Praying for One Another

Psalm of the Day: Psalm 66

Psalm 66 ESV

To the choirmaster. A Song. A Psalm. Shout for joy to God, all the earth; sing the glory of his name; give to him glorious praise! Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds! So great is your power that your enemies come cringing to you. All the earth worships you and sings praises to you; they sing praises to your name.” Selah Come and see what God has done: he is awesome in his deeds toward the children of man. He turned the sea into dry land; they passed through the river on foot. There did we rejoice in him, who rules by his might forever, whose eyes keep watch on the nations— let not the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah Bless our God, O peoples; let the sound of his praise be heard, who has kept our soul among the living and has not let our feet slip. For you, O God, have tested us; you have tried us as silver is tried. You brought us into the net; you laid a crushing burden on our backs; you let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water; yet you have brought us out to a place of abundance. I will come into your house with burnt offerings; I will perform my vows to you, that which my lips uttered and my mouth promised when I was in trouble. I will offer to you burnt offerings of fattened animals, with the smoke of the sacrifice of rams; I will make an offering of bulls and goats. Selah Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will tell what he has done for my soul. I cried to him with my mouth, and high praise was on my tongue. If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. But truly God has listened; he has attended to the voice of my prayer. Blessed be God, because he has not rejected my prayer or removed his steadfast love from me!

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 1:16-18

Isaiah 1:16–18 ESV

Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause. “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.

Sermon:

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Speaker 1

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Well once again and as always good morning church, I was glad when they said to me let us go and Worship in the house of the Lord. Well, this morning. We are going to be tackling Philippians chapter 1 last week, we did two verses so we're doing a much longer passage this week.

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Three verses, Philippians chapter 1 verses 9 through 11 this morning. And before we dive into this, I want to remind this of what has come before of what we're what we're looking at here, at the very beginning of Philippians, Paul is writing to the church in caesarea Philippi And what's particularly important about this church is that it is a church that Paul loved and cherished, he cared deeply for this church.

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It was a church that he himself had planted. And so as he sits down to write them a letter, He tells them of his love for them, but also we read in Philippians chapter 1, verse 3, that he thanks God in his prayers for this church, always in every prayer.

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And then he would continue to ride and talk about the confidence that he has in their their ability to hold tight to the gospel. And that's not even correct. It's not their ability to hold on to the gospel, but rather the gospel's ability to hold on to them in many ways.

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He he prayed for them that they would love each other more. They would, they would abound more and more. And then here in the last portion of this introductory prayer, really Paul is going to. Summarize in many ways, but then explicitly tell them. How exactly? He has been praying.

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For them. What we have here? Is Paul telling us how he prayed for this. And as I studied and have been in this first part of Philippians and especially these verses, this is the thought I had maybe to help you understand where my heart is, as we approach this

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Many of us, struggle. Knowing. How we can pray for one another? And I think for many of us, right? I will confess even as a pastor. I am guilty of these sorts of thoughts, right? You you hear someone pray? And you think? And that person's just really good at praying.

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I wish I could pray as good as them. Maybe we start to feel if we're being honest self-conscious self-aware. I'm not good at praying and we start to to clam up and we don't necessarily know how to pray the first thought. If you experience that, I don't know how to pray.

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Before we can get into this text, here's my exhortation. The best way to get better is to practice just pray more. On top of that. God doesn't care for your eloquence in words, right? We covered Matthew a while back now. But when we went through Matthew, right? Jesus said don't pray like the Pharisees who think they're heard from their many words.

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Right. There's no use in just repeating and saying the same things. God knows your heart. So just pray. That's the first thought, but It is good for us. To pray better. And to learn how to pray better. So how do we do that? My first exhortation would be Jesus tells us how to pray.

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Go to the Lord's Prayer. It's in Matthew chapter 6. Read that study that that'll help you. But the next thing you can do is Seek to imitate Those whom pray. Well, If you hear someone praying and you think, man, that person prays really good. They're really good with words and stuff.

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Listen to them and try to In a good way. Imitate them and mirror, what they do. So go read. Jesus, not just the Lord's Prayer. Go read the high Priestly prayer. Go read some of the prayers of Jesus but you can also and this is what we will be doing today.

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Maybe read some of the prayers of Paul. What did Paul do to pray? How can we then pray in the same way? And so in particular this morning our goal is My Hope Is That we can see how we can as Believers as brothers and sisters in Christ. Pray.

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One another, with that being said, Philippians chapter 1, starting in verse 9. And it is my prayer. That your love May abound more and more with knowledge and all discernment. So that you may approve. What is excellent. And so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, Filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory.

