Father, it can be hard to call you Father when we have experienced the failures of human fathers.
Lord, it can be hard to call you Lord when we are ashamed to admit we haven't always bowed to your authority when we should have.
Almighty, we know that name can sound too distant.
Abba, that name can sound irreverently intimate.
Yahweh. The One who is the great "I AM." Perhaps Yahweh is the surest way for us to see you in a category all your own, in a lens undefiled by human weakness. You simply ARE. And you are Father and Lord and Almighty and Abba. To us, You are ALL--all that we need or could ask for.
We are so unworthy to come into the presence of One who has eternally existed and will eternally exist, One who is always right within our reach and yet infinitely above us in every single way, One who is holy and just and yet tender and merciful, One who cannot be near a single sin and but overflows with love and grace for sinners who are so full of sin they can be blinded to its presence.
Your very essence is paradox. 1 being in 3 persons. Creator of the Universe coming into that universe as the poor homely baby of a teenage unwed mother. Who could have imagined You in all of your majesty and all of your compassion? Who could have dreamed up anyone so powerful yet so pure?
You sent your Son to redeem us, to make us clean, to forgive every one of our sins. He died so we can live. Thank you, Lord. You never owed us anything, but You have given us everything.
Tonight we come to you recognizing that our situation is desperate. Without your Holy Spirit, we are powerless to fight the tide of evil that seems to surge toward us faster than we have ever seen it before. Hatred and distrust are on every side--politics reek of corruption and greed for power, churches dissolve into social clubs and soapboxes instead of houses of worship, families disintegrate with infidelity, abuse, and neglect, and whole communities..cities..countries grit their teeth in fear of the harm that's just around the corner. Sometimes we look around and wonder if we are watching life pass by in two alternating viewfinders--one with sunny days, spring flowers, and children's laughter and the other with drizzling rain, dead tree branches, and a layer of old litter strewn along a riverbank. We wonder if the world really is nurturing us or if it is actually trying to numb us to our separation from You.
Last Sunday, Pastor Richard told us we have become contented with Christ's absence..that we have forgotten that every good thing the world can offer will PALE in comparison to Christ's presence. It sure seems like he's right, Lord. Have we simply gotten used to You not being around? Have we become desensitized to your work in our lives to the point where we would rather you stay in a little compartment in the corner of our lives...where on Sundays you come out for a visit and the rest of the week, we lock You away to avoid inconvenience or scorn?
Shame on us, Father. Forgive us for disregarding time with You, for ignoring and disobeying the truth of your Word, for failing to pray because we fail to acknowledge your willingness to answer and to act on behalf of your people.
Almighty God, we ask you to bring revival to this nation, this continent, this planet. The kind of revival that doesn't merely count converts or teach them the 5 basic rules of successful American Christianity or enforce intellectual dogmas. No, that is less like revival than it is like suicide. Tonight we ask for a revival in hearts around this globe, Lord. We pray for a new desire to love like You love, to serve like You serve, to teach truth like You teach truth, to spread grace like You spread grace. Because the truth is? We are all in the same position..no matter our background, our gender, our age, orour experiences. We are all sinners who are in need of a Savior. A Savior who can wash us clean and make us saints.
You know, revival has to start in our hearts anyway or it doesn't really make us alive, does it? How many times have you told us about the importance of our hearts.. from our hearts flow the springs of life. Well, that life is what we need. We plead, Lord, give us hearts that are open to You and to the people you call us to love and share your good news with.
We pray for those who need You tonight in very tangible ways:
For the refugees away from home tonight in so many countries and camps that we cannot name them all..we pray for peace in their homelands and provision for the lives they are beginning in other places. Reach them with your love and with the message of Jesus, Father.
For the poor and the homeless whose lives have become something very different than they ever imagined. We pray that you would provide them with food and shelter and use your people to provide it..that the love of Christ would grip them in a way that no sorrow, despair, or addiction has ever gripped them before. give them warmth and comfort, Lord, and show us ways that we can be a part of your mission to them.
For the sick and hurting, those who wrestle with health issues and fears and those who are mourning a loved one or the loss of a relationship that meant something priceless to them. Their pain is real, Lord, but you are Healer and Comforter and you are even more real than our struggles. Help them to reach for you when circumstances try to pull them away from you.
For the sin-weary and struggling, especially for those who have been blinded to their own misery and have dulled their sense with a pleasure to a point where they cannot even feel the weariness anymore. Father, if it takes rock-bottom to bring your elect into the kingdom, we pray that they would come to that place and encounter you. For your people who even tonight are battling besetting sins that seem have their teeth sunk in deep, give them power to overcome those temptations and patterns in Jesus' name. Break those chains, Almighty God, because only You can truly break the chains that bind us.
For the oppressors, we pray that You would stop them in their tracks. Those who profit from the sale of innocent women and children, those who profit from the exploitation of workers and families, those who gain power from stealing power from the weak. Change them, Father, and frustrate their plans.
For the oppressed, strengthen them with supernatural courage and rescue them in your will, Lord. Help them trust You in suffering and save them so that they can rejoice in their salvation and show your glory to a weak and weary world.
Father, we need your help and care in every area of our lives. Bless our marriages. Bless our children. Bless our churches. Bless our career lives. Bless our academic pursuits. Bless our bodies. Bless our homes. And in all of this, we pray that you will show your glory and goodness through us.
Yahweh, you know the end from the beginning and you have heard every word of our prayer. We know that You are always good, always wise, always just, always loving. Remind us of who You are as we lay our heads on our pillows tonight. Remind us that you promise to answer if we simply believe that you will. Most importantly of all, help our hearts to remember all You are, all You have given for us, and all You have entrusted to us as ambassadors for your Son.
Thank you, Yahweh, for being the only God who is worthy of our worship and praise. Thank you for choosing us to be your worshippers and to be partakers of your unbelievable grace.
In Jesus' name, Amen.
