Sunday Supplication - Ps 95

Oh come, let us sing to the LORD;
let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
For the LORD is a great God,
and a great King above all gods.
In his hand are the depths of the earth;
the heights of the mountains are his also.
The sea is his, for he made it,
and his hands formed the dry land.
Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!
For he is our God,
and we are the people of his pasture,
and the sheep of his hand.

Psalm 95:1-7c, ESV

Saturday Supplication

Prepare to meet thy God, O Christian! Betake thyself to thy chamber on the Saturday night, confess and bewail thine unfaithfulness under the ordinances of God; ashamed and condemn thyself for thy sins, entreat God to prepare they heart for, and assist it in, thy religious performances; spend some time in consideration of the infinite majesty, holiness, jealously, and goodness, of that God, with whom thou art to have to do in sacred duties; ponder the weight and importance of his holy ordinances...; meditate on the shortness of the time thou hast to enjoy Sabbaths in; and continue musing...till the fire burneth; thou canst not think the good thou mayest gain by such forethoughts, how pleasant and profitable a Lord's day would be to thee after such a preparation. The oven of thine heart thus baked in, as it were overnight, would be easily heated the next morning; the fire so well raked up when thou wentest to bed, would be the sooner kindled when thou shouldst rise. If thou wouldst thus leave thy heart with God on the Saturday night, thou shouldst find it with him in the Lord's Day morning.

George Swinnock, Works, I:234

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Father, you are the God Most High, the eternal God, creator, sustainer, Lord of all powers. Pharaoh was your servant; Cyrus was your servant; every king, every governor, every tribal chief has been your servant. For you are in control of all; it was only by your permission, even your provocation, that Satan was allowed to torment Job. And it is only by your will that a small bird dies. As Job found, nothing can thwart your plans. No one is your counselor. There were no other gods beside you when you laid the foundation of the world. And there is no other god besides you that can save people.

Help me to appreciate your glory. Help me to contemplate your vastness, your power, your care and your wisdom that set the universe in motion and ordered its laws. Let me understand your greatness.

Father, I am a sinner. I am undeserving of your love. Yet, you chose to love me. And I love you because you first loved me. While I was still lost in my sinfulness, you called me and set me apart for your purposes. Before I was born, you sent Jesus to save me by dying on the cross for me. My freedom has been purchased by his blood. Help me to appreciate the reality of the cost.

I thank you for forgiving all my past sins and my future sins. Help me to truly repent of my sin; help me to see the sin for the evil it is and to hate the sin as you hate the sin. Help me see the sin that is still living in my heart.

Give me a Christ-like love for others. Let me see your image in people, and help me show them your love.

Help me reject laziness. Too often, I am like the rich man who desired nothing more than the relaxation afforded by storehouses of food. Yet, that fool did not realize he would not live to enjoy his wealth, or that he would have to account of himself to you. He wasted his life pursuing the god of his stomach; he lived in idolatry to himself. Do not let me make that mistake. Do not let me look back at my life in shame at the wastefulness of it all. Give me the wisdom and passion to live a life for your glory and to make the most of every opportunity.

Father, prepare my heart for the Lord's day, tomorrow. Prepare my heart to come together with other believers in worship. Prepare my heart to hear your word taught and to sing your word aloud. Let me put aside all pride and selfish ambition. Let me take that time to see my own smallness and your greatness. Let me take that time to worship Jesus as my lord and savior.

As your word is read and taught, open my heart to see your glory.
Let me see wonderful things in your instruction.
Let me store your word in my heart so that I will not sin against you.
Let me store your word in my heart so that I will have an answer for those who come against me. Let me store your word in my heart so that I will hope in your salvation.
Let me store your word in my heart because your word is truth and by it I can be made wise.
Let me store your word in my heart because it is eternal and will not return to your void.

You are a God of revelation. You have not hidden yourself from your people, but have revealed yourself to us through your word. Mat your word be taught throughout the world this Lord's day and may your church be one as you and Jesus are one.

I come and worship you in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Sunday Supplication

We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. Therefore we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring. This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering— since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed. To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

2 Thessalonians 1:3-12, ESV

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Father, I come to you in the name of Jesus, through who you adopted me as your child. May your name be praised and celebrated throughout the earth. I pray that today, on our sabbath, your church across the globe will lift up their eyes toward you and sing of your glory. I pray that pastor-teachers around the world will proclaim your word with faithfulness and passion.

Thank you for your faithfulness to those members of your church who are suffering through persecution. Thank you for being faithful to your word and calling out people from among every tribe and nation. So many societies make it a crime to worship you, and the people of those societies continue to build up more and more wrath from you. But, may you withhold your wrath as you call more and more people out from those nations; continue to save people from your wrath.

And for your children in those societies, continue to strengthen them and build in them the abundant faith to carry them through their trials. Continue to build in them love for their fellow believers and for their persecutors. May they live as witnesses to your love and mercy, and may they show your glory through their lives.

Father, when the time is right, send Jesus back to claim his bride. May everyone in the church look eagerly forward to that day. And until that day, let us make the most of every opportunity; let us live by your wisdom, not being filled by the world, but being filled by your Spirit. Let your church, today and every day, put aside the worries and cares of this world, and live by faith in you.

Amen.

