Bulletin Articles
A Prayer of Praise
Our Sovereign Lord, you are God who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them. You spoke everything into existence by the power of your word and it was done. You made all things by your wisdom and understanding. You know all, understand all, and have all wisdom power and glory. You are able to do far more abundantly beyond anything we can ask or think. Your wisdom and knowledge are unfathomable to us. Your goodness, grace, and mercy proclaim Your glory. And it is only by Your mercy and grace that we, like Moses, can only hide in the cleft of the rock as You cover us with Your hand. Therefore, we say, with David,
Ascribe to the LORD the glory due His name;
worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness.
When we consider Your wonders, the work of Your hands, who are we that You should be mindful of us? Yet You have made us a little lower than the angels and crowned us with glory and honor through your Son Jesus Christ. We acknowledge that we are made in Your image. Yet through sin we have brought dishonor to Your image, and we know that without You and Your grace, we would die in our sins without any hope.
How then shall we express enough gratefulness and thanks for the grace and the love that You show us through Jesus Christ? We have no claims to make of our own righteousness. We do not deserve the glory that shall be revealed in us through Jesus Christ. Yet through Your steadfast love and abiding faithfulness, as You have always demonstrated, we know that we can trust Your promises of salvation.
Dear God, we know that we fall so far short of your glory. Our sins and lawless deeds have marred us and we have no hope without you. We pray for the forgiveness that only You can offer. We marvel at the love that you show us through Jesus. A love that is sure and steadfast. A love that gives us grace. A love by which we have been born again to that living hope through the resurrection of our Lord.
Because You have loved us first, we love You and we pray for the mercy that You offer by Jesus and according Your unwavering promises. We strive to draw near with confidence to the throne of Your grace, especially as we recognize our time of need. We know that if You are for us, then no one can successfully stand against us. You have freely given us all things through Jesus Christ, Your Son. And we know that because of the promise of forgiveness through Jesus, by means of His death and resurrection, that we can be reborn and conformed His image.
For it is You who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” and so You shine in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of Your glory in the face of Jesus Christ. We confess:
Your love is undeniable.
Your grace is matchless.
Your promises are infallible.
Help us then always to look to You in all that we think and do. Help us to have confidence in our resurrected Lord and in the Holy Spirit who has revealed Your will to us that we may walk in a manner worthy of the gospel which we have received. Help us to be dedicated to Your will. Help us to be living sacrifices, not conformed to this world. Help us to be dedicated to loving You first and loving neighbor as self.
We offer up this prayer in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
