Kathryn Feliciano

Worship through Prayer

Lord, indeed our sins are many, but your mercy is more. You are rich in love, patience and kindness towards sinful, rebellious people. You are united in your character as one in three, perfectly loving from before time began. We praise you Lord, for you are good. We sing to your name, for it is pleasant. We praise you that you chose a people for your own possession. You are great and are far above all other things we may be tempted to worship. You are sovereign in your will and sovereign over the majesty of changing seasons. We praise you for the beauty of changing colors in the leaves, and the way you have ordered your creation throughout the year. You were sovereign to free your people from slavery to sin through the death of your firstborn, just as you freed your people from slavery in Egypt. You are the God of nations and you build up and strike down rulers and authorities. Your name endures forever, your renown, O Lord throughout all ages. You are full of compassion on your people, uniting those who were strangers and aliens to be members of your household, building them into a holy temple to magnify your name.

Lord, we confess that we don’t always act like a people united into one household.  We are inclined to show love to people with whom we have much in common while neglecting to love our brothers and sisters that we have nothing in common with apart from Christ.  We harbor attitudes of racism in our hearts and actions. We proudly consider ourselves better than others instead of emulating Christ who came to earth not to be served, but to serve.  We love to glorify ourselves but are so slow to think of your glory.

Thank you Lord that you sent Christ into this world to pay the penalty that our sins rightly deserved.  And thank you for new life in Christ, freeing us from being slaves to our sin.

Lord, we pray for the victims of the shootings in Pittsburgh and Louisville yesterday. Our hearts cry out for justice against the perpetrators of such violence, and we pray for wisdom, integrity and diligence for the authority figures involved with these events, that they would administer justice well. We pray that you would return soon to bring a new heaven and new earth without racism or shootings. We pray for an end to anti-semitism and white supremacism. We pray that you would work in the hearts of all people who desire to carry out racial violence and show them the error in their ways. We pray also for the families of those who lost their lives yesterday. We pray for your peace and comfort as they grieve. We pray that you would surround them with people that would image your love and be a help to them. We pray that you would use these acts of evil for good, that you would use it to show those who speak in racially inflammatory ways the consequences of their words and call them to repentance, that you would give the families of victims the strength to image you in radical forgiveness, and that you would draw people to yourself.  We pray also for the wounded, for safe and speedy recoveries, and for those who were present and uninjured physically but suffer psychological scars from what they’ve seen. Show them your love and comfort them Lord.

Thank you that your sent your son to reconcile your enemies to you and in so doing reconcile them to each other.  Thank you that you are a God of justice, and that even as we grieve over loss of life and the brokenness of our world, that you grieve all the more, and that you did not just grieve from afar, but entered in to our brokenness in order to bring peace.

We pray that you would make Restoration Church a beacon of unity in a world that seeks to divide.  We thank you for the many ways in which our church has diversity of people being brought together by the gospel and we pray for increased diversity, and increased unity among those who the world might expect to be divided, that we would vividly demonstrate your power to unite those that would not otherwise be united.  We pray also for the churches in Pittsburgh. We pray that you would enable them to love their Jewish neighbors in their community well. We pray that Central Church of Pittsburgh, H2O Church, Renaissance Church, River City Church and the other churches near Tree of Life Synagogue would act out your love in their communities and preach your gospel faithfully.

Lord, we ask that you would glorify your name in Washington DC, in Pittsburgh, in Louisville, and throughout the world.  Hasten the day of your return we pray. In Jesus name, amen.

by Kathryn Feliciano

Worship through Prayer

Father,

We praise you for your great mercy and power.

Your mercy is amazing! You took sinners, dead in their trespasses and you brought them back to life. Death was the just punishment which you had inflicted on us due to our rebellion and you owed us nothing, but you showed us mercy. And the mercy was amazing!

