Psalm 98 - God Came Down

Our loving heavenly Father
You are a God who has done marvelous things
You have worked salvation
You have made salvation known and we have seen it
You have remembered your love and faithfulness
We praise you
We sing of you
We shout about you
We sing for joy
Because you are king and judge
You will make all things right
Amen
 

Christmas Blessing (Isaiah 9:2,6)

May the light of Jesus forever shine on you.
May the rule of Jesus bring you comfort in chaos.
May the advocacy of Jesus mediate for you.
May the deity of Jesus astonish you.
May the commitment of the Father bring you comfort in the dark night.
And may the peace of Christ be your peace.
As you embrace the never ending kingdom of justice and righteousness.
Amen

 A Christmas Prayer (based on Luke 1 and 2)
Our Father in heaven,
As we contemplate the words of the angel Gabriel,
We thank you that you gave us the child who would save us.
We thank you that Jesus is your Son - the Son of the most high.
We that you that he is the one to whom you have given the throne of David.
We thank you that he reigns over the house of David and that his kingdom will never end!
Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to men on whom his favour rests
 
Father,
We thank you that your mercy extends towards those that fear you.
We thank you that you have performed mighty deeds, scattering the proud.
We thank you that you have brought down rulers and lifted up the humble.
We thank you that you have filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty handed.
We thank you that you have remembered to be merciful to your servant Israel, even as you promised to our fathers
Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to men on whom his favour rests
 
Father,
We thank you that you have raised up for us a strong saviour, one to rescue us from our enemies.
We thank you that you have shown mercy to our fathers and that you have remembered your covenant to us.
We ask that you would forgive us for not serving you, for not fearing you, for not being committed to holiness and righteousness all our days.
 
Lord in your mercy hear our prayer
Christ in your mercy hear our prayer
Lord in your mercy hear our prayer
 
Finally Father,
We thank you that your Son came into the world so that we might receive the forgiveness of sins because of your tender mercy.
Thank you for shining on those who live in darkness.
Thank you for rescuing us from the shadow of death.
Thank you for guiding our feet in the path of peace.
 
We pray these things through our Immanuel, Jesus Christ, God with us
Amen
 

Luke 10:38-42 - The One Thing Necessary

Father give us ears to hear your words,
And hearts that desire to listen.
Give us wills that seek to obey,
That we may live for your glory alone.
Amen

Psalm 72

Our Father,
O give us a king who will judge with righteousness and justice.
May he defend the poor and the needy.
May he crush the oppressor.
May he redeem his people.
May he be a blessing like soft rain.
May he enable the righteous to flourish.
May make peace to abound.
May he rule over all the world.
May his name endure forever and his fame be eternal.
And may blessing abound to all peoples through him.
 
Our Father,
You have given us a king that did not elevate himself but has instead come down.
He did not grasp at equality with you.
He made himself nothing.
He took on the form of a slave.
He submitted himself to death.
Even death on a cross.
He is our king.
We worship him!
Amen

Psalm 113

The God who raises up

Our Father,
You are high above all nations,
Your glory above the heavens,
Seated on high,
And yet you see us.
You raise us up from the dust,
Lift us from the ash heap,
To sit with princes.
You give the barren woman a home,
And make her the mother of children.
You are to be praised,
Forevermore.
Amen

Psalm 14

When Christmas just feels Mehhh...
Psalm 14 

Our Father,
We pray, with the people of God through the centuries, that salvation would come from Zion.
We pray restore the fortunes of your people.
Make us rejoice,
Make us glad.
All that we hear is the rejection of God.
All that we see is corruption,
Evil deeds,
No one doing good.
We see the oppression of people.
No one calls upon the Lord, we have all turned aside.
But you are a God who sees,
who looks down from heaven,
And you have acted to save us,
In sending your Son to save and redeem us.
Thank you for sending Jesus.
We rejoice in your salvation.
May we lovingly share it.
Amen

Not Anxiety; Now Joy
Philippians 4:2-13; 21-23

Father

Give us hearts of unity.
May we choose joy in you.
May we live as if you are at hand,
conscious of your presence and your coming.
May we not be anxious.
May we instead choose prayer, supplication and thanksgiving.
Enjoying your peace and guardianship.
May we think truth, honour justice and seek purity.
May we think lovely, commendable and excellent
May we be full of praise
And may we enjoy your peace, reveling in your grace forever.
Amen

