Heavenly Father,
You come first in everything. Before there was a mote of dust or a sliver of light, before anything was created, you were there. You have always been, always are and will always be. You are the first in power: you have the first say in what happens when, how, by who and why. You provide meaning to all things. And you have the last say: when everything is wrapped up and finished, you will judge and you will be right; and no-one will be able to question it. You are the first in righteousness: you are always right and good and true. There is no shadows in you, no lies, no scheming or deviance. You can always be trusted to have everyone's absolute best interests in your hand; you can make the simple wise, you can turn evil to good, you can turn stubborn hearts towards you, you can make the sick well, the humble exalted and the weak strong. And you are the first in love: before we loved you, before we were even born, you have loved us so powerfully, so intentionally, so perfectly and so fully that you would come to earth as one of us, join us in the trials and troubles of life, to stand with us, to teach us, to reveal yourself to us and to die for us and save us from the wrath we deservedly face. You are first in the resurrected life too: you did not stay dead, but rose again, and in doing so lift up our hearts with hope and assurance that you are victorious. You come first at the very end; your enemies are not your equal. You rise far above them, and you will cast them away so that there will be no more crying, no more pain, no more suffering and no more death.
We stand in awe of you, God. You are amazing from first to last, perfect in every way, and loving without fault. And we thank you that you pour your strength into us through your Spirit so that we can be a part of your amazing work in this world. We pray that through us you might heal the sick, lift up the weak, stand up for the oppressed and rescue the lost. We thank you for every person who comes through our church doors; those who have known you for decades, and those who still aren't quite sure about Jesus. Work in each of our lives so that we might know you more, and be Jesus to others. We pray for every child that comes in contact with our church - in C4K, in scripture, in junior jivers, in Oasis and in WAY - we ask that you will make yourself known to them again and again, and keep knocking on the doors of their hearts so that they might open up and receive Jesus. We pray for those who come to us for comfort, for strength and for help - by your power let us give them what they need in Jesus.
And we pray for all those who might never set foot in our doors; let our own lives be open doors to Jesus for all the people we meet. We pray for the people in our community of Waitara, our city of Sydney, and our country Australia; let them mix and mingle with Jesus through mixing and mingling with us. Let them meet Jesus at the shops, in schools, in the workplace, over shared fences, on public transport and in the street. May we be your ambassadors to many throughout our lives, and may Jesus walk among the people we meet.
And we pray for those who we may never meet; let our lives still speak the name of Jesus to them in every way they can. We pray for those thousands of people whose lives are touched by the Scotts in Taiwan, the Ongs in Malawi, the Compassion kids we support, and every person who receives a bible throuhg the Bible Society. We ask that through our prayers and through the gifts we provide, Jesus will be revealed to people we may never meet in this life. Just as you are first in everything, we ask that you would be first in everything we do and think and say.
Amen
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