A prayer based on Psalm 16:2.

Heavenly Father,
We worship You.
We praise You.
We give our thanks to You.
We adore You.
For You are the fountain of life and of joy.
Apart from You we have no good thing.
Without You as our Lord through faith in Jesus we have no happiness or delight that will satisfy.
How foolish we are then, to have chased, even in this last week, after joy in created things, good gifts, rather than You our Creator and Giver.

We thank You that You have made known to us the path of life.
The way to be saved through the gospel.
We thank You for granting us repentance and faith, for drawing us to Christ by Your Spirit.
And for making us Your children and placing us in a local church.
It really is a great joy to be part of Your people.
We thank You for this church and all its members.
For the encouragement they are;
the friendship they offer;
for the care and love and support they give;
and the concern they have for us and our perseverance in the faith.
We thank You for the way they serve us;
model Christ to us;
and the example they set for us.
Lord, help us to love each other deeply, remembering the depth of Christ’s love for them.

Gracious God,
There is really so much we can give You thanks for.
The countless blessings You flood our lives with.
We have been given so much.
We are not in want with You as our Shepherd.
We can say that boundary lines have fallen for us in pleasant places.
But we are conscious that we don’t want seeds of discontent to rise up within us.
That the danger of not being satisfied with what we have is real.
That the world exerts pressure on us to want more and more and more.
Help us then to learn the secret of being content in any and every situation;
whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.
That if we have Christ, we have all we need.

And yet You desire to shower us with more grace by giving us the hope of great blessing to come.
A delightful inheritance.
Entry into the new heavens and new earth.
Eternity in the place the One who loves us and who gave Himself for us is preparing for us right now.
That because of Jesus’ resurrection,
because You did not abandon Him to the grave nor let His body see decay,
our future resurrection is guaranteed, and one day we will experience a deeper joy than we have ever known.

Help us, by Your Spirit, to keep our eyes always upon You.
That when hard times come, we don’t lose our joy;
that neither difficulty nor disappointment would snatch it away;
and that knowing You are with us would be a constant source of delight.

Amen.

(Photo: Freely)

A prayer based on Acts 2:37-41.

Our Lord and Christ,
Rescuer and Ruler,
Judge of all.
who died and rose again;
who is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty,
who is making His enemies His footstool,
and who will return to save and destroy.
We are in awe of who You are.
You are worthy of our worship, of our love, of our trust, and of our obedience.
We are filled with gratitude for what You have done for us.
Opening our eyes to see You as You truly are.
Convicting us by Your Spirit of our sin;
of the hurt and offense this has caused to God;
of the desperate and dangerous position we are in.
But also amazing us with Your grace.
Transforming our hearts so that we could respond to Your initiation to “Come!”
To come and receive forgiveness.
To come and be reconciled to God.
To come and be filled with the Holy Spirit.
To come and receive the wisdom and guidance and love and joy and peace and patience and kindness and goodness and gentleness and faithfulness and self-control that we need to live as the people You made us to be.
To come and receive eternal life.
We praise You for this wonderful work You have done in our lives.

But this certainty, this hope that we have, causes us to grieve and be concerned for those who don’t have this assurance.
For those, Lord Jesus, who are still Your enemies.
who are still against You;
rebels to You will and way.
Cut them to the heart we pray.
Holy Spirit, You, who convicts the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment, do this powerful and penetrating work, so that they see how vulnerable they are.
How helpless they are.
How desperately they need a Saviour.
Give them a terrifying awareness of what will happen to them at their deaths when they will face Jesus as judge and give an account to Him.
And in Your mercy, change them into new creations, who turn from sin to trust in the only Saviour.

God, You take no pleasure in the death of anyone;
You command everyone everywhere to repent and live.
Save friends, family, neighbours, strangers in this community and beyond, people of every nation from this corrupt generation.
Thank You that the promise of forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit to all who repent, is for us, for our children, and all who are far off.
Today, we plead with You to add to Your church.

