Prayers of Adoration

            We praise You Father because it is good and fitting.  You build us up; You gather us together.  You heal the brokenhearted and the hurt. You determine the number of the stars and give them all their names.  You are great and all power is Yours.  All understanding, intelligence and wisdom are Yours.  Everything that happens is from You..  You lift up the humble and cast the wicked to the ground.

            Thank You for providing for us Father!  Thank You for the peace and prosperity we enjoy.  Please bless our government and all who are in authority so that it may last.  Please bless our worship now and make it accomplish Your purposes.  Make us know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.

Amen!

Heavenly Father,

You are great and good. You are most excellent, most righteous, most loving, merciful, kind and compassionate. You are also most holy and most indignant against evil. You hate evil with perfect hatred and perfect justice.

We fell foul of Your justice and deserved wrath but You saved us by sending Your Son as a man to take Your wrath upon Himself. He came, He served, He suffered and died. You raised Him from death to life and gave Him Your name, Yahweh, most high God. He now rules with You, utterly sovereign over all creation.

You gave us Your Spirit and made us share in His death and in His new life. Thank You! You promised His life will grow in us until we are perfect. Thank You! You promised that we will be eternally satisfied in Your presence. Thank You!

Please help us live like people with this destiny. Make us believe You and do what You say. We love You Father, in Jesus Christ.

Amen.

Pastor Wilson has been quoting a lot of Charles Spurgeon’s criticism of pastors lately.  Now this in which Spurgeon lambastes the tendency to address one’s congregation in prayer rather than God.  He rightly condemns strutting and showing off but I wonder.  One of the purposes of prayers in worship is to bless and edify the congregation.  I guess that should be a side effect though and not the thing aimed at.

A toddler fools the art world, or at least one ghetto within it.  Actually, I kind of like his stuff.

So it would appear according to the research reported in this Scientific American article. My abstract reasoning ability disappears whenever my sinuses get stuffed but maybe it’s just my will to work.

Heavenly Father,

You alone are good. You are a consuming fire who no man can see and live. You dwell in unapproachable light yet You call us to Yourself and we are not consumed. You made a way for us through the body and blood of Your Son Jesus. We come Father because You called us and made us trust Him. He washed us clean. He put our feet on a rock. He enlightened us with Your Spirit. And He lives and reigns with You now. Jesus Christ is Lord, exercising all authority and power now and forever.

Please fill us with Your Holy Spirit and make our worship pleasing to You. Thank You Father! We love You.

Amen.

Father,

You are great and good. You have all power. All intelligence and wisdom are Yours. Truth and beauty come from You like water from a spring. You define them. Goodness is what it is because of who You are. You are so far above us we barely know what we’re talking about but You know Father. Please make us know You better. Knowing You is loving You. Knowing You fulfills our deepest need and ultimate purpose. Knowing You is true life. You give Yourself abundantly, freely and eternally. You are the main thing, the point of life and the universe. You are the center of everything.

Please fill us with Your Holy Spirit; make us sing and pray and hear Your word and really mean it. Make us know You. Make us see Your salvation. We love You Father, in Jesus name.

Amen

Father, You are glorious. The glory of creation belongs to You who thought it all up. You imagined it and planned it and brought it into being and it is all marvelous. The universe unfolds according to Your will and You work it all together for good for those who love You. Thank You for making us and putting us here. Thank You for our troubles because they are from Your loving hand and You know what You’re doing with them. You know how to make a man, how to grow us up to maturity and You do it perfectly.

The glory of Jesus Christ belongs to You. In Him You demonstrate absolute justice—perfect hatred of evil—and incredible love of Your people, love that takes the evil and justice upon its own head in order to save us. You crushed Him for our sins gave us His goodness. You gave us peace with You and glorious promises of life with You. Thank You.

You are most excellent Father; nothing else we desire is like You. Nothing else we fear is like You. Please make us desire and fear You above all things. Make us know You, the one true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. We love You Father. Thank You. Amen.

You are kind and gracious Father.  You are so far above us that we cannot imagine how great You are.  The vastness of space is not big enough to hold You, yet You are here with us.  You invite us in to meet You in Your word and table.  Please reveal Yourself to us Father; make us see Your glory and know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.

Thank You for making us.  Thank You for saving us.  Thank You for Your great promises of future glory with You.  Amen.

Mars Hill Audio has started a new series called Dialogues on Justice and Judges and they’re giving away the first issue for free. It’s on the the first year of the Roberts court and how Chief Justice Roberts seems to be returning the court to a humbler role in American society. God bless him!