Lord, you are the almighty God who laid the foundations of the earth.  Your understanding is beyond all comprehension. Your sovereignty extends over all the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land, the day and the night.  You have commanded the morning since you caused the dawn to exist. You make your presence known amidst the clouds in the sky, the deeps of the ocean depths, and everywhere in between.  You have existed since before time began. You bring rain and snow and sunshine. You rule over the plants and animals of the earth, and bring life to all things in the ways and timings that you have ordered and ordained.

Amidst all your majestic sovereignty Lord, you have chosen to be gracious to us and make your face shine upon us, making your ways known on the earth, and entering into the world to save nations.  We praise you and sing for joy at your glory, for you judge justly, and guide well. You have provided for our needs and more, and we stand in awe at your wonder.

We confess that we are so often slow to trust in your sovereignty.  We think that you are either not powerful or not good. We think that we know best what is right for our lives and lash out in anger or wallow in despair when we don’t get it.  We forget that you are the provider of all that lives, and that you will surely give good gifts to your children. We confess that although you have shown compassion to us, we only begrudgingly show compassion to others, and we let our fear of man keep us from sharing the good news of the gospel.

Thank you Lord for the forgiveness found in Jesus Christ.  Thank you that though we were rebels against you that you showed compassion to us by sending Jesus to die for us.  Thank you that you are sovereign in your power to save and give in abundance.

We pray for our church, that you would give us a spirit of evangelism, fueled by a trust in your sovereignty.  That we would place a high value on the gospel and on the knowledge of you that would cause us to delight in sharing it with others.  We thank you for the ways that our church is already sharing the gospel and pray for more delight in you and more outpouring of that delight.  We pray that we would be able to see several people come to faith this year through the working of Your Spirit in our church.

We pray also for our city.  We pray that you would give wisdom to government officials as they do their work, and that you would incline their hearts towards justice for all the citizens under their care.  We pray for road construction workers. Thank you for the work they do to clean up potholes. We pray that you would enable them to work well, and that you would keep them safe on busy streets and provide for their families.

And Lord, our hearts cry out in lament for the fifty people killed in the shootings at two Mosques in New Zealand on Friday.  We pray for an end to violence and hatred in our world and an end to white supremacy and hatred of all forms. We pray for the officials involved in the aftermath that you would give them wisdom and use them to bring justice against those responsible.  We pray for the families of the victims that you would comfort them, and that you would use this situation to reveal the truth of the gospel to them. We pray that Christians in the area would be a light of the gospel towards those in pain and reach out in Christlike love.  We know that you are the only ultimate hope for the world so we ask Lord Jesus that you would come soon and bring peace on earth.

Thank you that you are a God that hears prayers.  Thank you for the fact that you don’t stand outside the brokenness of this world, but entered into it in the person of Christ.  We know that you are capable of all things, and we trust in your divine plan and provision. In Jesus name we pray, amen.