Amen

(Photo: Freely)

A prayer confessing our sinful nature.

Our God,
We are ashamed.
We want to hide from You.
For we have sinned against You.
Our iniquities have risen higher than our heads.
Our guilt has reached up to the heavens.
In the light of Your goodness and greatness and glory, we have every reason to cry out, “Woe is us, for we are ruined.”
And “Unclean, unclean” like the leper under the law,
How can we stand before You, our Lord, our King?
You are a consuming fire.
We humble ourselves before You, painfully aware that we have sinned Father, against heaven and against You.
That we are not worthy to be called Your children.

Yet You invite us to seek You and to call on You.
To forsake our wicked ways and evil thoughts.
And to turn to You with the promise that You will have mercy and freely pardon,
because with You, Lord, there is forgiveness;
there is steadfast love;
there is plentiful redemption.
You will be faithful and just and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

So, Father, we confess that we are sinners by nature and by choice.
Because of Adam’s disobedience we are sinful since the time we were conceived.
We are rightly called rebels from the womb;
children of wrath, and along with everyone else, we are sons of disobedience.
We have all turned aside from Your original purposes for us.
We have fallen short of Your glory – the glory You intended for us to display as those made in Your image.
Filthy, vile, and helpless are we.
And before You the righteous judge to whom we are accountable, we deserve nothing but condemnation.

God be merciful to us, we pray.
Our hope is in You.
Salvation is from You alone.
Deliver us from all our transgressions.
Cleanse us from all our unrighteousness.
Wash away our sins.
Remove our guilt.
Declare us innocent in Your sight.
Graciously forgive the great debt we owe to You as we trust in Your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ;
the One who came to save His people from their sins;
who was has redeemed us from the curse of law by becoming a curse for us;
in order that Your blessing might come to us.

We thank You, Lord Jesus, for Your sinless life.
That You never fell short of Your Father’s glory.
That You kept the law and did so on our behalf.
We thank You, that You died in our place, for our sins, experiencing the wrath of God, so that we never will.
We are truly amazed that You would do this for us.
What grace and love which is undeserving!

We magnify You and praise You, our mighty Saviour’s name.

Amen.

(Photo: Freely)

A prayer acknowledging God’s eternality and omnipresence.

Our Lord and our God,
You are awesome and majestic;
great and mighty;
love and light.
We adore you our King.
You are greatly to be praised.
Who is a God like you, O Lord;
majestic in holiness;
awesome in glorious deeds?
Who in the skies can be compared to You?
Who among the heavenly beings is like You?
All nations before you are like a drop from a bucket,
or dust on the scales.
O LORD God of hosts, there is none like you.
For You alone are God.

We praise You that You are the eternal God.
The King of ages, immortal, invisible.
Before the mountains were brought forth, or you had formed the earth, You were there.
When this present world passes away, You will remain.
From everlasting to everlasting, You are God.
The same yesterday and today and forever.

We acknowledge that You are present in all places and at all times.
That You are not far from each one of us;
that we cannot hide from You;
that we cannot escape Your presence or outrun You.
And this means You see all things:
You know when we sit down and when we rise up.
You are intimately aware of all our ways.
Before a word is on our tongues you know it completely.
And even the thoughts and intents of our hearts are fully known by You.
This knowledge amazes us.
It is beyond our comprehension.
And yet it exposes us, because You see the darkness in us.
Our sin.
Our rebellion.
Our breaking of Your law.
You see what we do in secret when no-one is looking.

We cry out to You for mercy.
For forgiveness.
For You to show kindness to us.
We do so in the Name of Jesus Christ, our Saviour.
Trusting in His finished work.
Trusting in His blood without which there can be no forgiveness.
Trusting in His righteousness without which we cannot be accepted by You.

Gracious God, Merciful Father,
We praise You that in Your Son there is wonderful hope.
That we can draw near to You by faith, and be welcomed into Your presence,
because He is the way, the truth and the life.
We praise You that Your presence and knowledge no longer need terrify us,
but is a great comfort to us.
Help us by Your Spirit to give to You the praise and honour and glory You deserve.

