Prayer Guide using the book of Hebrews

May this prayer guide using the Book of Hebrews usher you to God's throne of grace on this 3rd weekend of Advent. (All scripture passages quoted here come from the NLT.)

"Let us be thankful and please God by worshiping him with holy fear and awe" (Hebrews 12:28). 

Let’s pray…

ADORATION:

-Long ago, O God, you spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets. And now in these final days you have spoken to us through your Son, Jesus Christ.

-Father, we praise you that through your Son you created the universe.

-We praise you that Jesus radiates your glory.

-We praise you that Jesus sustains everything by the mighty power of his command.

-We praise you for how Jesus cleansed us from our sins and sat down in the place of honor at your right hand, our majestic God and Heavenly Father (based on Hebrews 1:1-4).

CONFESSION:

-Heavenly Father, your Word says, “the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable" (Hebrews 4:12-13).  

-By your Holy Spirit, help us to confess to you those things that need to be brought out of the darkness and into your light.          SILENCE.

                                                                                     

ASSURANCE:

 -Gracious God, help us to remember that “there is no forgiveness without the shedding of blood.” And that blood is only “the blood of Jesus" (Hebrews 9:22; 10:19).

-Jesus is “our eternal High Priest in the order of Melchizedek” and “his priesthood lasts forever" (Hebrews 6:20).

-Therefore remind us today that Jesus, “is able, once and forever, to save those who come to God through him. He lives forever to intercede with God on” our behalf (based on Hebrews 7:24-25).

Church, rest in this assurance!

THANKSGIVING:

-“Let us be thankful and please God” by expressing to Him the wonderful things He has done on our behalf (based on Hebrews 12:28).

SUPPLICATION:

-Father I pray for the believers here at ____________, in ______________ and around the world that we “will move forward to further understanding” of you and your ways this Advent and Christmas season and in 2014 (Hebrews 6:3).

-Gracious God, help us to “remember our leaders who teach us the word of God” and so we pray for _________________. May he do his pastoring work “with joy and not with sorrow” as he “watches over our souls and is accountable to” You (Hebrews 13:7, 17).

-In this Advent/Christmas season especially, but in all the year through, help us to “continue in brotherly love,” “to show hospitality to strangers,” and to “remember those in prison…and those being mistreated” (Hebrews 13:1-3).

-Father we know that “faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.” To your glory and honor, may our will be conformed to your will as we wait on you in faith (Hebrews 11:1).

-“Let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God” with our SILENT requests for it is “there we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most” (Hebrews 4:16).                       

CLOSING:

-Therefore, because we have been forgiven of our sin, “let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us” (Hebrews 12:1).

-As we prepare our hearts for your First Advent when you came as the Christ child; help us to also prepare for your Second Advent when you “will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for you"(-based on Hebrews 9:28).

Jesus, you are “the same yesterday, today, and forever” and it is in this unchanging name that we pray.                                                                             (-based on Hebrews 13:9)

And all God’s people said, AMEN!

Merry Christmas from our Lego Village...

... to yours!

Love, The McCormicks

What do you pray for?

For our Daily Walk Bible reading I started on Romans yesterday morning and Paul's prayer in 1:9-12 stood out to me in a way I had never thought of before.

While I don't know exactly what Paul said during his "day and night" prayers (1:9, NLT). Nor do I exactly know what their "needs" consisted of it does seem clear from this and other prayers Paul wrote (see Eph. 1:15-23 and Phil. 1:3-11 as examples) that his prayers are somewhat different from the things I might say or hear today. 

Specifically, Paul focuses on the spiritual needs that he sees as opposed to only the physical needs.

I wonder ...

What would happen if I spent more time praying for the spiritual growth and wisdom of my fellow believers and the Church rather then just focusing on the never-ending litany of health-related prayer requests?

Now certainly, God cares for our physical bodies as clearly seen by Jesus' words in Matthew 6:25-34 when he tells his disciples, “do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear.” And certainly we see that Jesus had compassion on those who longed for healing as was most obvious in his willing healing of the leper in Mark 1:41. Our God is a God who sovereignly knows and cares about our lives, whatever might be going on, and he wants us to bring those requests to him (see also Mt. 7:7-12; Lk. 11:1-13 and 18:1-17).

With that said though I wonder…

Should we pray for more than just our health issues and the obvious things in the physical realm? Shouldn't we be as concerned with what happens in the spiritual realm?

Paul's prayers challenged me to reconsider how much of a focus I put on the physical needs and to, instead, also consider how I can pray for the spiritual needs. So that, for example, “the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better” (Eph. 1:17, NIV).

How about you? What do you primarily focus on in your prayers? 

Prayers of the People using the book of Acts 1-9

Today’s Prayers of the People are inspired by the first 9 chapters in the book of Acts which was our last three days worth of readings in the DWB.

Let’s us come before our Holy God with a reverent heart. Let’s pray…

ADORATION:

O Sovereign Lord, you are the Creator of heaven and earth. And by your creative genius you made all things that fly in the air, that roam on the land and that swim in the sea (4:24).

You alone are our Father and you alone have the authority to know the days and time (1:7) when you will send us Jesus to restore all things just as You promised long ago through your holy prophets (3:20-21).