You did not try to pour out “comfort” grace on us, whereby our quality of earthly life improved. You did not take it upon yourself to provide us with food or healing or peace among ourselves or consequential lives. You gave us life-giving grace. You loved us when we didn’t love you back.  You brought us to eternal life, you welcomed us in your presence, you made us part of your family and you promised to continue to bestow rich grace upon us in eternity. Your mercy and your grace are amazing!

And Father, how powerful you are! We are but specks of dust, blown left and right by the wind. But you are almighty. In Christ, you bring dead people to life. You provide good things for them to walk into and you provide eternity for them.

Ah, Lord, how powerful you are! Our hearts are more deceitful than all else and desperately sick. We love all the wrong things and hate the good things. People have tried for millennia tame the heart and to shape people to do good but have only created monsters. But you, in your great power have taken our monstrous hearts and renewed them to love what is good and to love you, the Good Lord. In your great power you freed us from our fleshly, fallen desires and affections and gave us godly desires and affections.

Father, how powerful you are! How many of us could stand our hearts and our lives being torn apart by our acts of love? And what acts of love! Love for enemies and for rebels, who still don’t get what you have done for them. But in your great power, you loved, you suffered, and you conquered. The world has power to build castles of sand and to destroy. You, however, have power to love your enemies into eternal life!

We thank you Father that we are blessed to receive the benefits of your mercy and power. You saved us in Jesus and made us new. We thank you Father that we can love you and love good, rather than live in the lusts of our flesh. We don’t have to serve our primitive instincts anymore. We thank you we don’t have to live lies and to work hard to maintain lies to feel good about ourselves. We thank you that you are giving us new affections and works to walk into, works that are for your glory. We thank you that you gave us a place in your presence and that we will be able to enjoy your beauty forever.

We thank you Father that you have not left us alone but have given us the Holy Spirit as a guarantee and to guide us in the truth. We thank you that you have put us in the church to encourage and to love one another and to proclaim the great news of your mercy and love. We thank you that you provide for us not only these amazing, unimaginable things, but also day-to-day grace in a lot of small ways we tend to forget.

Father, we pray for your name to be glorified. You alone deserve glory and we pray that we, as individuals and as an assembly of saints, would work, strive and sweat to give you glory, rather than to ourselves. We pray that we would be captivated by your plans and your goals, rather than with whatever the world wants us to be captivated by.

We pray Father that we would no longer live in the lusts of the flesh, but in increasing affection for good, truth and love. We pray that we would cultivate these in each other’s lives and not walk in the course of the world anymore. Father help us conduct our lives, the lives you re-created a great cost to yourself, in a manner worthy of your grace. We pray we would accept the good works you prepared for us to walk into. Father helps us not miss the daily acts of love.

Father, the greatest accomplishment in the history of the world is yours. The good news of salvation in Jesus has no equal. Prophets of old and kings wanted to have seen these things and angels cannot get over them. And yet, we Father, so often forget them and casually look over them. And we don’t talk about them for fear of earthly loss and suffering. We pray Father our eyes would be enlightened to grasp what you have done and to proclaim it.

Help us love our lost neighbors enough to tell them the Gospel. Help us love one another enough to be a testimony to your amazing grace and power. Help us love our brothers and sisters in the Middle East who are hunted and cast out for their faith in Jesus. Help us pray, encourage and serve them. And help us, we pray, to follow in their footsteps and carry our crosses.

We pray for your church Iran, that it would continue to grow. Give the Iranian people thirst for true life, dreams of Jesus and to enable them to hear the Gospel and believe it. We pray that you encourage and strengthen your servants there to preach the Gospel, to take away their fear of pain, fear of losing their families and fear of losing their lives. Father, please protect them from evil.

In Christ’s name, Amen.

by Kathryn Feliciano

Worship through Prayer

by Kathryn Feliciano

Worship through Prayer

Merciful and gracious, Lord, we are thankful that we do not labor for the gospel alone. We praise you for other healthy churches in and around our city. Bless the faithful labors of Del Ray Baptist, 4^thPresbyterian, Arlington Baptist Church, The Well Church in Silver Spring and Restoration City Church in Alexandria. Build up your people and bring many to faith in Christ through Mercy of Christ Fellowship, Waterfront Church, Mercy Hill, McLean Bible Church, and Pillar DC.