Amen.

(Photo: Freely)

A prayer based on Acts 2:1-21.

Our Father in heaven,
As we look out on this world.
It is hard to see how we can be living at a wonderful time in history.
We see the problems;
the troubles;
the suffering;
the pain.
But it is truly a great period to be in because these are days of salvation.

We thank You that though Your judgment is coming;
that one day the great and glorious day of the Lord,
when You will judge people’s secrets through Jesus Christ will arrive,
when all those who don’t know You, who have not called on the name of the Lord, will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from Your presence;
there is still a chance to be rescued.
And that this is possible because the One through whom You will judge,
came first to save.
That the Lamb of God has died to take away the sins of the world.

Thank You that as Jesus died,
the earth got a taste of the judgment that is coming,
as it fell not on us, but on Him.
That He received the full force of Your wrath and anger that our sins deserved as He hung on the cross in our place,
as our substitute,
as our sacrifice.
And that His sacrifice was sufficient to save as You showed Your acceptance of it by raising Him from the dead.
How wonderful it is to know that salvation is available to us.
To hear this good news of great joy.
But if You had not sent Your Spirit this would not be possible.

We give You our thanks, Lord Jesus, that You kept Your promise.
That the Spirit has come and given power to Your followers so that they can be witnesses for You.
That they have been speaking out Your Word,
telling of a way for sinners to be rescued,
declaring the praises of Him who has called them out of darkness and into His wonderful light,
giving an answer to everyone who asks them to give the reason for the hope they have.
in all nations.

And we ask that we who have heard this gospel,
who have called on the name of the Lord and been saved,
who have been given the Spirit,
would know the power that we have to be witnesses ourselves.
To be share some of the wonders of God.
Not just to those who desperately need to hear of their need to be saved,
but also, to one another.
To remind each other to pay careful attention to this great salvation so that we do not drift away.
To encourage one another daily so that none of us may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.
Give us the courage to speak the truth in love.
Give us the boldness to fearlessly make known the word of Christ.

Amen.

(Photo: Freely)

A prayer based on Deuteronomy 6:4-9.

Our Father in heaven,
We thank You for every family in the church.
We pray for them now, especially for all the parents who have the amazing privilege and great responsibility of bringing their children up to know and love You.

We pray, first of all, that they would love You as their God with all their heart and all their soul, and with all their strength.
That You would reign supreme in their lives.
May Your commands be on their hearts and in their heads.
Help them each day to resist the temptation to make their child into an idol and put them at the centre of their world.
Instead to show that their ultimate devotion is to You their God.
With the help of Your Holy Spirit, would this be seen by them being loving, patient, selfless, truthful, gentle, self-controlled, forgiving and repentant.

Give to parents the wisdom and help they need to teach their children about Jesus.
To explain clearly who He is.
That He is the Son of God and the Saviour of the world.
That He is fully God and all truly man.
To explain why they need Him to save them.
That they are sinners who are facing God’s punishment in hell.
To explain how Jesus saves.
That He live a perfect righteous life that they could never live.
That He died on the cross in their place to take penalty their sins deserve so they can be forgiven.
That He rose again to give them eternal life.
And to explain to their children what they need to do to be saved.
That they need repent of their sins and trust in Jesus.
And that this will be shown by loving Him and obey His commands.
We pray that parents would put more energy into this, than helping their children achieve academic success or developing their sporting, musical, or artistic abilities.
And we plead with Your to be gracious to all the children in the church by saving them while they are young.

Please help the families in our church to spend time each day reading the Bible and praying together.
Whether it be at breakfast time or dinner time or bedtime.
But may that not be the only time during the day that God is mentioned.
Help them to give thanks to You in all circumstances.
For prayer to be their first impulse when faced with any problem or crisis.
Would remembering hymns and songs full of Bible truth give them prompts and encouragements during the day.

