Blessed be you, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.

We praise you, Father, because you blessed unworthy sinners to whom you owed nothing but justice for their rebellion. We praise you, Father, because you blessed us with every spiritual blessing. You provided redemption in Jesus, the forgiveness of our evils, you made known to us your will, which was hidden from us, you gave us an imperishable inheritance, and the Holy Spirit as a pledge of our inheritance. The power you used to raise Christ from the dead is the same power who is at work in our lives.

We praise you, Father, for blessing us in the heavenly places where you are. You did not leave us cursed as we deserved, witting and unwitting participants in rebellion against you, together with powers and principalities more powerful than us, but you transplanted us from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light.

We praise you, Father, for choosing us before the foundation of the world, thus taking away all reasons for human pride. Before the world was, you appointed that we would be sons and daughters through Jesus, even heirs. Servants would have been more than enough, but you made us sons and daughters. Blessed be your name!

Father, we confess we have not thought enough about your blessings. We have loved the world and the things of the world. We have loved the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life. We treated you like second best, something good to have in the service of fulfilling what our instincts told us was good and desirable.

We confess we have behaved like rebellious children. We heard the truth of who we are, sons and daughters, beautiful heirs, loved and cherished by you, and we heard the truth about how we should live. But we turned around to follow our sinful instincts, believed lies, and sought the approval of the world. We thought you were too distant and slow in fulfilling your promises. So we took matters into our hands. We found your calling to be to the praise of the glory of your grace, to be too boring and not fun. We believed the lies of the world and acted upon them.

Forgive us Father our rebellion. Forgive us for trampling on your sacrificial love. Have mercy on our souls! Help us turn our back on our sins!

We thank you that in Christ you provide forgiveness of sins. We thank you that you treat us as sons and daughters and that your response to our rebellion is one of a father’s loving discipline and guidance. We than you that you do not leave us prey to our sinful instincts and desires but put boundaries to keep us from all sorts of evils and, ultimately, death.

We thank you for your Word, which you gave us to guide us and to tell us what is true and what is not. We thank you for your Holy Spirit who helps us understand your word and who is a pledge of our adoption as sons and daughters. We thank you for the church which you have saved to reveal your glory and grace. We thank you that we are not alone, having given us both the Spirit and the church. We thank you that we have plenty of opportunities to love our neighbors and, especially, our brothers and sisters.

We thank you Father for your calling. We thank you that you have not called us to be CEOs, presidents, do-ers or think-ers, or great men and women who accomplish great feats. We thank you that you have called us to be sons and daughters of the Most High God. We thank you that you have called us to be for the praise of the glory of your grace!

And we pray that we would indeed be to the praise of the glory of your grace. We pray that we would live by faith in your promises and grace, not by what we do. We pray we would seek your glory, not our own. We pray we would praise you more, Father. We pray we would be quick to speak well of you.

Father, we pray that we would love one another, even as it is difficult. Let us not rely on our own understanding or power, but on your grace and let us give you praise when you provide help in loving our brothers and sisters. Help seek not be self-preoccupied, but quick to spot needs in the lives of our church family, and quick to act. Help us rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep.

Father, we pray that we would proclaim the Gospel in this city and beyond. Let us not be afraid of the world and its push-back but be bold to declare your grace to save. Help us not be afraid but look to the cloud of witnesses who surround us, starting with Christ and the saints of old and ending with today’s saints who suffer for your name all of over the world. Let us not shrink back in fear, but live as sons and daughters, pre-destined for life, proclaiming your glory.

Father make your name great! Empower your church to proclaim your glory! Provide grace to your people who suffer for the Gospel in the Middle East and Africa. May they know and believe that they are Your loved sons and daughters. Help them love one another as well as their enemies, who are enslaving and killing them and their families. Help us not close our eyes to the suffering of our brothers and sisters but love them in any way we can.

Father blessed be your name. In Christ’s name, Amen.