For the glory of Christ, we pray that you would use gospel-motivated ministries like The Central Union Mission, DC127, Mission Muffins, and The Porch to bring hope to the hurting and healing to the broken. Give the leadership of these ministries wisdom and insight as they seek to steward limited resources for your glory and our neighbor’s good.

Holy, all-wise, sovereign, God, we pray for the government officials in Washington, DC. Give Mayor Bowser and Police Chief Newsham and Fire Chief Dean wisdom as they seek to reduce violent crimes in the District. Give these city officials a sense of compassion and justice that they might bear your image and serve your image bearers. We pray for the social workers and school administrators and teachers in our communities. In your common grace Lord, give these men and women the resources they need to effectively serve those in their care. Tear down every biased or prejudiced system that unfairly discriminates and prevents children from receiving a robust education.

And we pray not just for our local leaders and laws, but also the leaders and government at the national level. Grant our President, representatives, and senators wisdom and surround them with wise counselors. Give them a deep sense of their responsibility to serve the country not just seek personal gain or only pursue political agendas. Sovereign and gracious God, bend these hearts toward true justice and righteousness that promotes the dignity of all people – men and women, all races and ethnicities, all religious backgrounds, all sexual orientations, all ages – from the womb until natural death. Grant discernment and the conviction to do what is right even among those leaders and officials who deny you.

We pray for those of us who are angry or hurting and those of us who are hopeless or weary because of the constant barrage of skewed news stories, unfair caricatures, and intentional divisiveness. We admit that we desire justice but we often don’t know exactly what justice requires.We also pray for those who are hurting because recent events have brought painful reminders of how they have been hurt and abused in the past, and perhaps ignored or marginalized. Comfort us in your steadfast kindness, oh Lord! Help us, in our conversations with those inside the church and those outside, both those in person and those online, to always speak in a manner that gives grace and builds up, not to destroy.

Father, we come to you in the name of Jesus, and we pray not only for what’s near to us, but what’s near to your heart – and that includes the nations. Raise up church planters among the unreached in Bhoi in India and Socotran in Yemen. For the glory of Christ, establish an indigenous church among the BK in NIQ. Grant grace to M and E and J and others as they labor to complete the B New Testament. Gracious God, use the former Restoration Church members in Uganda, Switzerland, Australia, Korea, Croatia, Germany, Rawanda, Canada, and Guam, to make disciples that delight in the supremacy of Christ. And raise up more laborers for the harvest among the nations!

Let us, Lord, let us as Christians be a light of hope and happiness. Holy Spirit remind us that you have sealed us in Christ and in him we have an eternal inheritance. Our hope is not in this world, but in the One who will usher in the world to come. We praise you that King Jesus is on the throne right now and forever more. We praise you that he is reigning and he is soon returning to restore the world back to perfection, uniting all things in heaven and all things on earth. We pray rejoicing and resting in his name, the name of Jesus. Amen.

by Kathryn Feliciano

Worship through Prayer

Father, we gather here this morning and we declare, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” We praise your holy name this morning. We proclaim your excellencies and savor your goodness. Triune God, we worship you. Father, we praise you for planning our salvation. Jesus, we praise you for purchasing our salvation. Holy Spirit, we praise you for preserving us in our salvation.

Holy Spirit, open the eyes of our hearts this morning that we might behold the wonders of our redemption in Christ Jesus, our Redeemer. Replace the false ideas that assault our conscience telling us that we are too rebellious or too unworthy to be redeemed from slavery to sin. Remind us of the extravagant grace found in Jesus.

