Tuesday, March 30, 2010

A Symphony of Praise

God Almighty,


We are gathered here today to proclaim your praises and to honor your name. Truly you are deserving. And we acknowledge that You have become our Redeemer. We have the privilege of standing here today because you have drawn us into your love and made us to abide in Christ.

Now O God, we pray that you would have your fill. We ask that our mouths would be opened and our hearts would burst forth with streams of praise. You have the power to make stones cry out in worship, and we ask that our hearts of stone would be made pour forth honor and exalt your holy name.

Let there be a chorus among us today. May our voices and our meditations be a sweet symphony to your ears. And may you be pleased to draw near to us as we sanctify this day and set this most holy time apart to you.

Sick with Sin

Almighty God,


Our mouths are feeble and our hearts are frail. We are so sick with sin that all that we do is polluted with its loathsome presence. Even our worship is besmirched with all kinds of awful sins. Yet we come as beggars, knowing that our petty offerings are as rubbish in and of themselves.

And we pray that your grace and mercy would cover all our iniquities. Lord, we know that we ought to be condemned for defiling your worship and for having lived in opposition to you each day up to now. But we ask, O God, that you would have mercy on us. Look upon us with the eyes of compassion, rather than the eyes of justice. And let us have the joy of knowing your forgiveness and love.

Lord, we have no hope of salvation, save in the Name of your dear Son. We cling to him and recognize that his passion is our only means of eternal life.

We praise you for offering him up for sinners like us. And we thank you that he was willing to die in our place. And now we ask that the unthinkable would be done. We ask that our sins would be exchanged for his obedience. Let our fiendish ways die with him on the cross and may seeds of new obedience begin to take root within us.

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Our Creator: Despised, yet Merciful

God Almighty,

Being that you created us, you are Lord over us. Because you have formed us, you have sovereignty over us.

Yet we acknowledge that we not given proper heed to our Creator. From birth we have renounced you and rebelled against you. Instead of adoring you and delighting ourselves in you, we have only despised you and provoked you. And we know that we cannot even begin to number our offenses. Day after day, hour after hour our iniquities mount up. And they are all tallied by your all seeing eye.

Yet we know that as infinite as this vast creation is, so is the eternal reaches of your mercy. And we look to you now, asking that you would blot out our transgressions from before you.

Father, your word declares that the blood of Jesus Christ is able to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And you promise to cast our sins as far as the east is from the west when we humble ourselves before you.

And so we pray that you would do that very thing this morning. Let the books be cleared, and may you not look on us as our sins deserve. For we ask this not in our own name, but only in the strong name of our precious Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ.