Pastoral Prayer by Paul Meeks #24
Introduction to the prayer:
If you had the privilege of asking one special request from
the Lord today, what would it be? Well, you do have that wonderful and
fantastic privilege, so, go ahead and ask him as I lead us in prayer.
Our gracious and loving Heavenly Father, we come to you
today in the name of Jesus, our Lord and Savior. We come with gratitude
and thankfulness for the manifold blessings we enjoy from your hand. The
thoughts of millions of people in our nation are turned to you with
thanksgiving at this season of the year. We want to focus on all that we
have rather than longing for what we don't have, and we have so much more than
most of the people of the world. All that we are and all that we have come
from you and we owe it all to you. We remember your goodness in the past
and we rejoice in your closeness right now and we know that you have the power
for the n eeds of the future. How blessed we
are as individuals and as a church and as a nation. We glorify and honor
and worship you.
We have needs among us today. There's not a one here
today that doesn't have definite and particular needs. You didn't promise
us that the world would be easy and you didn't say that there would be no
problems or difficult situations, but you did promise us your mercy and your
grace, and you did say that you'd be with us, and you did say that your grace
would be sufficient. And we've found it be so. It's really true
that in the hour of temptation, you've seen us through. And in our
troubles and trials, when the road seemed long, the Savior has been right there
with us and you've seen us through. The Holy Spirit has been faithful, he's been nearer than breathing and closer than
hands and feet. We're going to make it by your grace.
Give that special word of comfort to the bereaved, and in
the days to come when they feel their loss so keenly and feel that they're all
alone, help them to feel your presence and help them to find the grace to go
on. We pray for the suffering and those with physical needs. Touch
them physically and emotionally and uplift them spiritually. We pray for
those that are struggling with family relationship difficulties that are
heartbreaking and seem to be beyond hope. Lord, you know just how to minister
the word of hope that they need for this day. We pray for those that are
struggling with painful memories from the past, maybe molestation, maybe abuse
of some kind, maybe rejection of a spouse or loved one. We pray for
healing of those damaged emotions and we ask that they will find restoration.
And as each one right now lifts up their heart to you with
that very special need and personal request, help us to be able to reach
through the doubts and questions and trust you for the answer to that particular
prayer that they are praying to you. We look to you with faith and
confidence. Thank you, for hearing these prayers.
We bring the needs of our nation to you today, our president
and his cabinet and advisors, the men and women of the congress and of the
courts of our land. We remember our military all around the world and
especially in the
You are still on the throne and you have all power in heaven
and on earth and we do know how everything is going to turn out, because we've
read the last chapter and we know that you and righteousness and holiness will
triumph.
We glorify and honor you today and we praise your holy
name. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
Pastor Paul Meeks