Worship Prayers Aug.20

CENTERING PRAYER - MOST Gracious Father, we lift up our hearts to You, from Whom alone comes our strength.  Help us to trust You so wholly that we trust You in the dark.  Your mercies are fresh every morning and renewed to us every night.  Help us to praise You for Your goodness and to rest in Your love.  You know what we have need of before we ask You.  Grant us all that You see we need.  Save us from suffering and want, from sickness and misery, from doubt and perplexity, from temptation and sin.  Teach us that You care for us, and nothing can harm us or separate us from Your love.  Relieve us from anxiety and fear, that our minds may be at leisure from themselves to soothe and sympathize.  Make us useful in the world in which You have placed us, and zealous in service to You.  Amen.  Benjamin B. Warfield (1851-1921)

  

CALL TO WORSHIP (Psalm 133:1-3)

How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity!

         It is like the precious oil on the head, running down upon the beard, on the beard of          Aaron, running down over the collar of his robes.

It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion.  For there the LORD ordained his blessing, life forevermore.

         We come to worship the Lord as the Family of God!

   PRAYER OF CONFESSION

Have mercy on us, Lord Jesus; we are tormented!  Our lives have been disrupted by the devil and by our own devilish desires and evil exploits.  We are dismayed at your presence, anguished by the awful fallout of our own failures.  We cannot take back what we have said or undo what we have done or atone for the agony we have caused.  We are haunted by the past, plagued by the present, and fearful of the future.  We shrink away from your gaze as if we are strangers outside your circle of blessing.

Yet, the faith you have planted in us reaches out for your favor, returns to your presence, and hungers for your mercy.  We cry out to you Lord to forgive us through the grace of your son, Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

   SCRIPTURE                                                                                                                            Genesis 45:1-15

For Pastor Dave's sermon "Out of Control", Click here.