A Prayer for the People of God

A Prayer for the People of God

I'd like to share a prayer I wrote recently for First Baptist Church. With far too much frequency I hear of churches that struggle with division, competing agendas and people who would rather fight than love. It must break God's heart when He observes the way His people behave. Each of us who read Freedom Fighter each day have freedom to make a difference in our churches. May God help us love Christ's church!

Almighty God: thank You for the privilege of gathering for worship in this place today. We come as needy people who are hungry for Your presence. We come as broken people who need Your cleansing and forgiveness. We come as helpless people who need Your transforming work in our lives.

Gracious God, help us worship you today in a way that declares Your majestic goodness. Strip from our hearts and minds anything that hurts Your heart as you look on Your people. Empower us to focus on You and what You want to do in our lives and our church. If even one of us has an agenda that takes us away from our First Love, convict us powerfully and deeply.

We confess to You, Lord, that we don't always make good choices. We don't always live as we should live. We don't always love as we should love. It is only through Your grace that we survive and overcome our sinful failures. Thank You for that grace!

Holy God, You have called us to be Your body in this place. You have made us the family of God in this place. With deep sorrow we confess that we are not always good at being Your body. We don't always love Your family as we should. Heal our hearts, O God, and help us live in the unity of Your Spirit. May the world around us know us as people who know You, love you and serve You. May we never cause a bad word to be said about You or Your people because of the way we live in Your family.

Protect us, loving Father, from our enemy, the devil. As Your Word teaches, help us never give Satan a foothold in our lives or in Your church. Help us hate the sin he tempts us to commit. Help us hate the sin that flows from our fallen nature. Live in us and lead us to choose right over wrong as we discover it in Your Word. -- John Strain is Senior Pastor of First Baptist Toms River

God's WORD for YOU: Proverbs 23; Ezekiel 20-21; James 5

Think About This: People seem to think that the masses are outside the Christian church because our evangelistic methods are not what they ought to be. That is not the answer. People are outside the church because looking at us they say, "What is the point of being Christians? - look at them!" They are judging Christ by you and me. And you cannot stop them and you cannot blame them. -- Martyn Lloyd-Jones