Sunday, January 20, 2013

2013-01-20


Gracious Heavenly Father,
            Nature bears manifold witness to your power and divinity.  The universe is magnificent and glorious but it is only a dim reflection of its creator.  You are the original.  Your goodness, truth, and beauty are the real thing.  You are the ultimate reality and the ultimate blessing.
            You gave yourself to us and blessed us in Christ.  You made us die in him and rise again with him.  You are saving us now in him and will finally bless us with perfect union with yourself in him.  Thank you Father for this great salvation and for this great destiny.
            In ourselves we are not worthy to even stand in your presence.  We bought Satan’s lie that you are not to be trusted.  We doubt you have our best interests at heart.  But you sent your only begotten Son to submit to a squalid execution and so you proved that Satan is a liar.  You are the Creator and God of the universe and you chose to become the despised and broken victim on the cross.  Your act of appalling humility saved us.
            Please magnify your glory Father.  Make our worship please you.  Make us walk in your Spirit and believe you.  Make us know you, the one true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.  Amen.

Sunday, December 9, 2012

2012-12-09


Gracious Heavenly Father,
You are glorious above all creation.  You made all the things in the universe but they do not define you.  You are yourself and only you know yourself totally.  You are so far above our understanding that we see only shadows and reflections.  Thank you for these Father, for showing us as much as we can bear of the truth about who you are and who we are.  Thank you for removing everything that stands between us and you.  You take our guilt and shame and fear and replace it with righteousness, honor, and glory.  Thank you that you will finally complete this work and wholly unite us to yourself.
Thank you for the way you are doing it now.  Only you know how to break us of our sinful thinking and attitudes.  We can’t do it ourselves because we can’t stand the pain.  We’re moral cowards and don’t love enough to hate our sin properly.  But you do.  You love and hate perfectly and know exactly how to make us into men and women who reflect your love, beauty, and holiness.  You perfect your power in weakness.  We are weak.  Here we are Father; do with us all your holy will.
In Jesus’ name, amen.

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Prayer of adoration

Heavenly Father,

You sent Jesus Christ here to die a humiliating death. You put our sin on him and crushed him. He bore your wrath that we earned and you counted us righteous with his righteousness. You raised him from the dead and made him ruler over all creation.

You gave us your Spirit and made us believe you and you gathered us together to worship you. Please fill us with your Spirit now and make our worship true. Make us know you. Reveal yourself to us. Convict us of sin, righteousness and judgment. Give us the grace to seek your mercy and pour out your mercy upon us.

You are the one true God, the maker of heaven and earth, the Father of Jesus Christ. You redeem whomever you choose. Thank you for saving us. You crushed Jesus to deal with our sin and he dealt with it permanently. There is nothing left for us to do but grow in this grace that you lavish on us. Thank you Father. Please accomplish all your holy will. We love you, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Prayer of adoration

Gracious Heavenly Father,

We are not worthy to call on your name for you are perfect, righteous and holy. You are a consuming fire who will judge the world and destroy all evil. You would have to destroy us too but you rescued us through the blood of Christ. You made him who had no sin to be sin for us. You crushed him and made us die with him. You raised him to life again and us with him. Thank you Father! Your mercy and your wrath are awesome.

Please make us remember these things as we live before you. Make us trust the incredible value of Christ’s blood. Fill us with your Spirit and make us rely on your promises and your character. Please make us please you. Make us know you Father; show us your face. We love you Father. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Prayer of adoration

Gracious Heavenly Father,

You are worthy of better praise and adoration than we can muster. We are not worthy to come into your presence but you provided a way for us through the blood and body of your son Jesus Christ. You made him suffer the wretched and humiliating death we deserve and you gave us the life he deserves. Thank you Father!

You planned things, you designed the universe, so that we share in his death and in his resurrection life and glory. You have given us every blessing in heaven. You have redeemed us through his blood, forgiven our sins and lavished upon us the magnificence of your grace. You have done all this in perfect wisdom and intelligence and you have shown us the point of it all. You are redeeming the whole creation and bringing it all under the lordship of Christ.

Thank you Father! Please fill us with your Spirit and make us wise. Make us know you. Make us grasp the promise you hold out to us, the sheer delight and glory of being united with you. We love you Father! Amen.

Monday, November 22, 2010

Prayer of adoration

God of our Lord Jesus Christ and Father of glory, please give us a spirit of wisdom and of revelation to make us know Christ. Enlighten the eyes of our hearts and make us know the hope to which you call us, the riches of your glorious inheritance for us and the immense greatness of your power toward us who believe, the power by which you raised Christ from the dead and seated him at your right hand in glory. You placed him far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. You put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

We bow before you Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named. Please, from the riches of your glory, strengthen us in our inner being with power from your Holy Spirit. Make Christ live in our hearts through faith. Root and ground us in love and give us and all your children the strength to understand the breadth and length and height and depth; make us know the love of Christ that is bigger than knowledge. Fill us with your fullness.

Father, you can to do far more abundantly in us than all we ask or think. Please glorify yourself in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever. Amen.