And we ask that parents would set a good example for their children about what it means to be committed to God’s people,
to love those whom Jesus loves and bought with His own blood,
by fully engaging in the life of this local church.
May their children grow up seeing church as being central to their parents lives and not simply an add on or something you can opt in and out of.

Thank You that forgiveness is available through Jesus for all the times each day they fail to be the parents You call them to be.
And that He with them to provide all the strength they need to face the highs and lows; challenges and trials parenting brings.

Amen.

(Photo: Freely)

A prayer based on Acts 1:12-26.

Our gracious and merciful God.
We praise You for the salvation we have,
because Your Son came not to be served but to serve us by giving His life up as a ransom for many.
We thank You that He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
That His name is Jesus for He will save His people from their sins.
And we thank You that as this good news is preached:
People are being rescued.
Disciples are being made.
And a depopulation of the dominion of darkness is taking place.

We are amazed that You would involve us as a church in this wonderful work You are doing right now.
For the mission Jesus has given to us,
of being fishers of men
and makers of disciples of all nations.

How we need Your help and Your guidance if we are to do this in a way that pleases You.

We ask, that by Your Spirit, You will make us a prayerful church.
A local church that is challenged and encouraged by the example of those first 120 followers of Jesus in Jerusalem who joined together constantly in prayer.
Who were convinced that You would keep all the promises You have made, and so pleaded with You to do what You said You would do.
We pray that like them we would be united in calling out to You, Lord, to use our efforts and plans for Your glory and the good of others.
We pray that like them, we would be persistent in praying together.
May our weekly prayer meetings be a crucial part of the life of this church and something which we are all committed to.

We also ask, that by Your Spirit, we will be a listening church.
A local church which is committed to hearing You speak.
That listens carefully to the voice of the Good Shepherd,
to His words found in the Scriptures,
as they are read and taught and proclaimed.
And that we would be keen to have them explained and applied faithfully.
We pray too, that as we hear what the Holy Spirit says, both as individuals and as a church, we would not harden our hearts.
That we would act on what we have heard.
That we would be obedient to all that You call to us to do.
Trusting that Your Spirit will give us the power we need, to both walk in Your ways, and to be bold in our witness for the Lord Jesus.

It is our desire that more and more people in our community and beyond would repent.
That they would turn away from, and rid themselves of all their offenses, so that sin would not be their downfall.
That they would get a new heart and a new spirit by coming to Jesus and believing in Him.
We long that they would repent and live!
So, use our feeble and weak efforts to bring Your mercy and grace to the lives of those who do not trust in Christ,
that they may praise You the God who calls people out of darkness and into your wonderful light.

Amen.

(Photo: Freely)

A prayer based on Acts 1:1-11.

Christ Jesus,
Thank You that You came to seek and save people from all nations who are lost in their sins and under the wrath of God.
We thank You that You died on the cross in our place for our sins.
That You took the punishment we deserve.
And that because You were raised to life on the third day, we can know that Your death is sufficient to save and make it possible for everyone who turns from their sins and trust in You to have eternal life.
We thank You that this good news of repentance and forgiveness of sins in Jesus’ name has been preached to all nations.
From Jerusalem to Judea and Samaria to the ends of the earth.
And we thank You that it has reached us and by Your Spirit, You enabled us to call out to You to be saved.

Lord Jesus,
We are amazed that You would involve us in Your gracious work of building Your church.
That You call us to be witnesses for You.
To tell others the good news of Your life, death and resurrection and that salvation is available to all who call on Your name.
We are so grateful that You have equipped us for this task by giving us proof of Your resurrection.
Thank You for the eyewitness testimonies we have in the four Gospels that give us certainty that You really are alive, that everything You said is true and that You really can save people.
Thank You for the Holy Spirit who gives us the power we need to speak boldly of you,
to say the right words at the right time,
to be able to see when there is an opportunity to do so,
and also, to overcome any reluctance we might have.
Give us a holy desire to see people brought into Your kingdom and to come under Your rule, not only in the community You have placed us in, but further afield too.
And give us an urgency in this, knowing that though You are now seated at Your Father’s right hand, You will return to judge all who oppose Your rule.
Help us to be faithful witnesses for You, and as we speak to our friends and family, neighbours and strangers, would there be fruit from our labours.
Holy Spirit, as we ask You to overcome any reluctance in us to witness, we ask You to overcome the resistance in the hearts of those who hear what we say.
Enable those we are speaking to, to respond in repentance and faith.
Save them and use us we pray.
For Your glory.