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And praise. Of God. These are the words of the Lord for us this morning. Let's open. Fittingly, with a word of prayer. Our Holy Father in heaven. We thank you again for today. And we thank you again for your grace and mercy, which abounds to We thank you for your goodness for all of the precious gifts that you give us.

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In particular, we thank you for the precious gift of your son. Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We thank you that he was willing to Offer himself for us that we might be made whole Did the that we can find Hope and salvation and healing not in our own strength and might but because of the work of your son, thank you for this gift.

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Help us all the more to encourage and lift, one another up in these things Empower Us by your spirit to live and work for you. It's in Jesus name that we pray. Amen. And amen. But one of the things I've been trying to do in in my life, Is.

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When I have, Friends people, I don't talk to very often, right? For me in particular. This is like Denominational, Pastor friends, you know who all live on the other side of the country. When I pray for those people. I I just short shoot them a quick text say hey Been praying for you.

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And that's it. Because I think it's good for us to tell one another. Hey, we're praying for you. For people who live far away. Especially for me, this is how my brain thinks. You know, I don't get to see them, I want them to know, I still love them and I don't have the opportunity to talk to them very often.

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And so, hey, I just shoot a quick text been praying for you. This passage. Is Paul's quick text. I've been praying for you. But he does it even better. He talks about what his prayer has been for. He writes to this church. This hurting Church, this church that's facing difficulties.

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Both internally, but more importantly, and I think more particularly externally through persecution and pressures that have been placed on this church And he wants to encourage them and say I have been praying for you. For this in particular. And he begins to, to explain. His heart to them and what requests that he has been taking before the Lord for this church.

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If I am guilty of I'm guilty of a lot of stuff. But when it comes to my preaching, if I'm guilty of anything, I'm aware of this. It's that too often. My application are is things like so think about your savior more. And I think that's I think that's great application.

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I think we should all think about Jesus more. But I often struggle with the application of, like, do this more. And if you think I've always wanted to do this more sermon from David, I got it for you today. We're going to cover three things that you should pray for in particular when we pray for one another.

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The beauty of this thought is this gets us out of our selfish prayers where we think only of me and what I need and want and rather places us in the life-giving community of the church where we lift one another up and bear one another's burdens. Those of you that have been here a while, when we bring in new members, I ask them their questions.

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Let me go through the book. We love the church submit to the authority of the church care for the church attention. We ask them their questions but then I ask you all questions. And one of those questions is, will you lift each other lift, these people that we're bringing the membership up before God, will you pray for them and care for them and love them?

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And you all answer. Yes. Least that I hear. So how do we do that? How can I help you do that? Well, I'm going to give you three things that we can pray for one another side note. These are good things to pray for yourself too, but Paul's praying for one another.

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We should pray for one another. That as we lift one another up. It will. Help us to care for one another more. It will place us in a right relationship to God and place us in a right relationship to each other. So, practical application for your sermon today? How and what do we pray for when we pray for one another?

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The first thing we note here that Paul prays for

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And it is my prayer. That your love May abound more and more. He prays that they love. More. When you're reading the Bible. Often love the word love. The grammatical term, right? If you want to use, grammar is the verb. Love the action of loving. Usually has a direct object, a something that you love, right?

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I don't just go around saying I love, I love. Usually, when we use the word love, we say, I love my wife. I love. Pizza. I love my church. Usually, when we use the word love, it has an object. Does that make you're following me here? When Paul uses it here.

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There's no object. He does not say, it's my prayer that your love for God, May abound more and more. He also doesn't say my prayer. Is that God's love for you? May abound more and more or your love for one another, or your love for Christ Jesus? There's no object here.

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Paul's prayer is very particularly and very beautifully here for love. Because it's all of everything I just mentioned and more. He prays that this love that if we go back in context is the love. He has the love that God has for us the love of Fellowship among the Saints.

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That's these are all the things he's talking about in Philippians. And so he just he praised that that love. Will grow. It'll flourish it'll Blossom that the love they have. Period. Will grow. They'll know, we are Christians by our love. We sometimes sing. But what love is that? What's the love we have for one another.

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I pray that that love will abound. It's the love that we have for God. I pray that that love will abound But when Paul is writing to the church in Ephesus, he says, and I pray that you together with all the saints May grasp the height and depth and breadth and width of the love of God, which is yours in Christ Jesus.

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So that the love we have that can abound is the love, God has for us in all of these things, the love that we have, should abound So, how then do we pray for one another? I pray that you love. That you are marked by love that. Your life is marked by love that the love you have.

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For one another, the love you have for God, the love you have for the church, the love we have for the the world around us in many ways. The the people that God has placed in our lives, all of these things. When we love.

