pray for His will on the mission field, you are praying against the will of the enemy.

The Lord wants us to pray for His will to be done. Our prayers for His will to reign supreme is a prayer against the evil one and all of his schemes, and are used by God as a means by which His will is carried out.  

If this is the case, and it is, then we must realize that each and every prayer that is prayed for the will of God to be accomplished will have spiritual opposition, because our adversary and God's adversary does not want the will of God to be done....ever.  

So, with this in mind, let us pray in a more informed way, and with greater understanding of exactly what is taking place when we pray for His will to be done, and let's always include that request in our prayers.

Prayer Traps

Psalm 16:11b...In Your presence is fullness of joy;

In Your right hand are pleasures forever.

In our thinking about and considering prayer,

it should not be a task to be accomplished,

something to get done and get out of the way;

but it should be a relationship to be enjoyed,

a communion to be anticipated, a joy and a delight

in drawing near to Him and coming before His throne.

For, after all, the chief end of man is to glorify God,

and to enjoy Him forever. Our enjoying Him should

be part of our existence now, with the greater and fuller joy,

 the hope of the completeness of joy, a promise to be relished.

In considering prayer, I believe there are two traps that are easy for all of us to fall into. They are the guilt trap, and the task trap; and the two go hand in hand.

It is way too easy to make prayer a task, an item on our to do list, something to get done. And when it becomes something to get done, it becomes something to get marked off and get out of the way. When we make prayer a task, it then becomes something that we must do for God. When this is our motive for prayer, our prayers become rote, mechanical, and we are robbed of the joy and enjoyment of prayer. When prayer becomes a task to be accomplished it is one step away from becoming a form of legalism in our life.

When anything becomes a legalism in our life, we have then set ourselves up for guilt. And what happens when we feel guilty about something? Don’t we usually avoid being around the person towards whom we feel guilty? When we start feeling guilty about not praying, instead of motivating us to pray, it almost inevitably demotivates us as we start avoiding coming into the Lord’s presence. The more avoidance the more the guilt; and the more the guilt the more the avoidance. It becomes a self-defeating cycle.

How do we avoid these two traps? We avoid them by having a right understanding of prayer, and why we should pray. In no particular order here are a few reasons we should pray, and this is by no means an exhaustive list.

1. It is one of the means God has ordained in the accomplishment of His will.
2. It is one of the ways we can participate in the accomplishment of His will.
3. It is one of the ways we draw near to Him.
4. It is one of the ways we fellowship with Him.
5. It is one of the ways we encourage and build others up.
6. It is one of our weapons in spiritual warfare.
7. It is one of the means to an abundant spiritual life.
8. It is the means through which we confess sin.
9. It is one of the means of building unity in the body.
10. It is how we talk to God.

Let’s avoid the task trap and the guilt trap, and simply look forward to being with the Lord in prayer, and remember He desires to be with us as well.

A Daily Prayer

Lord, guide me with the wisdom from Your Word.

Protect me from the weakness and blindness of my pride.

Strengthen me to stand for You and speak Your truth.

Prepare my mouth and other's hearts for gospel opportunities.

May I be mindful of bringing glory to You.

 

A Prayer for Sunday Morning

Bless our time today, Lord.

Have Your Spirit move among us-

enlightening our mind-encouraging our hearts-

equipping us for service-correcting our errant beliefs.

Cause us to appreciate and esteem Your word.

According to Your will may it be done today!

A Prayer for the Day

Lord, cause me to walk blamelessly before You,

by the power of Your Spirit and the knowledge of Your Word.

A Daily Prayer

Lord, I want to live this day for You,

use me as You will.

A Prayer for Sunday

Father, speak Your Word through me this morning.

Through Your Word, train, instruct, strengthen,

encourage, and correct your people.  Send forth

Your Word attended by Your Spirit, so that it

may do all you have intended in the lives of those

who hear it today.  For Your glory and Your

kingdom. Amen

Our Response to Answered Prayer

Too many times when God answers our prayers we

 disregard it because it doesn't come packaged as we "expected."

A Preacher's Prayer for Sunday

Lord, let me not preach in the weakness

of my flesh, or with the babble of my own

words; but move me to preach in the

power of the Spirit, and with the authority

of Your Word.

A Prayer for Spiritual Growth

Father, make us sensitive to the sins in our life.

Do not let us gloss over them, ignore them,

or put them out of sight or mind.  Do not let 

the habit patterns of our daily life keep us blind 

and insensitive to the sin that is entrenched in us.

A Prayer for Sunday...A Prayer for Worship

In the congregations I shall bless the Lord.

I will tell of Your name to my brethren;

In the midst of the assembly I will praise You.

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that

is within me, bless His holy name.

Psalms 26:12b, 22:22, 103:1

Lord, cause us to ever be mindful of

why we are gathered here today.  May

You be blessed in our praying, in our 

praises, and in the preaching; and may

all of these bring blessing to Your holy name.

To You and You alone, as Father, Son,

and Holy Spirit belong blessing, honor, 

and glory.  May blessing and glory be

given to You through us this day.

Amen.

A Simple Prayer for Salvation

Father, in the hearts and lives of those

for whom we are praying for salvation;

cause the gospel to take root, and to bear fruit.

Matthew 13:18-23; Colossians 1:5b-6

For His Glory Today

Father, today in Your church, from the rising

of the sun to its setting, make Your praise

glorious.  Give us lips and lives that will

will not only praise You, but will bring praise

to You.  Give us no other desire today than

to bring You praise, than to bring honor

to You in accordance with the greatness of

Your name.  Today, in Your church,

be glorified. 

Amen.

For His Glory Today

As we go forth this day, O Lord, may the

meditations of our hearts be acceptable in

Your sight.  Cleanse us as we begin this day,

and keep us clean throughout the day.  Guard

our hearts and minds with what is true, right,

honorable, beautiful, pure, lovely, and

praiseworthy; so that what comes out of

us in word and deed manifests the sweet aroma

of Jesus Christ.  Work out through us what You

have worked within us for the display of the

greatness of the glory of Your grace.

Amen 



For His Glory Today

As the Psalmist says, "Not to us, O Lord,

not to us, but to Your name give glory."

Use us today to fulfill the purpose for

which You have made us.  And in fulfilling

that purpose may we bring You great glory.

Manifest Your life through us.  Manifest Your

love through us.  Manifest Your righteousness

through us.  Manifest Your mercy and compassion

through us.  Cause the radiance of Your glory to

be seen in us as we live as Christ would live.

Amen.

For His Glory Today

Father, apart from glorifying You, apart from being

agents of Your glory and for Your glory, we have

no reason to exist.  Keep us mindful today, that

whether we eat or drink, whatever it is we do,

should be done for Your glory. Today, use Your

church, Your living body, to manifest Your glory

throughout this world.  Make Your matchless

worth to be seen through us, so that all the world

around us can truly say, "God has been in this place."

May it be so wherever we are in this world, so that

the world may be keenly aware of Your Divine glory.

Amen.



For His Glory Today

Today, O Lord, work in us that which is

pleasing in Your sight, so that we may

bring You glory.  Today, cause our salt

to be salty, our light to burn bright, so that

we might bring You glory in each and every

circumstance of our day.  Shine forth the

beauty of Your holiness in us, so that Your

glory may shine brightly round about us.

Let us, Your servants, be and do, so that

our very lives shout, "Glory to God, glory

to God, glory to God!"

Amen.