Opening Prayers/Prayers of Adoration on Protection
You, Lord God, made the eternal fabric of the world appear, and you created the earth. You are always trustworthy, you judge fairly, excellent and marvelous in your power; wise in creating and careful to make firm what you have made, blessing us with the visible creation and dependable for those who trust in you, merciful and compassionate. Forgive us our sins and our shortcomings, our breaking of your laws and our lack of righteousness. We are your servants; do not blame us for all that we have done wrong, but make us clean with your truth, and guide our steps to walk in holiness and righteousness and singleness of heart, that we may do those good things which will please you and win the favor of our rulers.
Lord, make your face to shine upon us in peace, for our good, that we may be sheltered by your mighty hand and set free from the consequences of sin by the power of your arm. Protect us against those who unjustly hate us. Give peace and harmony to us and to all who dwell on earth, while we obey your almighty and most excellent name, and while we obey our earthly rulers and governors, as you did to our ancestors, when they prayed to you in faith and truth with holiness.
Clement of Rome, 1 Clement 60. Quoted in Walter Mitchell, Trns, Early Christian Prayers, ed., A. Hamman, Longman Green, London, and Henry Regnery, Chicago, 1961.
God our Father,
Lord our Shepherd,
Spirit of the Living God,
One in Three … and Three in One:
We praise You our Creator, Savior, and Provider.
By Your grace, we lack nothing.
You feed us in body and in soul.
You give us rest when we are weary.
You direct us on ways that are good and right.
You go with us through the dark times
so we will not walk them alone.
You protect us in Your goodness
with Your strength.
You spread before us
a banquet in the wilderness
and a feast in the face of whoever
and whatever threatens us.
You pour over us Your oils
of cleansing grace, of healing, and of gladness.
And no matter where we have wandered,
You open wide Your arms to welcome us home.
That is why we praise You;
That is why we love You;
That is why we are here to worship You today,
our God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
the One in Three and the Three in One. AMEN.
(Prayer of Adoration)
Lord, our Lord – How excellent is your name in all the earth.
Because of who you are – we praise You.
Because of what you’ve done – we thank You.
You are a Father to the fatherless.
the Strength of the weak,
the Protector of the powerless,
and an Advocate for the disenfranchised …
just in all your ways and righteous in all your judgments.
While those all around us spin facts and lie to us,
You alone speak clear, unvarnished truth.
While the love of most comes with small print and strings attached,
Your love is gracious, unfettered and free.
(Prayer of Confession)
Yet – when we encounter the light of Your purity, truth and glory,
we ourselves are revealed for who we are,
our shadow-sides are unmasked,
our motives laid bare
and we must confront what we’d rather hide or hide from.
However, we know your grace is sufficient for even that,
and Your mercy is lavish beyond imagination.
So we humbly come to you confessing our errors, faults and sins –
all of which are first degree –
Amen.
(Assurance of Pardon)
The love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting.
Nothing you do can make Him love you any less …
so free and gracious is His love;
And nothing you do can make Him love you any more …
so abundant and overwhelming is His love for you.
Because of His grace, mercy and love for us:
I declare to you
that by His grace active in your faith
in Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior –
you are forgiven all your sins;
and you are free
to live life in the joy and fullness of the Spirit
now and always. AMEN!
Inspired by Psalm 27
All: Oh Lord, my Light, my Life, my Joy, my Peace—with you I find refuge from danger, shelter from the storms in my life. You are good and you do good. You are the Strength of my life, and I look to you for power. On this Lord’s Day, as we worship you in spirit and in truth, there is one thing that we seek: You. We want to worship You. We want to tell You and each other how great and mighty and gentle and kind You have been to us. We gaze upon Your beauty, not because our eyes are worthy to behold You; we gaze upon Your beauty, not because we are sinless like You; no, we gaze upon Your beauty because You have called us, washed away our sins through the blood of Christ, and You have raised us with Him to new life through His resurrection. Since You have been so gracious to us, we do not doubt that You will bring us safely home into the arms of our Savior, in whose name we pray, Amen.
Submitted by Dustin Ray