A Service of Prayer

To God Be the Glory

To God be the glory, great things He has done;

So loved He the world that He gave us His Son

Who yielded His life an atonement for sin,

And opened the life gate that all may go in.

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,

Let the earth hear His voice!

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,

Let the people rejoice!

O come to the Father, through Jesus the Son,

And give Him the glory, great things He has done.

Great things He has taught us, great things He has done,

And great our rejoicing through Jesus the Son;

But purer, and higher, and greater will be

Our wonder, our transport, when Jesus we see.

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,

Let the earth hear His voice!

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,

Let the people rejoice!

O come to the Father, through Jesus the Son,

And give Him the glory, great things He has done.

Psalm 80:1 NASB95

1 Oh, give ear, Shepherd of Israel, You who lead Joseph like a flock; You who are enthroned above the cherubim, shine forth!

Psalm 80:2 NASB95

2 Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh, stir up Your power And come to save us!

Psalm 80:3 NASB95

3 O God, restore us And cause Your face to shine upon us, and we will be saved.

I have to tell you that my heart is heavy today. Indeed, I’ve been struggling with a heavy heart for weeks, unsure what exactly has been the root of my distress.

The truth is that I was struck a few months ago by the realization that, for the most part, we never know what’s really going on with one another. We really never know what kinds of things even close friends and family are struggling with, not even among brothers and sisters in the church.

Whether it’s because of pride or shame or arrogance or modesty, we all tend to keep our deepest hurts and our most personal struggles private.

But that’s not the way it’s supposed to be.

We’ll talk a lot more about this matter in a couple of months as I preach a series on the church and its purpose. But for today, I want you to understand that one of the purposes of the church is for believers to come alongside one another to strengthen each other.

We can’t weep with those who weep if all our weeping is done in private. We can’t rejoice with those who rejoice if we don’t know you’re rejoicing. We can’t confess our sins to one another if we’re all afraid that instead of grace, we’ll just find judgment on the other side of that confession.

So, I will tell you now that I believe we — and not just Liberty Spring — are largely failing in one of our great callings as the church of those who have been redeemed by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ.

We put on our masks every Sunday — and I don’t mean the masks we wear because of Covid — and we come to church and pretend that we’re all getting along just fine, thank you very much, and we sing a couple of songs and listen to a sermon.

And then we pack up our Bibles and go home, and we’ve missed out on the great power of the Holy Spirit poured into a congregation of people who have come together as the Body of Christ.

We miss out on the power of love manifested among brothers and sisters who share the bond of the love of Him who said that we should love one another, even as He loved us.

But I don’t say all this to chastise you.

In fact, what I should say next is that I tend to fail in all the same ways and more.

As pastor of this flock, I am the under-shepherd placed over it by the Good Shepherd. And I have a responsibility to Him to watch out for the spiritual welfare of His sheep.

So when I am blindsided by news of some person’s struggle here, it hurts me. It hurts me, because I wish I had recognized signs of troubles before they became a crisis. And it hurts me, because I love you, and I want you to experience the peace and joy of a life in Christ.

I’ll be honest with you this morning: I, myself, have struggled to experience that peace and joy in recent months. I’ve found flashes of it as I have watched so many of you grow in your walk with Jesus. But the depression that I’ve dealt with off and on for my entire adult life has asserted itself more powerfully during these past few months than it has in years.

Perhaps it’s the sign of the times. After two years of a global pandemic, I am hearing more stories than ever of people suffering from depression, of people falling into addiction, of families being broken.

As I said in a text message to a pastor-friend yesterday, so much is wrong, and so many people are hurting for so many reasons, and my heart is just breaking.

This is the part about being a pastor that I never expected.

And as I prepared for today’s message this week, I just could not get myself past the heartbreak.

So, I turned to one of my favorite Bible passages to hear Paul’s advice to the Philippian church:

Philippians 4:4–5 NASB95

4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! 5 Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near.

Philippians 4:6 NASB95

6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Philippians 4:7 NASB95

7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

And after reading that passage, I felt called to change my approach to today’s sermon.

In fact, the sermon I had planned to preach today, I will preach next week. Today, I want us to devote the rest of our time to prayer.

Now, we can and SHOULD all devote time each day to individual prayer. But there is something powerful about the church united in prayer. In fact, all of those pronouns in the passage I just read from Philippians are plural ones. Paul was calling that church to pray individually AND corporately.

