Prayer August 6, 2023

Our Father

we do not say that lightly, but remembering what it cost us to be your children: the life of your one-of-a-kind son, Jesus Christ. He is the descendant of Abraham who is the inheritor of the promises. He is the true son of David to whom you promised the nations and would rule and shepherd the nations. It is because we are united to him by the gift of your Holy Spirit that we are what he is before you. We are counted as righteous in your courts because he was condemned in our place. Because his life was perfect for us. And because of this, death could not hold him and his resurrection from the dead is evidence that you have acquitted him against any sin that human and religious courts tried to condemn him with. You, the great judge of the universe, are now our Father and we glorify you and thank you for the honor, the privilege and the responsibility of being your sons and daughters.

Thy Kingdom come...

We thank you that we are not the only ones but that you are still calling people to yourself to be your sons and daughters through Jesus Christ. We pray that your kingdom continuously enters into the existence of this fallen and broken world. We long for your kingdom - everybody does whether they know it or not. We long for a world that has no disease, no sickness and no strife. We all long for a world where there are no injustices. We all long for a world that we can all enjoy for more than a moment before we come back to anxieties and worries.

Only your kingdom is this world to come. Not our politics. Not our fallen ideologies be they progressive or conservative, which are nothing but exaltations of the creature and not the Creator.

Your kingdom is already here but not complete. Your kingdom is already growing and it becomes visible in your church. We pray that The Crossing would be a clear window to what your kingdom is like. We pray that The Crossing would glorify you and reveal the kingdom as it loves and serves the people of the Rio Grande Valley beginning in this place and extending through the lives of those who worship here to wherever they go.

We pray that we would grow as visible disciples of Jesus whose glorification of you is not private but something that is a part of how we do life including our work and our relationships.

Help us to learn to sit at your feet, King Jesus, to read and study our Bibles. Help us to not be deceived by the ways of the world. Help us to study the laws of your kingdom and thus demonstrate that we are citizens of it.

This means learning to forgive others as you have forgiven us.

Next Sunday, we pray for those who will be entering into a lifetime of formal discipleship as they publically profess their faith and membership of the kingdom of God. You said to go forth to all the nations and make disciples by teaching and baptizing. In obedience to your words to your church, we look forward to committing these lives to you through your offer of the gospel.

Daily Bread

Lord, we also pray for the safety of those people who are traveling : The Craigs, The Alvarez family, the Alemans, and for Marco. Keep them safe.

We continue to pray for the physical health of our brothers, Dan, Rob, Victor Martinez, Jose Martinez. We even pray for the mental health of Sofia Aleman.

We thank you that you are a God who does not just care for us spiritually, but that we belong to you both Body and Soul.

Continue to provide for this church and lead and guide the leadership of this church with the planning that is involved in church planting including outreach. We thank you for Gama and his family. We pray that you continue to strengthen him in the gospel and that his identity is and remains deeply rooted in what you have done and not what happens in ministry for good or for bad. We pray that your Spirit be with him and with us as you prepare us to hear your word through your servant.