The Prayer of Some Elders for a Local Church
Our Father in Heaven…
You reign over all. The oceans, the winds, the deer and the butterflies, the angels and demons, the principalities and powers, atoms and planets - they all answer to You. Apart from Your power and authority they can do nothing.
Though You sit high above us, You call us children. You wield Your power and authoirty in love for us Your adopted sons and daughters, for we by the cross of Christ have been brought into Your family. We are Yours and You are ours!
Hallowed Be Your Name…
This is our prayer. This is our desire. This is our aim. We long to see the spread of Your fame. We labor so that men and women from the Upstate to Utah, to Austria, to Central Asia know and woship and delight in Jesus! You have ordered all things so that Your name is glorified among the nations through the glory of Chirst! By the power of Your spirit and the labors of this small church and unimpresive pastors do that which You desire. Create that which You command, for to You belongs all praise, honor, and glory.
Let Your Kingdom Come and Let Your Will Be Done…
Put Your law in our hearts. Pour out Your love so that we are filled internally with affection for You and for our brothers and sisters. Only then will we obey you. Only then will righteousness conquer unrighteousness. Only then will we find obedience not burdensome. And, only then will we consider Your law better than honey and your commands more valuable than gold.
Do this in our homes. Do this in our churches. Do this in our governing authorities from city councils to Captiol Hill. We wait with longing for Christ the true King to return! Come LORD Jesus! Until then…
Give Us Our Daily Bread…
For we are needy, weak, and dependent creatures. We are children. As we labor we know physical need. The need to be clothed, fed, sheltered from the cold, and sleep that is restful. You are our rich Father. You promise that we will lack nothing we need. We trust You. Do what you have promised.
Also, we have needs greater than those associated with our bodies. Our souls are needy. Our hearts are needy. In our discouragement we need encouragement, in our weekness of faith we need strength. In our discontentment we need contentment. In our despair we need hope. In our sorrow we need joy. In our murmuring we need gratitude. In our sin we need repentance. In our ineffectiveness we need power. Please Father, give us what we need! Give us Christ!! For, in Christ all these needs are met!
Forgive Us Our Sins As We Forgive Those Who Sin Against Us…
Our sins threaten to set us at war with You and at war with each other. We are too familiar with selfishness, gossip, lies, sexual impurity, anger, laziness, and a love for this world. On account of these we deserve Your just wrath, but we have this promise
“If we confess our sins You are faithful and just to forgive!” (I John 1:7-9)
If you hold our sins against us, we cannot stand before You! So as beggars, we come confessing our sins and seeking restored and constant fellowship with You.
Please, also, empower us to extend that same mercy and forgiveness to those who have wronged us. Fill us with Your kindness. Rid us of bitterness and resentment and restore loving fellowship where it has been broken. In our sin we tend toward rivalry, division, chaos, and brokeness, but by Your Spirit we can know unified, loving, joy-filled fellowship. Do this for us and in us.
Do not just forgive us, but also purify us…
Lead Us Not Into Temptation but Deliver Us from Evil…
You sent Your Son to conquer the works of the Devil and to deliver us from the domain of darkness. We know our sin, and we know the sorrowful fruit that grows on its vine. Ruin, destruction, and death await those You do not keep. Preserve us. Make our paths straight. Crumble our pride. Clothe us with humility. Tame our tongues. Guide our hands and feet. Bring us to maturity. Keep us from turning to the right or left.
We thank you for the works You have already done, and we look forward with anticipation to the work You are going to do in 2026.
To You alone belongs all glory and honor and power. Let it be so!
In Christ’s name, we pray, Amen!
