Opening Prayers/Prayers of Adoration on Advent
Crowned and Coming
Inspired by 2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16; Luke 146b-55; Psalm 89:1-4, 19-26
Eternal One,
We wonder and marvel at your constancy
You alone are steadfast
Unwavering across the ages
You, remembering, gathering a covenant people
You, remembering, fulfilling your covenant promises
You, patiently tending your family tree
You, remembering us
We remembering you and your greatness
Hallelujah to our Savior and King!
Crowned and Coming
Whose Kingdom knows no end.
Remembering © 2017 Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia, www.revlisad.com
Hark the glad sound! The Savior comes,
The Savior promised long;
Let every heart prepare a throne
And every voice a song.
Our glad hosannas, Prince of Peace,
Your welcome shall proclaim,
And heaven’s eternal arches ring
With your beloved name. Amen.
Philip Doddridge, 1702-1751
Lord God, we adore you because you have come to us in the past.
You have spoken to us in the Law of Israel.
You have challenged us in the words of the prophets.
You have shown us in Jesus what you are really like.
Lord God, we adore you because you still come to us now.
You come to us through other people and their love and concern for us.
You come to us through men and women who need our help.
You come to us as we worship you with your people.
Lord God, we adore you because you will come to us at the end.
You will be with us at the hour of death.
You will still reign supreme when all human institutions fail.
You will still be God when our history has run its course.
We welcome you, the God who comes.
Come to us now in the power of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Contemporary Prayers for Public Worship, Ed. Caryl Mickelm, Erdmans, 1967.
Hark the glad sound! The Savior comes,
The Savior promised long;
Let every heart prepare a throne
And every voice a song.
Our glad hosannas, Prince of Peace,
Your welcome shall proclaim,
And heaven’s eternal arches ring
With your beloved name. Amen.
Philip Doddridge, 1702-1751
O Merciful God, who came in Jesus Christ with saving power to a world that walked in darkness and in the shadow of death, we praise and bless you for all those your servants who helped prepare the way for his appearing, and for those who received him and gave to him the worship of their hearts and lives.
For prophets who in the face of tyranny declared your truth and your righteousness, for psalmists who in days of gloom still believed in your great goodness and sang praises unto your name, and for innumerable regular saints who waited in patience and unfailing hope for the manifestation of your glory, we raise to you our grateful praise.
Grant, we ask you, that we in this time may show forth your salvation. Help us to put away all untruthfulness and all selfishness and greed, all malice and prejudice and cowardice. Let your Holy Spirit cleanse us from all our sins, and teach us to love one another even as you dost love us, that we may make manifest in our lives what you can do for your faithful people; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Ernest Fremont Tittle, Language modernized by Stuart Strachan Jr.
Gracious and faithful God
– our Creator, Redeemer and Comforter:
When we don’t know the way – You show us the way; and
When we can’t find a way – You make a way.
Thank you!
Thank you for Your gift of a Savior –
not a savior who stays distant and aloof,
but one who enters the warp and woof of our existence
as Emmanuel – God with us; and
who then sanctifies every place and time in which we live.
Prayer: You Are Near
Inspired by Matthew 1:18-25
Holy Comforter,
You are near when my dream dies.
You are near the brokenhearted.
Thanks be to you for a new dream and a future beyond my imagining.
Maker of Miracle,
You are near when I cannot see your will.
When a good choice, even a merciful choice, is not your choice.
Thanks be to you for correction and clarity.
Divine One,
You are near when I dismiss the holy.
When I say no to your call.
Thanks be to you for your patience, your persevering grace, and second chances.
O come, O come Emmanuel,
strengthen me with the promise of your steadfast presence and saving love,
set my heart and step to your righteousness end. Amen
*************
You are near © 2016 Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia, www.revlisad.com
Shall
The time is now, for you have called, O God
The place is now, for you have spoken
Yes, it is a wilderness, a desert even
So dry, so rough, so uneven
Yes, the gap is so very wide between the high and the low
But, you have called
You have spoken
Not an if or when or maybe
Not even a try
You have spoken shall
Every valley shall be lifted
Every mountain shall be made low
The uneven shall be made level
The rough shall be made smooth
So we will persevere in this wilderness of preparing
We will not forge a path or blaze a trail but make a highway
A highway for your coming
For your glory, O God shall be revealed in this place
And all shall see it
All shall see it together
Shall © 2018 Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia, www.revlisad.com