We marvel this morning that you lavish the riches of your grace upon us. So we come before you freely admitting our rebellion against you and disordered loves for things other than you. We repent of the greed that grips our hearts and the slanderous words that come from our mouths. We repent of the bitterness we harbor and the selfishness we enjoy. Forgive us, O Lord, we pray. We confess that some of us have decidedly pursued immorality this week; some of us have willfully abused drink and food and other substances; some of us have lied to our spouse. Forgive us, O Lord. We confess that we often long more for your gifts than for you. We acknowledge that we doubt your goodness and struggle to believe you are actually for us. Forgive us, O Lord. We praise you that in Christ Jesus – through his blissful life of perfection, his sin-bearing death of crucifixion, his heaven-purchasing resurrection – we have all that we need to be redeemed from our sin and into your sweet presence, now and forever.

We marvel this morning that you lavish the riches of your grace upon us. So we come praying for those of us who are weary and downcast. We pray for those of us who are grieving this morning, those who feel the pressures of life pressing in on their soul, those who are tangibly aware of the brokenness of this world. Lift up our souls with the hope of the gospel, with the reality of heaven. Give us gracious words to speak to each other that we might build one another up. Give us the grace to be true friends who weep with those who weep, who carry each other’s burdens and sorrows as our own. Give us the grace to know others and genuinely understand them, not just seek to be known and understood.

We marvel this morning that you lavish the riches of your grace upon us. So we come praying for those of us who are encouraged and excited about all that you’re doing. Fan the flames of gospel passion that burn deep within us. Use us to encourage others, to evangelize those who do not know Jesus. Use us to eagerly disciple others and cultivate unity and to serve the marginalized, to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with you, our God.

We marvel this morning that you lavish the riches of your grace upon us. So we come praying for other churches in this city that preach and practice the gospel. Bless Capitol Hill Baptist and Anacostia River Church. Give wisdom to the saints at Redeemer City and Veritas Church. Exalt Jesus through Union Church, King’s Church, Grace DC, Church of the Advent, Christ our Shepherd, and Mercy of Christ Fellowship.

We marvel this morning that you lavish the riches of your grace upon us and you are uniting all things, things in heaven and things on earth in Christ. So we come praying for heaven to break-in to earth now. We lament the brokenness of this world. We mourn that your image bearers are abused, marginalized and exploited. We grieve that suffering exists in so many forms around the world. We lament famine and poverty and hurricanes and tsunamis. We praise you God that in your justice you care for the oppressed, weak, vulnerable, and for the otherwise helpless in this world; help us bear your image in this.

For the glory of Christ, bring an end to racism – both the kind that resides in our hearts and that which permeates many institutionalized structures and systems. For the glory of Christ, bring an end to poverty and famine. For the glory of Christ, bring an end to fatherless homes and human trafficking. For the glory of Christ, bring an end to every kind of abuse – both that which we regularly see in the news and that which hides behind closed doors. And, Lord where it’s hidden in the dark, expose it that the light of the gospel might burst in with healing. Use us, Lord, use us to holistically care for those around us. Use the people and resources of Restoration Church to care for the hurting; to stand for what is right, good and true; to promote justice and demand the end to injustices; to give hope to the hopeless.

This morning, Lord, we are sorrowful, yet we always rejoice. We rejoice because the tomb is empty and heaven is coming. Sustain us and strengthen us and use us for the glory of Christ and good of our neighbor until we meet Jesus face-to-face. Amen.

by Kathryn Feliciano

Worship through Prayer

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.

by Kathryn Feliciano

Worship through Prayer

Gracious heavenly Father, we come before you with confidence and boldness in the name of Jesus Christ. We praise your holy name. We rejoice in your mercy and steadfast love. We rest in your grace and peace. Holy Spirit, remind us of all that we have in Christ Jesus.

We pray for those of us who are weak and weary this morning. We pray for those of us who have lost loved ones – give us the grace to mourn well and grieve with hope. We pray for those of us with unmet desires – whether that's a spouse or children or a different job or anything else. Give us the grace, O Lord, to desire legitimate things yet not be driven to despair when those things don’t come to be. We pray for those of us who are trusting in Christ yet still struggle with the guilt of sin that we have committed or the shame from being sinned against or taken advantage of.

