Prayers 11 9 2008
*MMBB Thank you offering for retired ABC ministers and missionaries
*Make a pledge to the 2009 Canvass on “Footprints for Christ;” see progress thus far
*Thanksgiving Luncheon Tickets available for purchase; lunch is 2 weeks from today; also Senior Appreciation
*Operation Christmas Shoeboxes are due next Sunday when we will be dedicating them at each of the services
Prayer Concerns
Prayer of God’s People
God, we give you our thanks today for each person gathered together in this assembly. We thank you for the encouragement that other believers give us. We thank you for the awareness that at this moment hundreds and thousands of others are gathered to worship. We thank you for all those believers who have lived and died long before us but whose witness has encouraged us. You have taught us that it is not good to be alone, and we have grown stronger because we are together in the faith you have given us.
As your church, the visible sign of Christ in the world, we pray for your blessings and guidance. Help us to be faithful people. Help us to discern our gifts, to develop our talents, to use resources wisely and well. Empower those who have been asked to serve in church leadership positions to know that they have God-given gifts and talents to use to strengthen your work through this church. Enable each one of us to not store up our treasures in barns and storerooms especially when we are frightened by the economic meltdown that we see in our country as well as around the world, but help us to trust our lives in you and you alone.
For almost two years, we have been inundated with political campaigning that came to a final ending this past Tuesday. When there are winners, we know unfortunately, there are no doubt some who feel like losers. O God, we pray for the end of divisions and partisanship in order to strive for reconciliation with the one goal of a healthy nation that is committed to peace and justice. We pray for the President-Elect and the new leadership that will lead our troubled country in the years to come in a fractured world that want to live in peace. Lord, we pray that we will all make sacrifices and to do our part for the sake of all your creation.
Creative God, fill us with sufficient faith to see each day through. When we are unexpectedly confronted with difficulties, we pray that we will have enough resources in our reserves to persevere knowing in the end that you will be there to lift us up and take us home. We pray for these young children who have been brought here today that they will grow up being strong and faithful to you because their parents and all of us have dedicated ourselves to nurture them in faith and trust in you. For those who are sick and grieving, we pray that they will have sufficient faith in you to heal as well as to care for us wherever life may lead us. Be with…
Hear all of our prayers, Lord Jesus and encourage us to wait patiently for your coming again. We long for the time when peace will prevail over war, when sickness will be conquered by healing, when hunger and poverty and homelessness will be no more. In the meantime, help us to trust your promises and work for your mission in the name of Christ we pray who taught us to say together, “Our Father…”
Benediction
May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from God’s glorious power,
may you have sufficient oil in life to be running on full for Christ,
may you be prepared to endure everything with patience,
while joyfully giving thanks to God.
Amen.