Sunday Supplication - 08.10.08

Last Sunday, Between Two Worlds published this post on worship:

When Paul tells us in Romans 12:1-2 to present our bodies as living sacrifices, he is instructing us about a proper approach to worship.... When we gather as the people of God, as many of us will do this morning, we are called by God to present ourselves as living sacrifices, and that is the kind of worship/service (a priestly word in our passage) that will be pleasing to him.

What does that mean? Well, at least on one level it means that worship takes work. For the priest to offer a sacrifice, it meant a great deal of work on his part. So also with us. We come before the Lord to sing his praise, and confess our sin and hear his promise of forgiveness. We come before the Lord to confess our faith and hear his word. And it takes work and practice to do this together as the people of God. We should sing vibrantly; we should respond joyfully and clearly in corporate prayers and readings. We should be engage throughout the worship service. We should have attentive ears as the minister preaches the Word. We should participate in communion as if we have been lifted up into heaven to sit with Christ because indeed, that is where we are by faith. And we should leave with the blessing of God knowing that we are going out into this world as salt and light. In our culture, all of these issues take practice and patience. May the Lord give us the grace to lean against our cultural trends and present ourselves as living sacrifices to him.

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Indeed, Father, give us the grace to lean against our cultural trends and present ourselves as living sacrifices to you. May we reject the consumerism of our culture. My we reject the selfishness of our culture. May we reject the consumerism and selfishness within our own hearts. May we come together this morning, around the world, to worship you with all our hearts, all our strengths, all our minds, and all our souls. May we focus more on the messages of our pastors than on the suits and ties of our pastors. May we focus more on the theology of our hymns than on the tempos of the music. May we see sweet things in your word and in your work among us. May we, as brothers and sisters in Christ, join together for the mutual support and encouragement of our family. May we build each other up and send each other out into the world to have an impact for you. And let us, through your Spirit, turn the world upside down. May we dedicate our entire beings to your glory.

In Jesus name. Amen.

The LORD has given you the Sabbath

Understand that the LORD has given you the Sabbath; therefore on the sixth day He will give you two days' worth of bread. Each of you stay where you are; no one is to leave his place on the seventh day." So the people rested on the seventh day.

Exodus 16:29-30, CSB

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Father, thank you for the gift of the Sabbath. That you for giving us a day of rest to refresh our bodies and minds and to worship you in spirit and in truth. After 6 days, you rested--not because you ever need rest, but to model rest for us.

As the members of Jesus' church gather today, around the world, bless us through your Spirit. Give us the desire--the passion--to worship you. Give us a heart for you and your glory. Let us see your majesty and power, your love and mercy. Let us see your goodness; and change us for your glory making us more like Jesus.

Let us be one, as you and Jesus are one. Let us truly be many parts of one body. Make us healthy as the body. Give us feet to carry your good news throughout the world. Give us a mouth to speak your truth to everyone on earth. Give us hands to care for those in need.

In Jesus name we come to worship you. Amen.

Sunday worship

"This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. The seeds along the path are those who have heard. Then the Devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. And the seeds on the rock are those who, when they hear, welcome the word with joy. Having no root, these believe for a while and depart in a time of testing. As for the seed that fell among thorns, these are the ones who, when they have heard, go on their way and are choked with worries, riches, and pleasures of life, and produce no mature fruit. But the seed in the good ground—these are the ones who, having heard the word with an honest and good heart, hold on to it and by enduring, bear fruit.

"No one, after lighting a lamp, covers it with a basket or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a lampstand so that those who come in may see the light. For nothing is concealed that won't be revealed, and nothing hidden that won't be made known and come to light. Therefore, take care how you listen. For whoever has, more will be given to him; and whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken away from him."

Luke 8:11-18, CSB

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Father, for two thousand years, your church, the bride of Christ, has used each Sunday to worship you in community. For you are worthy of all our worship, and you alone deserve worship. Your people, from the beginning of mankind, have worshipped you as the creator and sustainer of the entire universe. And for thousands of years, your chosen people of Israel worshipped you as the God who made a covenant with his people. And for two millennia, your church has worshipped you as the loving father who was not willing for us to remain estranged from you and so devised a way for us to be rejoined into relationship with you. We worship you and love you because you first loved us.

I ask that on this Sunday, throughout the world, as your people gather together to hear your word, we will be like the good ground. We will hear your word with an honest and good heart, hold on to it and by enduring, bear fruit. Open our hearts to hear your word and see great things in it. Fill us with your goodness, wisdom and love by your Spirit.

And as your word takes hold of us, I ask that your church would be like the lamp placed on a high table, bringing light to the entire room, destroying the darkness that causes people to stumble. May we be like a city on a hill, beautiful in the distance calling out to those wandering in the desert, offering safety and comfort, shining as a beacon to this lost and dying world. May people throughout the world, on this day, see the church and be like travelers who, after crossing a great distance, finally see their destination and are filled with hope and joy at the thought of passing through our gates. I ask that you would call people who do not know you and that you would take out their hearts of stone and replace them with hearts of flesh so that they could hear and love the voice of Jesus.

I pray that you will bless the untold number of missionaries throughout the world who do not have churches to gather with on Sundays; and I pray for the millions of Christians around the globe that meet together in secret and at the risk of their own lives. May they be like Jason and the other disciples who were charged with turning the world upside down (Acts 17:5-7).

I ask all these things because I know you are great and able to accomplish whatever you plan. No plan of yours can be thwarted. And I ask these things in the name of Jesus who makes it possible for me to approach you as a son. Amen.