In your kindness Lord, soothe our self-condemning thoughts, apply the balm of the gospel to our shame-shackled hearts reminding us that the Jesus Christ – his perfect life, his sin-paying, shame-shattering death and his Satan-defeating, grave-conquering resurrection – says what’s most true about us. Holy Spirit, give us the grace to understand more fully who we are in Christ Jesus – that the Father thinks about us and feels for us the same thing he feels for his beloved eternal Son, Jesus. Wonder of wonders, O Lord, comfort us with these glorious truths this morning.

We pray for those here this morning who are not trusting in Christ alone for the joy of salvation, those who are trying to do enough good deeds to earn your approval, for those who think they have to clean themselves up before coming to you. Holy Spirit, give the gift of repentance and faith that those who are blind might see, that the lost might be found, that the prodigals might run home realizing all the while their Heavenly Father accepts them fully in Christ Jesus.

This morning Lord, we rejoice in your kindness to our church. In your sovereign grace, you have given us deep unity in the gospel. May we celebrate our diversity while cultivating that unity all the more. Help us put personal preference below gospel priority that we might walk in unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Lord, you have raised up elders and deacons and community group leaders and Restoration Kid disciplers many other choice servants. We ask that you would give us even more humble, servant leaders that we might continue making disciples that delight in the supremacy of Jesus Christ. Strengthen and mature many of our men that they might become elders in the next year or two.

As CGs start back, we pray for our leaders. Give these men and women grace as they do the difficult work of serving week after week. Use our CGs to help us treasure Christ and encourage each other as we journey toward heaven together.

This morning, we pray for D&J, as they begin their marriage, give them fun and laughter. More importantly, mark them by humility that they might joyfully serve one another as they picture Christ and the Church. Strengthen all of the marriage at Restoration that everyone of them might display the sacrificial love of Jesus and his bride. And we pray Lord for all those who are unmarried. We praise you for them and thank you for the ways they remind us of the sweet sufficiency that Christ alone provides. Encourage our brother and sisters we pray.

We thank you Lord that we get to labor alongside other churches here in Washington, DC. Give grace to Washington International as they look for a pastor. Continue to use Grace DC, Grace Meridian Hill and Grace Mosaic to exalt Christ. For the glory of Christ, plant many more churches through Capitol Hill Baptist and Redeemer Arlington. Give grace to The Well in Silver Spring and Sublime Gracia in Columbia Heights – use them to see many come to faith. And we pray, O Lord, for the eternal glory of Jesus Christ that you would advance the gospel among the Kurds in Iraq. Grant J&J much grace as they get settled back in country. Give R&E much rest and rejuvenation as they spend time stateside. Raise up men and women from among us, Lord, to take the gospel to the nations.

This morning, as we begin our sermon series in the book of Ephesians, we pray for Nathan as he faithfully and tirelessly labors to preach your word. Give him grace in his effort to feed us with your word. And give us soft hearts to hear your word. Holy Spirit convict us, change us, rebuke us, encourage us, motivate us with the glory of Jesus Christ revealed from the pages of Scripture. We pray all of this in Jesus name. Amen.

by Kathryn Feliciano

Worship through Prayer

Oh Lord, our God, salvation belongs to you. The angels, rightfully sing your praises even now, and so we join in, with them. One voice of a throng that joyfully sings to you.

You are timeless, oh God, and yet you graciously enter time.

Your power is immeasurable, and yet you are tender.

You are set apart, and yet you stepped in.

You are faithful, and yet you are patient with us when we are not.

You are just, and yet you are also gracious.

You are love, and yet you love us when we do not love you.

How wonderful are you, oh God? Time does not permit us to consider the excellencies of your glory. If we had a thousand days to do nothing but consider you, we would not begin to have enough time. You dwell in unapproachable light and reign over the universe. As we slept last night you were doing 10,000 things. As we pray now, you receive the praise and thanksgivings of millions. How good it is to think upon you, Lord. How good it is. Because you are the definition of goodness, glory, and love. You are God, the only God.