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Good things happen. That's the, really cheesy way to say this.

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Just last week, little more eight days ago now. You got to preach at a wedding. And what was my exhortation, those of you who were there, what was my exhortation love one. Another With a love, that is patient and kind. May our love abound, this pure love that God gives to us.

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Here's the prayer. That you would love. How do we pray for one another? That you would love. Maybe part of this for us, if we're being honest and to be practical in how we pray, maybe part of how we have to start to pray. We think I need to pray for love but I don't love them.

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Like I should, maybe that's where we start.

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May the love that I have for them abound more. And more May the love that they have for me abound more and more may, we love each other, May that abound help me to love them with the love that God loves them with To make it personal. Help me to love you with the love that.

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God loves you with. Help me to see the depth of that. May your love abound more and more. This love teaches us and trains us. There's this note here that it abounds with knowledge and discernment. It's in your grace Point. That's what the grace points about this week. But note that knowing one, another is part of how we love.

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We can't love if we don't know each other. And knowing increases our love, that's part of it. But as we love Grace fellowship and the hope of the Gospel abounds, so we pray how do we pray for another? You pray for love And all that that looks like in all that's included there.

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That's how we pray. And pray for something else. How do we pray for one another? We say a prayer. For sanctification. This is the the heart behind almost all that. Paul says here. This idea of your love. Abounding that that's a sanctification. Is a fancy word? Maybe, some people are new and haven't heard this word.

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It means we're growing more, holy, right? If we look at sanctification, it's like the way we could think about is like saintification. It's us being made more. Holy And that is happening. In all of us, we are all growing in Holiness as we are saved. And as the Holy Spirit Works in us, this is a process we all go through.

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And so if all Christians go through it, it makes sense that we would pray for one another for that. Your love about you, you grow, you know, more and more with knowledge and discernment verse 10. So that you may approve, what is excellent? Part of our sanctification is knowing and understanding that this is good and what God has called me to, and this is not.

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And so we approve that which is excellent and we reject that, which is sinful, that's part of it. But the ultimate goal of all of this, continuing in verse 10, is that you would be And blameless. This is Paul's prayer, not for himself. But for the Philippian Church, And I pray.

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That you also, Would see and know and understand what it means to be pure and blameless before the Lord.

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Christians have a bad reputation. From the world around us. Of. High and mighty. Hypocritical. Judgmental people. True or false say what you will about that, I think we can all admit that that's the reputation that often the church has in the world.

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So, our prayers. Should be to counteract that. Should we pray for ourselves for sanitation of court? I pray every day, God make me more. Holy conform, me into the image of your son. That's that's part of it. We pray for ourselves for sanctification. But do we ever stop and think? That your sanctification matters to me as well. That all of us together growing and being conformed into the image of Christ, that's the purpose and goal and role of the church. And so I don't just pray, selfishly, God helped me to look more like Jesus. We should pray for all of us. Help us all to look more like Jesus, may, you may, you be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, may you be filled with the fruit of righteousness.

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What Paul is doing here is breaking us of our Natural. Inclination to think very inwardly first. And instead we think of one another In Galatians, Paul writes, a few of the fruit of the spirit is love joy. Peace, patience. Kindness goodness, faithfulness. Gentleness self-control. And we hear that list and we think I want To have those fruit in my life and that is good, we should feel that way. But do we pray for one another?

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I pray that this person experiences the joy of the fruit of the spirit Welling up in their lives. May you work in them? Love joy. Peace, patience. Kindness goodness, gentleness faithfulness and self-control may you God work in their lives. These things. Because the beauty of this is, as we work together as the sanctification happens together, as we all grow in our Holiness, we then lift one another up. And the body of Christ, then becomes a life-giving body for all of us. And so we pray this for myself. Yes, but more importantly, for one another, I pray for your sanctification.

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That you would be filled with the fruit of righteousness that as you are more and more hid in Christ, as you find yourself more and more resting in him, may these things abound in your life. Why the final thought here? So that God receives all glory. As I grow in sanctification, and as you grow in sanctification and as we together grow in this God receives glory for he is saving people such as us. But what is he saving us for? What's the end result? We can't leave this prayer without noting. The central aspect of Paul's Vision here.

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It's a prayer for The day of the Lord. Verse 10 so that you may approve, what is excellent and be pure and blameless that's the sanctification.

