Congregational Prayer, September 2, 2007
Offered by Pastor Doug Scalise
God we thank you for the gift of worship and we pray you would give us
hearts of worship, not just when we are in this place for an hour a
week, but as we go through every hour of our week. Give us hearts that
are worshipping you wherever we are, whatever we are doing. God, none of
us knows what a day or a week may hold, how our lives can change in a
moment with a spoken word or a phone call.
God we pray this morning that as we come to you in worship from very
many different places that we would sense and know the incredible love
that you have for us, love that is steadfast, steady, unchanging,
unceasing, love that will never let us go. We know and we believe the
love that you have for us even at times when life makes it difficult for
us to believe that you are there and that you are loving us.
God we pray for everybody on our prayer concerns list coping with
difficult challenges. Lord we pray for all those who are walking a
difficult road of overcoming addiction. We pray that you would give them
the strength and the courage to go forward each day with you.
We pray as the summer comes to a close and school is beginning, we pray
for all of our children and students who are going back to school. Help
them as they adjust to new classes and teachers. Be with them in their
friendships and with the challenges, in the excitement and anxiousness
that come with a new school year, whether they are going into preschool,
elementary, middle school or high-school or college. God we pray your
blessing and protection on all of our students.
Lord we pray for all those in our congregation who are teachers,
administrators, secretaries, sextons, principals, all those who work
with students in any capacity. Help them to be good role models. Give
them abundant wisdom and patience as they work with students and help
them be people of high character and integrity.
Lord we pray for parents and grandparents and guardians as children and
young adults go off to school. Help the parents be able to let go, to be
able to trust the parenting that they have done with their child through
the years.
God, as we celebrate Labor Day tomorrow we thank you as we relax
tomorrow and for all those who work with educated hands, for builders
and mechanics, plumbers and electricians, painters and fishermen, fire
fighters and police. God there are so many people who do so much work
who affect our lives significantly and we pray your blessings upon them
each hour.
God I pray for those who are dealing with depression today, not the
serious depression, but those who are coping with the end of summer and
with the changes it brings. God we thank you for this wonderful season
of the year.
God we pray that you would also help us as we go forward to continue to
work toward the wonderful things that you have for us each day. Give us
eyes open to Grace, open to you hand and open to your love.
We pray God that you would help us to know that there is nothing that we
need that you will not help us to have. There may be some things we want
that we don’t have but all we need to know for tomorrow is that you are
with us and that you love us with an undying love and God, that is
enough. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