And, yet so often, Lord we do not set our thoughts upon you. We are slow to think on you, slow to speak of you, slow to lift our voices in praise to you. Some of us were slow to come to this gathering this morning. We are want to pray. Want to sing. Want to encourage others in Christ. Oh Lord, you are magnificent, and we are dull.

So often, Lord, we confess that we’d rather talk about the circumstances of our lives…our jobs, our sleepless nights, family matters, or more trivial matters like what we had for dinner last night, before we speak of you to others. Forgive us Lord, for how often we act as though you were light and fluffy when in fact we know that you are deep and heavy. Forgive us for our disinterest in you. Forgive us for our disinterest in speaking of you to others that need to hear of you. Forgive us for our fears that, too often, protect our self-image before we promote the image of Christ in others. Our allegiance is all too often focused on ourselves and not enough on you or the good of our neighbor.

Forgive us, Lord, for sexual immorality, for greed, for gossip, and for slander. Forgive us for our lack of thankfulness. Forgive those that have not served the church, but only sustainably received from her. Forgive those who have not given to the church or to the poor and the needy. God, we are a mess. We admit it. We need your grace; and oh how glad we are to know that you generously provide it for us in Christ.

Thank you that in Christ all of our sins are forgiven. By His blood the penalty of our trespasses are dealt with, once and for all. Thank you that in Christ we are free from the guilt of our sin and free to then love as you loved us.

Thank you for ways A and E loved others this week as you loved them. Thank you for A and M, and the ways they loved each other as you loved them. Thank you for A and H who strive to know you and make you known. Thank you for J and M and the way they have shown us Jesus. Thank you for C, M, C, and T who loved you by praying to you this week. Oh Lord, we have so much to be thankful for.

Towards that end, we pray to you, our Sovereign God. Seeking you to move for the sake of your glory.

For North Wake Church in Wake Forest, NC, as they continue their preaching series on love, will you give their people new and profound insights into the depth of your love for them and from that, will you move them to love their neighbor’s sacrificially

Here in D.C., we pray for Redeemer City Church, bless their time in the letter to Timothy. Show them the hope of Christ and the aim of their charge as love…keep them faithful as they seek to stand firm in the grace of Christ. Bless our brother K and our sister M as they are here with us. May they sense your love for them among us so that they might be refueled to go back to the saints at Redeemer City this week knowing and believing that they are not alone in the great task of making disciples. Remind them that they are not alone. You are with them, and so are we.

Father, we pray for the pastors that were part of the training in Nairobi this past week. As they learned about prayer, the sufficiency of Scripture, church discipline, and church membership from pastors K, C, and V, among others, I pray that this would result in more and more and more healthy churches that proclaim Christ not only there in Kenya, but also in the other countries of Africa. Reclaim pastors and churches that bought into the lie of the health, wealth, and prosperity Gospel and lead them into beautiful cities that reflect the supremacy of Christ.

As we pray for the church in Africa, we pray for our brother D in Uganda, Lord, as he is receiving death threats from family members for placing his faith in Christ, would you strengthen him and cause him to testify boldly about the truthfulness of Christ? Would you turn his wife and children to you as well? Show them in the suffering of their husband and father that Christ is better than this world.

Lord, we pray for the Christian teens in Nigeria that are currently gathered in a camp. Would you use this camp to help them forgive their attackers. May friendships be formed and may love, compassion, and courage be given to them as they return to their home where they will likely face more attacks because of their faith in Christ.

Jesus, teach your church, here in America and around the world, that we are citizens of heaven. Teach us the words of Peter, that we should not be surprised at fiery trials that come upon us. Remind us of your words, Jesus, that if the world rejected you, they will reject us. Teach us these things, Lord, so that we will more fervently pray, and more fervently engage those that don’t know you--so that they can come to see that, you, Jesus, are more valuable than gold, silver, or any other earthly comfort or acclaim. Make the members of this church, bold evangelists that say, "take the world, just give me Jesus."

