Gracious Heavenly Father,
Hallowed be your name this morning! O Lord, what a joy it is for us to gather together this morning before your throne, to worship you and exalt Christ, our risen Lord and Savior! Yes, Lord, we rejoice this morning for, by the blood of Christ, we have been reconciled to you and can now come into your presence without being destroyed and can commune with you, the source of our peace and joy! Praise be to Christ! Yes, may all that we do here this morning – from our singing, to our praying, to our giving, to our listening, to our fellowshipping and welcoming of guests – glorify you alone, O Lord. Lord, rid our minds of any desire to be seen by others this morning. Destroy in us, O Lord, the motivation to somehow earn your favor this morning, for your favor, O Lord, has been secured by the death and resurrection of Christ.
Adoration. O great and merciful God, we earnestly seek you this morning; our souls thirst for you; our flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. Because your steadfast love is better than life, our lips will praise you. We will bless you as long as we live; in your name we will lift up our hands. Our souls will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and our mouths will praise you with joyful lips, when we remember you upon our bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night; for you have been our help, and in the shadow of your wings we will sing for joy. Our soul clings to you and your right hand upholds us. (Psalm 63:1-8). Indeed, whom have we in heaven but you, O Lord? And there is nothing on earth that we desire besides you. Our flesh and our hearts may fail, but you are the strength of our hearts and our portion forever. (Psalm 73:25-26). Yes, Lord, we desire to be in your presence, for in your presence there is fullness of joy and at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. (Psalm 16:11). To you, O Lord, we lift up our souls and in you we trust. (Psalm 25:1-2). Praise be to you, Gracious Lord!
Thanksgiving. And Lord, we give thanks to you for your steadfast love stretches to the heavens and your faithfulness to the clouds. (Psalm 57:9-11). We give thanks to you, O Lord, for the many visitors you have drawn to Restoration Church over the last number of months, in particular, we praise you for bringing those who are not yet followers of Christ, that they might hear your Word faithfully proclaimed, repent of their sins, and trust in the only one who can save them, Jesus. May the eyes of their hearts be opened to the salvation found only in Christ! We give thanks, O Lord, for the work you are doing in Columbia Heights, as you prepare the way for the Spanish speaking church plant. We sing praises to your name, Gracious God, for the way you have used Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount to pierce to the division of our soul and spirit and discern the thoughts and intentions of our hearts. Lord, we pray by your grace and mercy that the Holy Spirit would continue to reveal hidden areas of sin in our lives, that we might mortify that sin at its very root! We thank you for the hospitality constantly being displayed within Restoration Church, and we pray that such love would continue to abound. We thank you, Lord, for bringing to us Christians who have been faithfully walking with you for many years, that we might learn from our older brothers and sisters in the faith! Lastly, we thank you for our newest members. We pray that they would be unified with our body quickly and that they would be built up in their faith!
Confession. And Lord, we ask for your forgiveness for those times over the last week when we’ve failed to count others as more significant than ourselves. Lord, give us a greater love for Christ and His church, that we might reflect His love for the body!
Petitions. Heavenly Father, we pray for those members currently on the fringes of our body. We pray that they would desire to delight in Christ with this community and that our body would be intentional in reaching out to them. Lord, bring them into our fellowship and grow them in unity with us! Loving God, we pray also for those within our body who are not yet married. Lord, help us to fully delight in Christ during this season, help us to faithfully steward our time for your kingdom and glory, and continue to grow us in holiness, O Lord. Gracious God, please bless our upcoming Engage Conference. Would many come and be motivated to reach the nations (even here in DC) for your glory and renown. We pray for our brothers and sisters at Redeemer Arlington Church, that they would hear faithful preaching, they would grow in unity, and that they would be a church that makes faithful disciples of Jesus Christ. We pray for our brothers and sisters around the world who are at this very moment experiencing persecution for the name of Christ. We pray that amidst their suffering they would be reminded that awaiting them in Heaven is an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, being kept for them. And for their persecutors, we pray their evil would be restrained, they would repent of their sin against you, O Lord, and trust in Christ, that they too might have the same salvation as us. Lastly, we pray for Joey’s sermon. Lord, would you allow Joey to be faithful to your Word, bold, articulate, and would you use his sermon to convict and encourage our hearts, that our affections for Christ would grow exponentially this morning!
We pray these things in the name of Christ! Amen.