Father,
As long as we live we will continue to sing to you in joy and thankfulness. Even when we’re not gathered with the congregation, we are inwardly thanking you and delighting in every new way you care for us.
Politicians don’t save us from trouble. When their time is done, all their grand plans die. Real happiness comes from expecting you to take care of us, because you have the intention and authority to actually help. The world is not too complicated or powerful for you because you made it. You do your own will perfectly with no one to hinder you and your will is kind and good.
You don’t get distracted perfecting a system to take care of us, you are concerned about us as whole individual people and accomplish your help with or without the institutions that exist for the purpose.
You defend those who are treated unjustly. You make sure we have food on the table. You heal our bodies. You encourage those who feel defeated. You watch over those without family. You ruin the plans of evil.
Help us to know more of the joy of your reign. The world is desperate for some real source of joy and hope, they just don’t believe that you are the one who gives it. We know that you are. Make our joy more visible and intense so that people will want what we have and then come to us to find you.
You are the God of resurrection. You glorify yourself by arranging a glorious salvation after it seems too late. In the 60’s, when the youth of North America threw themselves into lawless living, your Spirit moved and called millions to yourself. The world seems dark again. Please draw millions to yourself again. As the song says, “mercy drops round us are falling, but for the showers we plead.” Let us be both helpers and spectators to your mighty work.
Send us hungry people. Give us so much work to do evangelizing, baptizing, discipling, feeding, helping, counseling and serving new converts that we fall into bed each night exhausted in body and bursting with joy in spirit.
Give us more zeal in all the good work that you have already given us to do. May your Spirit within us stir up our love toward one another with intensity and then guide us by that love to know how we ought to serve. Even this week your Spirit gave both love and strength to many people among us to care generously and sacrificially for others.
Any service we may do is only a momentary likeness to your son, our Lord, who is the servant of all. By making the greatest possible sacrifice - the shedding of his blood, he took away the sin of we who have faith in him and took away the victory of death. We are full of awe and thankfulness because of him.
May our words and songs and thoughts, and fellowship, and service be pleasing to you this morning.