We love you, Lord, and we need you. You are our true north--our Lord, our Savior, our friend. You're all we have. Give us more of yourself this week as we engage you in Community Groups and discipling relationships. Give us more of your grace even now as our brother K comes to feed us your word.

You are a Good, Great, and Glorious King. Reveal those things even more to us now.

by Kathryn Feliciano

Worship through Prayer

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. The whole earth is full of your glory. From the vastness of the ocean to the majesty of mountains – from the depth of the seas to the heights of the heavens. Creator of every atom and stitch of creation, and maker of every man, woman, and child, we praise you. We worship you. We exalt in you. You are boundless in your love and in your mercy and in your grace. And oh God, how we know of your grace. For not only have you saved us from sin, but you saved us while we were still sinful. Even when we had our hearts set against you, you reached out to us: forsaking your heavenly throne, you came to us as a servant. Not to be served, but to serve. And oh God, what service you provided. What more could we ever ask for than for you to die on the cross, and to rise again: to not only pay for our sins, but to provide us hope forever and ever. How good it is to be reminded of your gospel kindness towards a sinful people.

And Father, we have no doubts: we are sinful. We have sinned in both what we have done, and in what we have failed to do. In thought, word, and deed, we have fallen far short of the standard you provide. Though we know it to be wrong, we still lie. Though we know we shouldn’t, we envy. Oh God, how much of our sin this week has been rooted in envy? Father, we confess to wanting what we do not have, to quarreling for what we have not received, for failing to ask you for the desires of our hearts, and for the disordered desires that lead us to follow the god of our belly.

We confess to wanting what isn’t and shouldn’t be ours: to envying our neighbor’s possessions, and lusting after bodies that don’t belong to us.  We confess to allowing these desires to drive us to spend more time at work than we should, to sacrifice our families and friends for the sake of our own advancement, to failing to live sacrificially and generously as you command.

We confess too Father, that often when we give, we do so out of compulsion, not joy. We ask that you would set this right Father: that you would give us new hearts that rejoice in giving, not taking. We ask that you would give us hearts that worship the creator, not what you create.

And Father, we thank you for the many ways you’ve already accomplished this. We thank you that you are working in hearts even now, transforming them by one degree of glory to another. Father, we pray that you would continue this work. We pray that you continue this work not only here, but in churches throughout DC and throughout the world. Would you continue to make disciples for yourself at Capitol Hill Baptist Church, at Iglesia Biblica Sublime Gracia, at Del Rey Baptist Church, at Grace DC and Mosaic. Would you make disciples for yourself in the Dominican Republic and Haiti and Kazan and Kurdistan? Would you see disciples made in Jordan and the UAE? Would you bring more men and women in Uganda and Canada and Australia into your people?

Father God, you provide every good thing for us, so we trust you as we come to you with our requests. As we begin a new school year, would you help the students among us to glorify you in their studies and research? Would you help them to learn what they need to understand your creation, and equip them with the skills they need to serve your image bearers well? For the teachers among us, we bring you our prayers as well. We thank you for N, and J, and D. We praise you for the successes they’ve seen and will see in the classroom, and we pray that you would give them and other teachers here and throughout the District faithful patience and lovingkindness, that their students might excel and feel loved in a difficult city. We pray for the city of Washington, and for the leaders here, Father: local and national. Would you give our council members, mayor, the representatives and senators and judges and President wisdom and wise advisors? Would you help shape our government to be just and righteous as you command it to be?

Finally Father, we pray for the hearts and souls of those gathered here today. For those who are hurting, we trust that you will remedy that hurt. For those who are rejoicing, we thank you and pray you would help that joy continue on until glory. And Father, we do pray that glory would come soon – would you soon send your sin to restore all creation, that we might finally sing your praises, in spirit and in truth, crying out before your throne “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God almighty: the whole earth is full of his glory.” Thank you for allowing us to praise your name in the here and now, and for providing us comfort while we wait to see the Promised Land. We pray all this in eager expectation of that promise, by the power of the Holy Spirit, in the name of your son Jesus Christ, to the glory of God the Father. Amen.

by Kathryn Feliciano