Psalm 50
April 30, 2023 Our Father and our God, you give us the simple command to hear your words but so often we are either too slow, too distracted, or too deaf to listen.
Open our ears Father that we might hear your words to us. And if they are a testimony against us, let us accept the rebuke with open hearts and humbled faces.
Help us to readily admit our faults, confess our sins, and lament our shortcomings.
And Lord, the shortcoming you speak of to your people is not our lack of religiosity, not a lack of action … but seemingly when our outward actions do not match the inward realities of our hearts.
Heartfelt thanksgiving is replaced by tradition and sentiment while vows we made in zeal cool off and remain incomplete. Father, we ask for your forgiveness. We ask for your Fatherly discipline, but we also ask for your Fatherly acceptance and fellowship.
You are our Father, Lord, what a privilege it is to know you reign in Heaven. You have everything at your disposal. Every cow, horse, goat, donkey is yours. From the whales that swim in the ocean to the insects that even right now might invisibly hover above our heads. Everything is yours Father.
And if this is our Father’s world … “O let us ne’er forget
That though the wrong seems oft so strong
You are the ruler yet
This is our Father’s world
Why should our hearts be sad?
The Lord is King; let the heavens ring
God reigns; let the earth be glad.”
And make us glad right now, glad to be called your children, glad that we have been reconciled to you, not with the blood of goats and lambs, but with the precious blood of Christ. We called to you and you delivered us and will continue to deliver us from our various troubles.
So we pray for Jennifer and Heidi and for the 7 girls they took with them to District Blitz, we pray that all of them and all the attendees might return today safely, soundly, and spiritually nourished. Help Jennifer and Heidi rest and recover and assure them of your care and love for them.
We pray for our friends in Asia, we pray as “B” is coordinating the choir in filming a holiday TV special, taking the juniors on a week-long research trip, and preparing for end of the year concerts. We pray for “T” as she coordinates life at home and for the boys, alongside supporting the prayer campaign. And we ask for prayer for “G” to sleep regularly and through the night.
We pray finally for Catherine, thank you for the opportunity for her to be here and share about her work with Wycliffe. We pray for Bible Translation efforts there and around the world. We pray, as Jesus taught us, for more laborers to go out into the fields and for more and more peoples tribes, tongues, and nations, to know, hear, and be able to read, and enjoy your word.
Help us now, our great Father, to glorify you as we should and may your Spirit aid us now. We pray all this in the name of Jesus.
And all God’s people said… Amen.