Almighty God, Lord of Hosts,
You are a god of total overarching
power. At the beginning of time, you spoke and all things were made.
Anywhere we look in creation and we see power - the thunder and
lightning of a big storm, the shudder of an earthquake, the eruption
of a volcano, the immense power of the oceans, the unthinkable
gravity of a black hole - all these things point us towards your even
greater power that made them all. Whenever we see people in positions
of power making decisions that affect our lives, that change the
world, that control vast sums of money, we can look above them and
see you as the Lord over all their authority, holding them to
account. Whenever we hear of wars, of the strength of our weapons,
the size of armies or the threat of bombs and attacks, we know that
you are God over all those things, and that even our mightiest
warlords have no power that compares to yours. It is a power that you
make clear, that you tell us of, and that you invite us to call to
our aid by reaching out to you when we are in need.
And yet so often, Lord, we will refuse
to do that, trusting in our own strength, or calling upon the power
that we see in politicians, or drugs, or education, or money, to give
us what we need and what we want. We try and cut you out of our
lives, and seek to control all these things for ourselves. But all we
end up with is being mastered by our greed, by our lack of wisdom,
and by the selfishness of ourselves and others. Forgive us, great
God, for turning our backs on you, and not putting you in your
rightful place as God over all things, and for not asking you for
help in all areas of our lives.
We thank you, though, that your doors
are never closed to us, your ears always hear what we have to say,
and you always give us answers to our prayers. Whether it be a
mighty, thunderous answer to our prayer, or a gentle, subtle response
that we might fail to notice if we're not paying attention, or
whether it is simply the knowledge that your grace is sufficient for
us, and we need nothing more than you, we thank you for each and
every answer to our prayers. Remind us of all the good things that
you provide to us, and all the strength and comfort you provide us in
dark and difficult times, that we might always remember your love for
us, and call out to you again and again in our need.
We do that now, Lord, and call out to
you with the needs of our congregation. We bring before you the sick,
the sorrowful, the struggling, as well as those you provide to them
for comfort, strength and assistance. And we think of those close to
us who may be in need, and ask that you will provide for them in your
grace and mercy all that they need and more. We bring these requests
to you now in a short moment of silence.
Finally, Lord, we think today of
mothers: we pray for our own mothers, thanking you for the love and
care they have bestowed upon us; we pray for those mothers in our
church, for the important role they play in raising their children in
a godly way; we pray for the health of expectant mothers; and we pray
for those who cannot be mothers, or whose relationship with their
mothers has not been what it ought to have been. We thank you, God,
that you are there for us even when no one else might be. We remember
Isaiah 49:15, "Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and
have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget,
I will not forget you!" Thank you that we can call on you, and
you will always remember us.
In Jesus name we pray, Amen
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