Prayers for Worship February 8

PRAYER IN PREPARATION FOR WORSHIP:  God of wonder and mystery, today we remember how you surprise us in every age.  Into the gloom of fear and want, you bring light; into emptiness, you bring abundance; into the cold, you bring warmth.  Into the hardness of the world, you bring the greatest power we have known, in the seemingly powerless form of an infant.  Enter now, Holy One, among us and within us, and move us to joyful adoration of your mystery and wonder.  Amen

CALL TO WORSHIP (A paraphrase of Psalm 103:10-13)

Leader:        God does not treat us as our sins deserve;

People:       or repay us according to our iniquities.

Leader:        For as high as the heavens are above the earth,

People:       so great is His love for those that revere Him.

Leader:        As a father has compassion on his children,

People:       so the Lord has compassion on those who revere Him.                   

Leader:        Let us worship the God who loves us like a father.

PRAYER OF CONFESSION

Lord, we don’t mean to ignore You, but we do.  We get so caught up in the rush of our lives that we move You to the background, saying that we will get to You later.  When we do this, we proclaim that You are not as important as all of the stuff we have to get done.  We take You for granted and rarely give You the place You deserve.  Forgive us for ignoring You and remind us that You are waiting for us to open the door of our lives to You.  As we do, Lord, please come in and take Your rightful place.

Click here for the sermon on February 9