So, what we’re going to do for the remainder of this service is this: I’m going to put up some general prayer topics on the screen, we’ll sing (you can remain seated), and then I’m going to read a passage of Scripture dealing with each topic, and I’ll lead a prayer dealing with that topic.

Then, I will sit down, and Andy will play some light music, and if you feel led to pray, you can either come up to one of the microphones or just stand at your seat and pray. And if you prefer not to pray aloud, then just pray silently.

I know that some of you are a bit squeamish about praying in public. Nobody is grading you or judging you on how you pray here.

Your prayer is for God alone, but know that hearing you pray will encourage someone else — not just because you were “brave” enough to do it, but also because of WHAT you pray for.

THIS is how we build one another up. THIS is how we make it known to one another that we are here to weep with one another, to rejoice with one another, to give grace to one another.

Finally, I want you to think of these steps down here as an altar today. Here is where you can lay down your burdens, you who are heavy laden. Do not be ashamed to come here and cast your cares upon the Lord. And I will be here to pray with you if you’d like me to do so.

I don’t know how this will go, but I’ve put it into God’s hands, and I pray that He will be honored and glorified in it.

Let’s start with a song:

What A Friend We Have In Jesus

What a Friend we have in Jesus,

All our sins and griefs to bear!

What a privilege to carry

Everything to God in prayer!

O what peace we often forfeit,

O what needless pain we bear,

All because we do not carry

Everything to God in prayer.

Psalm 68:33 NASB95

33 To Him who rides upon the highest heavens, which are from ancient times; Behold, He speaks forth with His voice, a mighty voice.

Psalm 68:34 NASB95

34 Ascribe strength to God; His majesty is over Israel And His strength is in the skies.

Psalm 68:35 NASB95

35 O God, You are awesome from Your sanctuary. The God of Israel Himself gives strength and power to the people. Blessed be God!

Adoration

Pray

Amazing Grace

Amazing grace! How sweet the sound

That saved a wretch like me!

I once was lost, but now am found;

Was blind, but now I see.

'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,

And grace my fears relieved;

How precious did that grace appear

The hour I first believed.

Psalm 51:1 NASB95

1 Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; According to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions.

Psalm 51:2 NASB95

2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity And cleanse me from my sin.

Psalm 51:10 NASB95

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Confession

Pray

The Love of God

The love of God is greater far

Than tongue or pen can ever tell,

It goes beyond the highest star,

And reaches to the lowest hell;

The guilty pair, bowed down with care,

God gave His Son to win;

His erring child, He reconciled,

And pardoned from his sin.

Oh love of God, how rich and pure!

How measureless and strong!

It shall forevermore endure,

The saints' and angels' song.

Could we with ink the ocean fill,

And were the skies of parchment made,

Were every stalk on earth a quill

And every man a scribe by trade;

To write the love of God above

Would drain the ocean dry;

Nor could the scroll contain the whole,

Tho' stretched from sky to sky.

Oh love of God, how rich and pure!

How measureless and strong!

It shall forevermore endure,

The saints' and angels' song.

Psalm 40:1 NASB95

1 I waited patiently for the Lord; And He inclined to me and heard my cry.

Psalm 40:2 NASB95

2 He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm.

Psalm 40:3 (NASB95)

3 He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God;

Thanksgiving

Pray

Are we weak and heavy laden,

‘Cumbered with a load of care?

Precious Savior, still our refuge,

Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Do your friends despise, forsake you?

Take it to the Lord in prayer!

In His arms He'll take and shield you;

You will find a solace there.

Psalm 121:1 NASB95

1 I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; From where shall my help come?

Psalm 121:2 NASB95

2 My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.

Supplication

Pray

Health

Families

Ministry

The Gospel

The Church

Through many dangers, toils and snares,

I have already come;

‘Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,

And grace will lead me home.

The Lord has promised good to me,

His Word my hope secures;

He will my Shield and Portion be,

As long as life endures.

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,

The sun forbear to shine;

But God, Who called me here below,

Shall be forever mine.

Amazing grace! How sweet the sound

That saved a wretch like me!

I once was lost, but now am found;

Was blind, but now I see.

Psalm 80:19 NASB95

19 O Lord God of hosts, restore us; Cause Your face to shine upon us, and we will be saved.