Solutions to the Mental Health Crisis
Philippians 3:12-4:1 

Father in heaven
We are waiting for the arrival of your son our Saviour
Keep reminding us that we have not arrived
That you are our arrival point.
May we press on
Straining forward.
May we hold true and stand firm in what we have attained.
Enable us to imitate those who walk according to the example set by Christ
Longing for our transformed bodies
Secure in our citizenship in heaven.
Amen

What is my purpose?
John 10:10-18

Father our purpose is you
May we know you
Enjoy you
Glorify you
Love you
Cherish you
Always
Amen

 

The Surpassing Worth of Knowing Christ
Philippians 3:1-11

Our Father,

May we take joy in the surpassing worth of knowing Christ.
May we glory in Christ,
May we worship by the Spirit.
May we put no confidence in the flesh.
May we gain the righteousness of Christ by faith,
And in so doing to attain to the resurrection of the dead.
Amen

Lighthouse
Philippians 2:12-18 

Father, enable us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling,
Knowing that you work in us for your good pleasure.
Keep our mouths free from grumbling and questioning.
Make us to be blameless, innocent and without blemish.
As we remember that we are children of God,
Shining light into this dark world.
Keep us holding fast to the word of life.
Holding out the word of life.
Straining to the day of Christ
Rejoicing in our salvation.
Amen

 

The God who became a Slave
Philippians 2:1-11

Our Father we look with wondrous adoration at your Son.
Longing for the day when he is exalted,
when every knee will bow and every tongue confess that he is Lord!
May the manner of our lives be worthy of the gospel of Christ.
May we stand firm, with one mind, with one heart and one spirit, striving together…
May we not be frightened but rather ready to suffer.
May we be done with rivalry and conceit.
May we fight for humility and the success of others rather than for our own prestige.
And may our lives be servant-shaped for your glory alone. Amen

Live Worthy
Philippians 1:27-30  

Father of our Lord Jesus Christ;
Empower us by your Spirit to live worthy of the gospel.
May Christ be our desire
May Christ be our model

May Christ be our striving
Enable us to stand firm, united in one spirit, with one mind;
Striving side by side for the faith of the gospel.
May we not be frightened of our opponents. Remembering that you will destroy all opposition.
Remind us that it has been granted to us to suffer for the sake of Christ.
Encourage and strengthen us.
For your honour and glory
Amen

Heaven
Philippians 1:12-26

Our Father,
Fix our eyes and our hearts on heaven.
May we live for the day when we are with Christ,
Knowing that is better by far.
May we live as if heaven is gain.
May we rejoice in Christ.
May we proclaim Christ,
So that others may also know Jesus.
Amen

Exploding Love
Philippians 1:3-11

Our loving, heavenly Father,

You have begun a good work in us,
And you will bring it to completion on the day of Christ.
Forgive us for not abounding in love.
May our love abound.
May we desire love.
Forgive us for attempting love without knowledge and discernment.
Make our abounding love, knowledgeable and clear thinking
Make us pure and blameless.
Fill us with the fruit of righteousness
For the day when we meet Christ
To your glory, praise and honour.
Amen

 

 
Confession based on Philippians 1:9-11

Our loving, heavenly Father,
You have made us holy.
You have begun a good work in us
And are bringing us to the day of completion.
Forgive us for not abounding in love.
Forgive us for not desiring to abound in love.
Forgive us for attempting love without knowledge and discernment.
Make us pure and blameless for the day of Christ.
Fill us with the fruit of righteousness
To your glory and praise.
Amen

Saints and Servants
Philippians 1:1-2 

Our Father,
Your Son, Christ Jesus, has made us holy!
May we view ourselves as blessed with his holiness,
And obligated to holiness.
May service not be for others but for ourselves,
Even as sainthood is ours too.
Amen

 

Being Seen
Philippians 4:10-20

Our Father,
You are the God of riches,
You supply our every need
May we be kind,
May we partner in gospel ministry by sharing in each other’s troubles.
May we be strengthened by Christ as we learn contentment
May we remember that you see our gifts
And that they bring you joy when we trust in your provision
Amen

 

