Opening Prayers/Prayers of Adoration on Known by God
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)
(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.
(Prayer of Adoration)
(Prayer of Adoration)
We praise you, Lord for you are
all-wise and all-powerful,
faithful, loving and gracious,
holy, just, merciful, constant and pure,
omnipresent, intimate and immortal.
You are bigger than the known universe,
yet you know us each by name
and as close as our very breath.
You know all about us and still love us.
That’s why we praise you – that’s why we serve you.
(Prayer of Confession)
Yet – if we drop our masks and get real,
we admit we don’t praise you as you deserve,
nor do we serve you faithfully.
Forgive us – and hear our prayer of confession,
Amen.
God of grace who knows us intimately and wholly;
Who listens intently and persistently: We praise You.
You hear the prayers of our lips and our hearts.
You know our innermost thoughts and intentions.
And when we can’t pray, you even pray perfectly for us.
We’re amazed how well you know us and still love us,
that you want us to know you and want us near you.
Would that we should be so loving and gracious – with ourselves and others.
So wanting to be more like you and your Son, Jesus, we come acknowledging our sin, seeking your cleansing and forgiveness, as together we confess our sins saying …