Proclaim. Disciple. Serve.

Pastoral Prayer (05/23/2021)

Our Father: You laid the foundation of the earth. At creation, the morning stars sang together; and all the sons of God shouted for joy! Your works are wonderful, and our souls know it very well. Even the darkness is not dark to you – the night is as bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you. From the rising of the sun to its setting, your name is to be praised.

Heavenly Father, may our prayers and requests and supplications this morning be pleasing and acceptable in your sight.

Father, we rejoice and we thank you for this local body of which you have made us a part. We praise you for your faithfulness to this fellowship. We thank you that you are working in each of us, both to will and to work, out of your good pleasure.

Lord, I pray for the spiritual growth of this church. I pray that you would work in us such that our manner of life is worthy of the gospel of Christ. I pray that by your grace you would cause us to walk worthy of the calling to which we have been called. I pray that you would conform our lives to the image of the Son of God, who loved us and gave himself for us. I pray that you would develop in us a visible Christlikeness – visible in our love for you, from heart, soul, mind, and strength; and visible in our love for one another and for all of our neighbors.

Lord, I also pray for the numerical growth of Gethsemane Baptist Church. We know that such growth is in your hands and will occur according to your good purposes. One plants, another waters, but you alone cause the growth. We ask that your good purposes would result in new members joining our church. We ask this because you are glorified as the Holy Spirit regenerates the lost, and as once-dead souls begin worshipping you. We ask that you grant us faithfulness in proclaiming your Word and that in ways we never see that that faithfulness would be a means by which you bring the lost to faith and by which you bring Christians in need of a local body to Gethsemane.

Father, I pray for the Southern Baptist Convention, the State Convention of Baptists in Ohio, and the Metro Columbus Baptist Association. Father, we pray that you would use the cooperation of the churches in those associations to take the gospel to our community, to our state, to our country, and to the world. We thank you that your Word commends the cooperation of churches for purposes of the gospel, and we thank you that our church is able to cooperate with those associations. As the Southern Baptist Convention is just a few weeks away, we pray that you would accomplish your purposes as men and women who love you come from across the country and the world to try to faithfully lead the convention. We pray that the convention would demonstrate a strong affirmation of the sufficiency of your Word for all things pertaining to life and godliness.

Lord, as we now turn to your Word, we praise you for your revelation to us in Scripture. Grant us a delight in your law. May we store up your Word in our hearts. According to your grace, move us to meditate on your precepts. And may we never forget your commandments, your testimonies, or your statutes. May these relatively few moments in the Bible drive us to revere your name. You alone are worthy.

Together we pray all of these things in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.