Opening Prayers/Prayers of Adoration on God’s Character
Adapted from 1 Chronicles 29:10-13, NIV
Praise be to you, O LORD,
God of our father Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting.
Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power
and the glory and the majesty and the splendor,
for everything in heaven and earth is yours.
Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom;
you are exalted as head over all.
Wealth and honor come from you;
you are the ruler of all things.
In your hands are strength and power
to exalt and give strength to all.
Now, our God, we give you thanks,
and praise your glorious name.
The majesty of God
Cannot be measured
By human instruments,
Cannot be constrained
Within human boundaries,
Cannot be contained
Within human vessels,
Cannot be explained
By human thought,
Cannot be dismissed
By argument or reason.
The majesty of God
Is beyond human comprehension.
Yet can be known,
And touched,
Understood ,
And received,
In the simple act
Of worship
John Birch, Faith and Worship
(Prayer of Adoration)
Good and Gracious Lord,
You hold us in the palm of Your strong hand,
working all things for our good and to Your glory.
There is no place we can go
that escapes your notice
and is hidden from your loving attention.
We are amazed by your power
and in awe of Your grace:
Your take what’s inadvertently or intentionally evil
and bend it to Your will and ways.
(Prayer of Confession)
We cover our sin.
Thinking we can hide from You.
we run, afraid you’ll find us out;
afraid that if you – or others – really knew us
no-one would love us.
We try to run our own lives,
and the lives of others,
attempting to be our own gods.
We love you too little,
we love others hardly at all,
and we love ourselves too much.
Hear our silent confession
and our whispers as we name our sin before You;
and, we pray, forgive us!
(Silence … 30-45 seconds)
God of power, love and wisdom:
you’ve known us and loved us from before we even were,
and extended your grace to us before we knew your name. You save us from ourselves –
from our arrogance, rebellion and sin;
and from the powers of the world and devil
which seek to ensnare us.
And you save us for something, as well –
for a new life of holiness
and for a great purpose:
to guard your gospel by giving it away in truth.
For all of this: we thank you and praise you.
Because of this: we can trust you and depend on you.
Lord – We come this morning at the start of another week to worship You, our Alpha and Omega, our beginning and end.
You guided, protected, strengthened and blessed us this past week – for which we thank You and praise You.
There’s no one like You. There’s no one who loves us like You do; no one who knows us like You do; no one so good and so strong, so powerful and compassionate as You. We worship You in glory.
You bind us one to another – each of us to You and all of us to each other. Together You make us Your family, marking us with the same Spirit. Thank You.
You show us Your way, give us Your truth and impart Your life to us in Your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord – the One who we trust. Bless you, God our Savior.
(Prayer of Adoration)
Holy God of light and glory:
You alone are good.
You alone are pure and righteous.
And, therefore,
You alone are worthy of our praise,
our devotion and honor.
In the brilliance of Your light,
we are revealed as we are and
left speechless … without excuse;
were it not for Your grace and mercy
we are hopeless as well.
(Prayer of Confession)
Seeing who we really are,
we can hide no longer behind our bravado,
our rationalizations and our protests.
We confess that we are sinners
in need of your forgiveness.
As individuals and as a body.
we therefore join our hearts and voices to pray
together confessing our sins …
(time of silence) AMEN.
(Prayer of Adoration)
Lord—you’re sufficient in everything.
You can create w/o us; save w/o our assistance;
bring good out of evil, hope from despair and restore what
we mess up. You’re sovereign and we’re not.
Yet, and this boggles my mind –
You invite us to join with You as partners in Your work! You first make us joint heirs with Jesus
and then co-laborers in Your kingdom.
Imagine that – we’re privileged to make a difference
in Your world, in your church
and in the lives of people you love so much
you gave your Son for them.
It can’t get much better than that!
(Prayer of Confession)
But, Father – we confess we’re not satisfied.
You invite us to serve you and to serve with you –
and we want to be served by you and others.
You honor us as your children – calling us by name in love;
and we use your name flippantly and loosely.
You empower us to be your followers –
but we use power for ourselves, pushing You aside.
You give us your wisdom in Scripture and by Your Spirit –
and we think we know better
how to run our lives and your world.
Forgive us! Forgive our foolish arrogance and pride.
Forgive us for taking your gifts intended for others
and using them for ourselves.
Forgive us for forgetting who we are
and whose we are as Christian people.
Forgive the selfishness of our hearts
and the selfishness of our actions.
Forgive it all, and more – and make us more like Jesus
in our thinking, our feeling, our speaking and in our acting.
Please, Lord Jesus; in whose name we pray—AMEN.
(Assurance of Pardon)
As the apostle announced – The mystery of godliness is great: The Son of God appeared in a body, was vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the nations, believed on in the world and taken up into glory—all for our salvation. For this is a trustworthy saying worthy of full acceptance: Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, like you & me. Dear Friends – because that’s true: by His grace active through your faith in Jesus Christ as Lord & Savior, I declare w/ confidence you’re forgiven and free of all your sins. Alleluia! Amen.