Thy Kingdom Come

By Pastor Bill

Last Sunday I tried an experiment that isn’t greatly embedded in our Baptist expression of the Christian faith, but I decided to write out the prayer I would pray during our morning corporate worship so that I could invite arranged, audible response from the congregation. A few of you asked for the prayer so I post it here:

Our Heavenly Father, we acknowledge you as the King and we pray for the coming of Your kingdom and its righteous rule, the display of Your greatness, power and goodness upon this earth. When we look honestly at the needs of this world and the church we recognize that they are so great and beyond us.

Yet we confess that You are able to do beyond all that we ask or imagine. And so Lord we pray first that You will allow the gospel to go forward in power in this community, in this province, in this nation, and around our world. This is our petition:

(Congregation) Lord have mercy.

We pray for believers around the world who are suffering in many ways, who are often persecuted, that You would grant them protection, increase their freedom, and cause them to be bold in their witness to the gospel of Christ. This is our petition:

(Congregation) Lord have mercy.

We ask for all who govern us at every level, on Parliament Hill, at Queen’s Park and in our Town Halls and courts that you will cause them to serve with wisdom and integrity that they may seek what is true and right. And we pray that you would bring something substantial and positive out of the G8 and G20. This is our petition:

(Congregation) Lord have mercy.

We pray especially for believers with public responsibilities for they face many tensions in seeking to live out Christian values in their roles of office. Grant them wisdom, courage and influence. This is our petition:

(Congregation) Lord have mercy.

We pray that You will bring justice and peace to the many troubled parts of our world, whether Iraq or Israel or Afghanistan or Sudan and many other places; we also ask that You’d solve the clean up of oil in the Gulf of Mexico and meet the needs of millions of people and the wildlife that are affected. Please intervene powerfully we ask. These are our petitions:

(Congregation) Lord have mercy.

Father, we do not want to simply adjust to the reality of terrorism in our world. We recognize that it wrecks lives and societies so we ask you to act to bring a just end to all terrorism and oppression on the earth. This is our petition:

(Congregation): Lord have mercy.

Lord, we are so richly blessed materially in this part of the world but many around our globe are in extreme poverty so we ask you to empower your people and others of good will to strategically and effectively act in a way that saves lives and delivers from starvation. This is our petition:

(Congregation) Lord have mercy.

We recognize the scourge of AIDS and many other challenges in a continent like Africa. The needs seem so great and beyond us but they are not beyond your power so move people, governments and organizations with the means to help to meet those needs. This is our petition:

(Congregation) Lord have mercy.

Father we recognize that Your church often tragically wonders off track and is beset by apostasy (turning away from the faith), by lethargy and conformity to alien values of the wider world. Deliver your church from such O Lord. This is our petition:

(Congregation) Lord have mercy.

And Father empower us who acknowledge Jesus as Lord to endure faithfully in this age as agents of Your kingdom now, and heirs of Your kingdom to come. We pray for the teaching and training of our children. Lead us O Lord. These are our petitions:

(Congregation) Lord have mercy.

And now Lord we count it a privilege, as those come forward who will take up the offering, to respond to your kindness and grace by freely giving what has first come from Your hand. We ask that you would receive our tithes and offerings of sacrifice given with joy our humble, trustworthy King of Your Kingdom. For we pray to the glory of God in the name of Jesus. Amen.

And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father.
You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
John 14:13-14

Pastor Bill