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The day of Christ. What is? The day of Christ. Lots of people have debated. What day? That is short answer. We have no idea and if anyone tells you they know exactly when the day of Jesus Christ is run away. We don't know. This is what we do know. What will it include? It will include most importantly, most pivotably and most important to our thoughts here, the return of Jesus Christ. He is coming for his people. And for Paul as it should be for us, the truth that Jesus once ascended to heaven will return for us. He will descend

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With the trumpet will ReSound. And we together with All Saints will be caught up with him. When he returns, we will be given a new body. He will work in us and change us the day that we look forward to will be then completed. We will be done living in the time of already not yet and then live in the completed work of Jesus as he rules and reigns with a rod of iron When he comes to tread out the wine press of the wrath of God Almighty, we look forward to this day. And that day becomes for Paul, the central aspect of all things.

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So, do we pray for one another? Keeping in mind? Jesus is returning. That's the point here. Do we pray for one another? Knowing that time is short. Do we pray for one another? Realizing that we all look forward to the consummation of all things. When Jesus Christ returns And in that our joy is complete, that's the point.

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I used to I've told this story before when I was a youth pastor. Every time we'd finish a series. I don't think it'd work here. I let the elders pick, but when I was a youth pastor, I would let the kids pick the next series and we'd make a big day of it. One of our youth meetings would be just Sit together. I had a I loved teaching I had a big white board that I would write on. And we would, Go through it and make different categories, Old Testament, book. New Testament, book topical series and we would brainstorm thoughts that would go in each one. And we would Whittle it down together. So the kids and I we'd sit down and we'd pick the next series.

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And a hundred percent of the time, right? Old Testament books, think of some Old Testament books we can talk about. Genesis, you know, they list some Oh, in New Testament books, a hundred percent of the time. Some kid would say Let's do Revelation. And immediately I'd say. And this is my sort of thought process. No one's perfect. I have repented of this but this was my thought process, then. I struggle. And I know we all struggle living today. So instead of spending all my time worrying about tomorrow, What's going to happen? Let's focus on. How do we live today and let tomorrow take care of itself.

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That's my very pragmatic reason why I wouldn't want to teach Revelation.

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On one hand, here's where I think this Is right that thinking, We can get so fixated on. Trying to decipher the ins and outs of what exactly is going to happen. Many of these people with their Huge old charts and all this other stuff. And this is this and they line up this with that and this has to be that and they spend all their time trying to find what the the minimal details of that book are that they missed the beauty. And so this is why I've missed that and Paul here, I think explains it to us.

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The Book of Revelation is not for us to sit there and debate. Oh, The Beast with one horn is this. And the, these people are this, and this has to be this and this bug, and this trumpet judgment, is this. And this seal is this, I don't think that's the point. I think, the point of the Book of Revelation is Jesus is coming and may we rest in that. And the reason sort of saying I struggle to live today so I'm not going to worry about that. Misses the point is the fact that Jesus is coming back, is what helps me live today.

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And I say all of that to say this when we pray for one another, do we do so knowing that

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That the return of Jesus. Presses on all of our hearts and souls. It motivates me. For time is short. And so I must go and do the task that God has set before me. But as I pray for you,

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Do I pray in light of

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The return of Jesus.

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Do I pray that? The God of Peace himself. Will sanctify you. Completely. Do I pray that? Your whole spirit and your whole soul and your whole body will be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord. Jesus Christ. Do I pray those things for you.

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Do I understand that my love for you, our growth in sanctification, all of these things, reach their fever, culmination in the return of Jesus. Such that we long for the day when we all together with one voice will sing. Holy holy! Holy is he that's what we long for? And so, as we pray, for one another, we must pray with the day of the Lord, in our mind, in our hearts and in our vision. He is returning and this becomes how we think through and live through. Today. So, I mean, we love one another. May our sanctification increase.

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As we all long for the return of our Lord and Savior. Let's pray. Yeah, we do. Thank you for First and foremost, the Love by which you have loved us. And then in return the love that you give us that we may love others with help us to overflow with your love. That we may be a people marked by the love. We have for one another May the world, see that see our love and our care for one another and be drawn unto you. Help us as we grow in our sanctification train us. Teach us. I pray that by your Holy Spirit at work within us. We would be ever more conformed into the image of your son. Help us to look more like him.

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Help us to walk in the good deeds that you have prepared. Help us to abound in love joy. Peace patience. Kindness goodness. Gentleness faithfulness and self-control help these things to Mark Our Lives. And above all else, we pray that you would hold us for the return of Our Savior. We thank you for the promises that we have that he will return to keep us to save. To, to finish.

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Your great plan for the restoration of all of us. Help us to rest in the completed work of Christ knowing That he who promised is faithful. And he will surely do it. We thank you that you have loved us enough that you would promise these things to us. It's in Jesus name that we pray. Amen. And,