O Lord our God, you are very great! You are clothed with splendor and majesty, covering yourself with light as with a garment, stretching out the heavens like a tent. You set the earth on its foundations; you covered the deep as with a garment; you make springs gush forth in the valleys; you cause grass to grow and plants to spring forth; you cause the rain the fall and the tide to come in and out. You made the mood and the sun, and know the time for it setting. O Lord, how manifold are your works! May we sing to you, our great God and King, as long as we live; may the words of our mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord our Rock and our Redeemer.
We pray that we would find your word more precious than gold and sweeter than honey, even drippings from the honeycomb. Take your word and make it a light unto our feet and a lamp unto our path. Fill us with your Holy Spirit and open our eyes that we may behold wondrous things out of your law. Consume our souls with longing for you and your Word at all times. Make us understand the way of your word and cause us to meditate on your wondrous works, that our hearts and lives might be filled with delight. Yes, Lord God, we fix our eyes upon your ways and delight in your statutes; we will not forget your word.
And where we have – where we have forgot your word or outright rejected it – we come and ask for forgiveness. We know that in Christ Jesus there is forgiveness as far as the east is from the west; as high as the heavens are above the earth. We confess our greed, our pride, our lust, our unforgiving hearts, our worry, our laziness, our unrighteous anger, our dull hearts toward you. Take a moment and by the power of your Spirit convict us of specific areas of sin in our lives that we might turn from that and turn to Christ Jesus. [Pause]
“Since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” “There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things.” We give you praise Triune God for who you are and what you have done. You have done everything necessary to reconcile us back to yourself that we might find ourselves in the presence of the fullness of joy. Yes, we give you praise that you deliver those who confess Christ as Lord and Savior, you deliver them from the domain of darkness and transfer them into the kingdom of your beloved Son, Jesus.
May this message permeate the lives of those here are Restoration Church. May this gospel message bring balm to hurting souls and excitement to rejoicing hearts. May we as a body, weep with those who are weeping, and rejoice with those who are rejoicing. Build up our body, we pray. Increase our knowledge and cause us to bear gospel fruit that you might receive the worship you are rightly due.
We also pray for other local churches in DC. We pray for 4th Presbyterian – grant them grace to continue faithfully proclaiming the excellencies of Jesus. We pray for pastor Aaron Graham and District Church. Grant them favor and use them to make and mature disciples in Columbia Heights.
We pray for those around the globe that have no access to this gospel message. We pray for the Tihami people of Yemen. Nearly 5MM with no gospel witness. We pray for the 169,000 Garre people of Somalia, and the 4MM Mazanderani people of Iran. All these people that 0.00% Christian. Raise up men and women to herald your gospel in these parched lands. We know faith comes by hearing and hearing through the word of Christ, so we plead with you to hallow your holy name amongst these people groups by bringing them the word of God.
And as we ready ourselves to hear your word, build our faith we pray. Birth faith in Christ where there is none; build faith in Christ for those who already believe. May your Spirit be active in this place tonight as your word is proclaimed. Convict us of sin; comfort us in Christ; change us for the glories of your name that we might have utmost joy in life. We ask all of this in the name of Jesus, Amen.