Amen.

(Photo: Freely)

A prayer adoring our glorious God.

We lift up our hearts to You, O God.
You who are in heaven.
We seek Your face.
We want to give You the glory due to Your Name.
To worship You who are spirit in spirit and in truth;
because we know Father that these are the kinds of people You are seeking,
and we want to be like them.
Help us to give You our full attention now.
To be undistracted in our devotion to You.
Keep our hearts from being far from You, as we honour You with our lips.

We thank You that we can come to You with confidence;
that we can boldly draw near to You and enter into Your holy place.
Because by His blood shed on the cross;
His death in the place of sinners;
Jesus has made it possible for rebels like us to approach You.

And so, we praise You.
For:
You are the Holy One – Holy, holy, holy, are You, Lord God Almighty.
You are the eternal One – the One who was, and is, and is to come.
You are the Creator – the One who made the heavens and the earth.
You are the Great I AM – the everlasting King; the Most High over all the world.
You are light and in You there is no darkness at all – You are the Father of lights and in You there is no inconsistency.
You are the true God and the living God – the one only living and true God.
You are the unchanging Lord – You do not change like shifting shadows.
You alone are immortal – Your Name shall endure forever and Your fame across the generations.
And incredibly we can say You are our God and You love us.
We confess Your great name: “The Lord our God, the LORD is one.”

How we long to know You more.
Our souls thirst for You and long for You as in a dry and weary land where there is no water, for only You can satisfy.
Yet we acknowledge before You there are times when we are foolishly drawn away from You to the idols of this world.
The idols that are worshipped by millions of people, but which are no gods at all, and which will one day perish from the earth.
Forgive us we pray.
Graciously forgive our sin and unbelief as we trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.
May You be praised and adored by our lives and by our lips.

Amen.

(Photo: Freely)

A prayer for the church worldwide.

Our God,
We thank You for the promise of the Lord Jesus, that He will build His church.
We thank You that this is happening now, as disciples are made throughout the world.
We thank You that one day around Your throne will gather, a great multitude that no-one can count, who will cry out, “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb,”
to Jesus who was slain, who was put to death of the cross, and who by His blood has purchased a people for God, from every nation, tribe, people and language.

We pray for Your people, blood bought men and women, scattered in local churches, wherever they may be found.
That having saved them, You would bless them, give strength to them, and cover them with Your favour, that they might be pure and holy.
We pray that they would be obedient to Your Word and where they have gone astray, they would be brought back to faithfulness.

For our brothers and sisters suffering around the world and in parts of our nation, would you give them relief we pray.
Especially for the 200 million persecuted Christians in places such as North Korea, Afghanistan, Somalia, Sudan, Pakistan, and not forgetting Syria.
May their cries come before You.
Would You reach down from on high and rescue them from their enemies.
Turn back in shame all those who hate Your church.
Let no weapon forged against Your people prevail.
Strike those who oppose You with terror, so that they would know that You are greater than them.

Gracious Shepherd, bring Your people through the valley of the shadow of death.
Strengthen the patient endurance and faithfulness of Your suffering saints as they wait for Your salvation.
Comfort them with the knowledge that in the light of eternity, the afflictions they are going through are momentary.
And help us to remember those being mistreated in our prayers, as if we ourselves were suffering.
We thank You for mission agencies seeking to support and minister to them in partnerships with churches all over the world and ask that You would bless their efforts.

