September 8th Prayer Service

Adoration: Scripture/Devo/Prayer

Isa.6:1-4 “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne, and the hem of his robe filled the temple. Seraphim were standing above him; they each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. And one called to another: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Armies; his glory fills the whole earth. The foundations of the doorways shook at the sound of their voices, and the temple was filled with smoke.”

There are a host of characteristics attributed to God throughout Scripture, but the single phrase that sums them all up is this: “Holy, holy, holy.” Holy being repeated three times is a way of the Bible reminding us that God is perfectly and completely “holy.” What does holy mean? Set apart…other…different. In short, to be perfectly holy means you are God. From this perfect holiness, from the fact that God is God alone, there flows a host of other characteristics.

God is righteous.

God is just.

God is gracious.

The list goes on, but that’s not all the Scripture says about God. True, we tend to think of God in theological terms, but Scripture often describes God in picture terms as well.

God is a rock.

God is a fount of living water.

God is like the wind.

Each of these pictures are meant to communicate truth about God, and because Scripture describes God this way, it is profitable for us to think along these lines when we praise God.

Jesus taught us to worship when we pray. Matthew 6:9 “Therefore, you should pray like this: Our Father in heaven, your name be honored as holy.” As we enter our time of prayer, spend a few minutes simply declaring the nature of God. Because we are called to enter His courts with thanksgiving, feel free to thank Him for being your rock or for treating you with kindness. After a time of personal prayer, we will join in a time of sing His praises.

Adoration: Songs of Praise

“God of the Ages”

“Holy, Holy, Holy”

Surrender: Scripture/Devo/Prayer

Prov.3:5-7 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; in all your ways know him, and he will make your paths straight. Don’t be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and turn away from evil.”

We are born with a desire to have it our way and to have it now. But Scripture constantly reminds us that our way isn’t the right way. Instead, we must adopt the way of Christ. Our trust must be in God and in His will. We cannot rely on our own faulty understandings. Our view is short-sighted, and we are often too close to the problem to rightly diagnose it. Further, God’s ways are far above and far better than ours. Proverbs again gives us a good reminder:

Prov.14:12 “There is a way that seems right to a person, but its end is the way to death.”

In order for us to truly walk in God’s ways, we must be surrendered to Jesus. Jesus also taught us this in His model prayer — Matt.6:10 “Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” As we enter into a time of prayer, consider areas of your life that are not surrendered to Jesus. Consider ways that you are trusting in self and in your own wisdom. Pray for God’s rule and reign to extend to all areas of your life, the life of this church, and for us to be an instrument in bringing about God’s will in this world as a whole.

Surrender: Songs of Praise

“Come Thou Fount”

“I Surrender All”

Supplication: Scripture/Devo/Prayer

Phil.4:6 “Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”

The burdens of life and this world as a whole can seem overwhelming. At any given time we may be dealing with broken friendships or relationships, hardships at work, workloads at school, peer pressure, home life, or any other number of burdens. Jesus doesn’t promise to take all of those things away. After all, it’s part of living in a world where people are resistant to living for God and His will. But He does give us a few commands:

Don’t worry about anything. But…that’s easier said than done. Here’s a helpful reminder — the VAST majority of stuff we worry about, I’ve heard as high as 90% or more, never actually happens! But, sometimes our worst fears do come true.

So, as a solution, God gives us the gift of prayer — we get to present our concerns to God in a genuine and real way and know that whatever happens then is good because God allowed it.

It’s necessary to thank God when we pray. This reminds us of how God has answered prayers in the past and gives us assurance that we can trust His answers. Further, it comes to God the way He said we should — Ps.100:4 “Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and bless his name.”

As we pray, as we ask God, as we present our requests to Him, we are exercising faith that God will do what He said He would and that He will give us good answers to our prayers. So, make your requests to God.

Jesus continued teaching us, Mt.6:11 “Give us today our daily bread.” We ask God to meet our needs. As we spend a few moments in prayer, thank God for the prayers He has answered in the past before presenting your current needs.

Supplication: Songs of Praise

“Great Is Thy Faithfulness”

“Goodness of God”

Confession: Scripture/Devo/Prayer

1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Confession is such a wonderful gift God has given to the church. It allows us to seek forgiveness for our sins. And, it allows us be RIGHT before God. The truth is, we miss the mark. We come up short. We speak wrongly to or about others. We let people down. To say it simply, we’re not perfect. We struggle with the two most basic commands. Do we love God with all of who we are? Not always. There are things that often compete and overcome our desire for God, and it happens on a regular basis. Do we love our neighbor as ourselves? Not like we should. Honestly, there are some people I struggle to even like. Most of them are tourists, but I’m working on it. Those things hinder us in our walk with God. It makes it difficult for us to hear from Him. It weakens our resolve to live for Him. He gives us the gift of repentance so that those barriers we put up can come down, so that any brokenness in how we relate to God can be healed and restored.

Jesus taught us in Matt.6:12 “And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” As we enter into our next time of prayer, confess any sin that the Holy Spirit brings to mind. And, forgive anyone that you’re holding a grudge against. Use this time to remove those hindrances in our walk with God.

Confession: Song of Praise

“Just As I Am (I Come Broken)”

Guidance into Godliness: Scripture/Devo/Prayer

Ps.23:1-4 “The Lord is my shepherd; I have what I need. He lets me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside quiet waters. He renews my life; he leads me along the right paths for his name’s sake. Even when I go through the darkest valley, I fear no danger, for you are with me; your rod and your staff—they comfort me.”

Godliness is not the default setting on our spiritual GPS. We need direction and guidance in a difficult world, and our sinful nature does nothing to help us along in the journey. This psalm, perhaps the most famous psalm, reminds us that we have a Savior who will lead us every step of the way. He leads us, protects us, provides for us, meets all of our needs (and even some of our greeds!), He invites us in to rest and peace, He restores us…He guides us well in all of life’s journey. Even if He takes us straight through the darkest places, we have no need to fear. And there’s this line — “He leads me along the right paths for His Name’s sake.” The thing that we don’t do naturally, the big struggle for us, He leads us there and He does it so that we can live to show the world that Jesus is the greatest treasure that can be had, and He does it so that we can live as a part of a story greater than us, a story that says it’s all for God.

Jesus taught us lastly in Matt.6:13 “And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” Our final prayer time for the night is this: that God would lead us in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake, and that He would keep us from the snares of Satan. Once more let’s spend a few moments in prayer.

Guidance into Godliness: Songs of Praise

“Be Thou My Vision”