CONFESSION:

Until that day, pierce our hearts with your holiness and by your holy word (2:37). Help us to be like those early followers who recognized their sin when they heard the word of God preached.

We ask that you would pierce our hearts with conviction from the Holy Spirit for those things we have done and the things we have left undone. Help us to confess these sins now to you in a time of   SILENCE.

ASSURANCE:

-Gracious God, help us to repent of our sins and turn to you (2:38).

-If we have not been baptized, lay on our hearts a desire to do this publicly (2:38) so that we might recognize that we are dead to sin and alive in Christ.

-Remind us of the assurance we have that “everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved” (2:21)!!

THANKSGIVING:

-Thank you that “there is salvation in no one else” but Jesus for “God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved” (4:12).

-Thank you that you raised Jesus from the dead (2:32).

-Thank you that Jesus is “standing in the place of honor at God’s right hand” (7:55).

-Thank you for the promised Holy Spirit who fills us and gives us power to live and to be a witness for you (1:8).

-Thank you for the wonderful things You, O Lord, have done (2:12).

-Take a moment to reflect and give thanks for the wonderful things God has done.

SUPPLICATION:

-Father I pray for the believers here at CVC, the believers in Crozet and around the world, that we would be like the early church who devoted themselves to the teaching of your Word, to fellowship, to sharing of meals, prayer and living sacrificially for one another (2:42-47; 4:32-37).

-Gracious God, give our leadership and our Pastor here at CVC vision and wisdom as they attend to the needs of the church (6:1-6).

- Just like the lame man healed through Peter (3:1-11) and later through Philip (8:5-8) we ask, O Compassionate Healer, for your healing hand on those we name now.

-Lord we pray for boldness in our witness and especially for the My Hope Billy Graham event that is happening this Wednesday night. May many people come and intently hear the good news of Jesus Christ (8:4).

-Powerful God, we also know that you have the power to change the hardest of hearts who are causing the most harm to the church today. We saw what you did to the Apostle Paul on the Damascus Road (9:1-19) and we pray you would do similar acts on those international leaders and dictators who breathe out hatred on our Brothers and Sisters in Christ around the world. Strengthen the persecuted church and bring to salvation those leaders in: the Maldives, Iran, N. Korea and others.

-Father, hear now our other SILENT requests that we bring to your throne of grace.

CLOSING:

You are the God who calls in visions, who empowers with your Spirit and who sends your people out (9:10-16). May you lead us, your disciples, today out into the world. In Christ’s name we pray. Amen

Habakkuk, Then and Now

Here's the next installment on my studies/discussion series on the Minor Prophets. I hope they are fruitful and a blessing to you!

-A prophet to Judah; based on the language used in the Psalm of ch. 3 he might have been a Temple singer.

-Habakkuk comes from a Hebrew root that means ‘embrace.’ “In his prophecy, Habakkuk was true to his name in that he embraced a strong faith in Yahweh” (Youssouf Dembele, Africa Bible Commentary, pg. 1063).

“Habakkuk can now see that the power in Israel’s past history is available to the righteous who shall live by faith. This book reveals a genuine sharing of a doubt that assails all believers, a feeling that God stands aside from the moral struggle of the believer. This doubt is removed not by the addition of new facts, but simply by the addition of a new perspective; not new revelation, but new insight into old revelation”

(W.J. Dumbrell, The Faith of Israel, p. 220).

1.     Then and now the question is asked, will the wicked always prevail?

a.      Habakkuk 1:1-4 and Revelation 6:9-11

                                               i.     Are we calling for help and crying out? (1:2) Or are we passively standing by?

                                              ii.     Are we trusting in the “Sovereign Lord, holy and true” as we wait? (Rev. 6:10)

2.     Then and now God answers, the wicked will be judged.

a.      Habakkuk 2:6-20, Psalm 75:8 and Mark 14:32-36

                                               i.     What is the repeated written clue as to who will be judged?

                                              ii.     How is Jesus’ life and death a fulfillment of God’s judgment?

                                            iii.     Rest in Psalm 11 – “the Lord is on his heavenly throne.”

3.     Then and now, we can worship in faith and prayer.

a.      Habakkuk 3:1-2, 16-19 and Philippians 4:4-7

                                               i.     What characteristics do we see in his prayer to God?

                                              ii.     With Habakkuk’s example, how can we appropriate Philippians 4:4-7 today in our own lives?

4.     Then and now God, in His glorious gospel, reveals that “the righteous will live by faith.”

a.      Habakkuk 2:1-4 and Romans 1:1-7, 14-17

                                               i.     In the Habakkuk passage, with what is living by faith contrasted?

                                              ii.     How does Paul apply Habakkuk 2:4 here in Romans?

How will you meet with the Lord with your questions?

How will you “live by faith” and in faithfulness?

I waited patiently for the Lord, He inclined and heard my cry.

He lifted me up out of the pit, out of the miry clay.

I will sing, sing a new song, I will sing, sing a new song.

How long to sing this song? How long to sing this song?

How long? How long? How long? How long to sing this song?

He set my feet upon a rock

Made my footsteps firm

Many will see

Many will see and hear.

~Lyrics from U2’s song “40,” adapted from Psalm 40