Opening Prayers/Prayers of Adoration on Hunger
God, our heavenly Father
and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ:
We praise and thank you today and always!
You are worthy of our praise
simply for who You are:
You are good and You are strong,
You are gracious, just and loving.
As we confront this world that lacks hope,
a world caught up in war, hunger, poverty and
spiritual emptiness,
in Your great mercy You freely give us a new birth
into the living hope
through Jesus’ resurrection from the dead.
There is no darkness so great
that your light is not greater still.
There is not conflict so disruptive
that your peace cannot quell it.
There is no death so final,
that your resurrection life
cannot break its icy grip. And, …
There is no thief so sneaky or strong
that he can steal the inheritance you give
that can never perish, spoil or fade—
kept in heaven for us.
Therefore, we rightly worship You!
However, we are quick to trust
our strength more than yours,
our wisdom more than yours,
our abilities more than yours,
our resources more than yours.
our love more than yours.
And our misplaced trust in ourselves
has led us into sin.
(Prayer of Adoration)
Loving God—Father Son and Holy Spirit—
we come today as thirsty people
to You who are the Spring of Living Water.
We come as hungry people
to You who are the Bread of Heaven.
We come as sinful and lonely people
to You who are the Friend of Sinners.
We come as confused and lost people
to You as our Counselor, who is the Way, the Truth,
and our Pole Star.
With Thomas, we call Your our Lord and our God—
the giver of peace, the source of hope and the reason for our joy;
and that’s why we praise You.
That’s why we worship You.
(Prayer of Confession)
However, … sometimes we forget who You are
and begin to worship ourselves instead:
trusting our wisdom and strength more than Yours,
following our wants and desires more than Yours,
stealing for ourselves the honor and glory that’s Yours alone. We’ve loved ourselves too much,
others too little and You hardly at all.
Forgive us.
Help us to change—to think differently, to speak differently,
and to act differently.
Now, in the quiet of these moments, hear the cries of our hearts
declaring what we’re too ashamed of to say aloud: (silence).
(Assurance of Pardon)
Hear the Good News – Jesus Christ came in to the world to save sinners, like you and like me. By His grace active in your faith in Jesus as savior and Lord, I declare as true that you are forgiven and free from all your sins. Alleluia! AMEN.