We ask Lord, that You would show Your favour to Your servants who are seeking to begin a new work for you in places unreached with the gospel and in communities with no local church.
And would You encourage and revitalise local churches that are struggling or on the brink of closing, so that the light of the gospel won’t go out where they are located.

Sovereign Lord, keep each and every local church, loyal to the gospel, in Your care until, all together, we meet You, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, in the new heavens and the new earth, where tears will be no more and all Your people will be safe and secure forever.

Amen.

(Photo: Freely)

A prayer based on Matthew 11:29.

Lord Jesus,
We praise You and we thank You that You are gentle and lowly in heart.
That this is what is most true of You.

How wonderful it is to know that Your heart is gentle.
Meek.
Humble.
Not harsh, reactionary, or easily exasperated.
That You are not one who points the finger at us, but rather You have arms wide open and ready to embrace us when we come to You.

How wonderful it is too to know that Your heart is lowly.
That You are accessible.
Though You are glorious and majestic, holy and pure.
That no-one compares to You.
You invite us to come to You, and we can.

We thank You that what You claim to be with words, You have proven time and time again to be true by Your actions.
You healed the sick.
You fed the hungry.
You taught the crowds,
and You wiped away the tears of the bereaved.

We are amazed by the way You moved towards, touched, healed, embraced and forgave those who least deserved it, but truly desired it.
And because You are the same yesterday, today, and forever, we can know that You are willing to put Your arms around us, to weep with us, and to wash our sins away.

We marvel at this.
At Your tenderness,
Your openness.
The welcome You give to us when we cry out to You for help.
That Your gentleness more than matches our many sins, our many insecurities, our many doubts, our many anxieties, and our many failures.
For the kindness You show to us by giving us rest for our souls.

Yes, life is hard.
And life is painful.
That remains the case after we came to You in repentance and faith, Lord Jesus.
But it is wonderful blessing to know that You are present with us by Your Spirit;
that we are forgiven of our sins;
that condemnation is no more;
that rest for our bodies in the new creation is coming;
and that Your heart is full of affection towards sinners and sufferers.

Help us Holy Spirit to believe that Jesus is gentle and lowly in heart.

Amen.

(Photo: Freely)

A prayer based on Acts 2:42-47.

God of our salvation,
We give You our thanks that You are conforming Your people into the likeness of Your Son.
We praise You that You will finish what You have started,
and that one day we will be radiant,
without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.
But knowing that we not yet what we will one day be, we pray that by Your Spirit, You would continue to shape and fashion us, so that we reflect Christ more and more.

Help us to be a people who are devoted to Your Word.
We thank You for gift the Scriptures are,
as they reveal who You are, Your marvellous works, and Your will and ways.
May we make the most of every opportunity we have to hear Your Word.
On Sundays as it is preached and taught.
During the week with the opportunities we have to study it together and on our own.
And would we not only hear and understand what it says, but do what it says, by applying it to our lives.

Help us to be a people who are devoted to each other.
To commit to sharing our lives with one another.
To get to know and forge meaningful relationships with others in the church.
To encourage them to keep going in the faith.
Give us a real concern for the material, emotional, and spiritual needs of those who are part of the church, and a willingness to give up time, money, energy, convenience, to ensure that they have what they need.
To be sacrificial and generous in our care for this fellowship.
To not miss an opportunity to meet with each other unless we have to.
To look out for and to get in touch with those we haven’t seen or spoken to in a while.

Help us to be a people who are devoted to prayer.
May we delight in coming together to pray.
Grow our prayer meetings.
Make us increasingly aware of how much we need You our God, and would we show this, as with one voice we approach Your throne of grace with confidence to plead with You to be merciful to us.

But, Saviour, we don’t want our devotion to be out of grudging duty.
We want it to be out of real delight.
To be devoted to Your Word, to one another, and to prayer, because we love You and want to please You by living Your way.
So, fill our hearts, Holy Spirit, with joy and gladness as we commit ourselves to these practices.

Amen.

(Photo: Freely)