Opening Prayers/Prayers of Adoration on God’s Omniscience
Inspired by Psalm 8
Lord, our Lord – How excellent is Your name in all the earth!
From star to star and galaxy to galaxy,
From pole to pole and horizon to horizon
There is no place where Your glory is hidden,
No-one and nothing
of which You are not beginning and end.
We praise You our Creator, Lord of all!
The heavens are Your throne room, and
the oceans of earth barely moisten the palm of Your hand.
Yet, You know each of us by name.
You where there when we were born.
You laughed at our first smile,
You cried when we cried
And when we slept, you stood by our cradle.
Still – you laugh when we smile, cry when we cry
And stand guard over us when we are asleep or awake.
We worship You – our Father-God, Lord and Holy Spirit.
However, we admit to being mystified about “Why?”
We know ourselves too well;
and wonder why anyone should care;
especially the Lord of all!
We hide behind masks of civility – afraid;
afraid that if others knew us as we really are
they couldn’t or wouldn’t love us.
But you know us,
you know us better than we know ourselves;
and You still love us … You still care.
You care so much that You run after us
when we run away from you.
And although you love us as we are,
You also love us too much to leave us that way.
It’s your love and grace, then,
which allows us to come out from behind our masks,
to step out from our protective walls, and
acknowledge who we really are,
confessing our sins corporately and individually
using the prayer of confession in our bulletin –
(Read together … time of silence)
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.