Confession

God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit:
We have too often exchanged the worship of the living God for idols of our own imagining.
We remember today:
How we have desired domination
How we have been self-concerned.
We have forgotten the undivided Trinity.
We have forgotten Christ’s death on the cross.
We have forgotten the submission of the Spirit.
Fix our eyes on you.
Forgive us in Christ.
Heal us by the Holy Spirit.
Hear our prayers for Jesus Christ sake.
Amen

 Equality
Galatians 3:23-29

What a joy it is to have a Father

What a joy it is to be an heir

What a joy it is to have put on Christ and so to belong

Our brother has died for us

May we revel in his love,

Rejoice in our differences,

Even as we rejoice in our equality,

The offspring of Abraham,

Heirs according to the promise.

Amen

Gender
Genesis 1

Our Father
You have made us in your image
Male and Female
May we revel in what you have made us to be
Treating all people as bearing the image of God
Even as we shine your glory into the universe
Amen

Truth
Matthew 5:21-29 

Our Father
May we find true truth
May we trust that truth
And then live by truth
Loving the one who is truth
Amen

 

Perseverance in Mission
Acts 18:1-21

 

Our Father in heaven!

What sheer privilege it is to be able to call you father and know it to be true.

We plead for stamina and patient endurance for the task of mission.

We long for courage to persevere faithfully in the face of opposition.

May the gospel so burn in us that it keeps us steadfast and fills us with joy,

So that others may also know your fatherhood.

Amen

Can Religion Save? 

Acts 17:16-34

Father you have commanded all people everywhere to repent.
Forgive our religion.
Forgive our worship of other gods.
You have raised Jesus from the dead so that we can be certain
May we join with the saints of ages as we too believe.
Secure in the salvation that you have won for us.
And send us to speak for you the great and mighty God.
Amen

One Thing for a Successful Life
Acts 17:1-15 

Father of mission
Give us noble hearts to receive the word with eagerness.
May the Bible be open in our lives
May we daily examine the Scriptures to see if Jesus is the Christ.
May we receive him with eagerness…even as we receive what you have said to us
May we be persuaded and then believe.
Amen

I don’t need saving! Do I?
Acts 16:25-40

Our Father,

You are the God of greatness

And we are far from you.

We don’t think there is anything wrong.

Our city is facing hell.

Our loved ones are facing hell.

O help us to believe in the Lord Jesus!

May we be full on in with Christ,

Not just intellectually connected,

Nor sentimentally religious,

But full on in with Jesus our Lord and our saviour.

Thank you for doing all that was necessary to save us.

Amen

The Conversion of Lydia 

Acts 16:6-26

Father open our ears and our hearts.

Like Lydia may we pay attention to the apostolic word.

May we be baptised trusting your word to us.

May our lives be filled with fruit.

May we desire to see others saved.

May we not shun suffering.

But instead embrace it

As we overflow with kindness and grace.

Taking what comes our way.

For your glory alone.

Amen

 

Prayer when I just don't want to: Nehemiah 13

Father Almighty

We long that our hearts might be changed

That our wills might desire you

That our thoughts might be pure

That our actions be godly.

O change us we pray!

Thank you that Christ did not come to change the externals alone but also to change our hearts.

Holy Spirit accelerate your work in us that we might truly love you even as we long for that day of culmination.

Amen

 

John 18:33-19:16

Our Father,

We have crucified the king;

But we do not feel the weight of our offence.

We have not recognised his majesty.

We have not expected his return.

Father have mercy on us.

Christ have mercy on us.

Spirit have mercy on us.

We declare that Jesus is our king.

May he be truth to us.

Take our thoughts captive under your rule.

May our speech be seasoned by his authority.

May our hearts be submissive to him alone.

Amen.

 

Nehemiah 11,12

Father we thank you that though we don’t see it, you are inexorably moving history towards the fulfilment of your promises.

We look forward to the day of complete fulfilment when your people will stand before you as your sons and daughters.

We look forward to the day when the first heaven and the first earth will be distant memories and chaos will be removed.

We look forward to the day when we will dwell with you as your people; to the day when you will be our God totally and completely not partially and superficially as we are so often guilty of today.

We long for that day when you will wipe our tears; and when death and pain will be no more.

May we live straining forward, longing for that day, full of mercy, sharing Christ.

We say with all of creation, “Come Lord Jesus come!”

Amen