Opening Prayers/Prayers of Adoration on Eternal Life
(Prayer of Adoration)
Father: You know us and love us from eternity.
Jesus: You love us enough to die for us
and be rise again to give us eternal life.
Spirit: You pour out love to us every day, in every way, in all places.
We praise and thank you, God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – for:
Your love is “patient and kind”.
Your love laughs when we laugh;
And Your love weeps when we weep.
Its endurance has no limit.
Its trust is endless. And its hope never fades.
Your love outlasts anything.
It’s the one thing left standing when all else has fallen.
That’s how you love us … thank you!
(Prayer of Confession)
But we fail to love like that.
Our love shifts with each change in the winds of fortune.
It’s impatient and selfish;
Given mostly to ourselves, sometimes to others,
And if there’s any left over – maybe we love you a little, too.
Heavenly Father, blessed Son, eternal Spirit,
We adore you as one Being, one Essence,
one God in three distinct Persons,
for bringing sinners to the knowledge of you and your kingdom.
O Father, you have loved us and sent Jesus to redeem us;
O Jesus, you have loved us and taken on our nature,
You who shed your own own blood to wash away our sins,
Who worked righteousness to cover our unworthiness;
O Holy Spirit, you have loved use and entered our hearts,
implanted there eternal life,
revealed to us the glories of Jesus.
Three Persons and one God, we bless and praise you,
for love so unmerited, so unspeakable, so wondrous,
so mighty to save the lost and raise them to glory.
O Father, we thank you that in fullness of grace
You have given me to Jesus,
to be his sheep, jewel, portion;
O Jesus, we thank you that in fullness of grace
You have accepted, supported, bound us;
O Holy Spirit, we thank you that in fullness of grace
You have exhibited Jesus as our salvation,
implanted faith within us,
subdued our stubborn hearts,
made us one with him forever.
O Father, you are enthroned to hear our prayers,
O Jesus, your hand is outstretched to take our petitions,
O Holy Spirit, you are willing to help our sufferings,
to show us our need, to supply words, to pray within us,
to strengthen us that we do not faint in our supplication.
O Triune God, who commanded the universe,
You have commanded us to ask for those things
that concerns your kingdom and our souls.
Let us live and pray as one baptized into the threefold Name.
Taken from The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions, ed. Arthur Bennett (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1975), 3. Language modernized for corporate worship by Stuart Strachan Jr.