Prayers for Sunday, Sept. 4th

Prayers written by Valerie Andersen; Led by Terry Clark and Valerie Andersen

God of Light, the first and most important decision of discipleship was Your’s:  You came as body and as Word.  We praise your for your Son, our Savior.  We praise you for the Holy Spirit, who intercedes and who comforts us.  Thank you for your goodness.

In the midst of our lives, when chaos threatens to overwhelm and conquer us, Word of the Lord come to us.  In the midst of our questions, doubts, and fears, Word of the Lord come to us.

Take away the obstacles that prevent us from placing ourselves entirely in Your hands.  May our ears hear and our hearts listen to your words of challenge, comfort, and discipline.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

God of Creation, You have given us free will; yet our worldly thoughts and desires bring evil and destruction.  May we choose to surrender to You, consciously giving ourselves over to your will for us.

Open our eyes to see ourselves as clay.  Form our hearts.  Transform our minds.  Conform our will to yours.   We are in your hands.  May our lives evidence your handiwork.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

God of Truth, move in our lives so that our faith in you will make us bold to speak and to act in love for those with little or no voice - the unborn; children - old and young; the emotionally, mentally, and physically ill; those left out, left behind, and left alone.  May we advocate in your name and intercede in both prayer and practice.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

God of Grace, we pray especially for:

Special Intercessions

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

God of Salvation, Your journey took you to the cross.  Placing our needs before yours, you endured worldly Death for our sakes, counting our salvation as worth the cost.  The cost of discipleship with us was your life.  Help us to pay the cost of our discipleship with you by the sacrifice of our own worldly lives.

Open our eyes to those things we hold more dear than You.  What idols do we hold close to our hearts that keep us from seeking you and your will first?

Give us courage.  Give us strength.  Give us faith to pay the cost of following you.  Discipleship is not an afterthought.  It is a way of life.  In the face of competing loyalties, help us to make you our primary allegiance.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

May we count the cost of following you and accept it.  Loosen our grip on that which will not satisfy.  Then we may receive our compensation - a life led by, beside and wrapped in You.

And all God’s people said,

AMEN.

Prayers from Sunday, August 21st

Prayers written and lead by Rachelle Moreno

Let's bow our heads and come to our Lord in prayer.

Heavenly Father, first and foremost, we give you thanks for loving us unconditionally.  We give thanks for the grace you give us that we can extend to those in our lives.  We thank you that you forgive us even though we do not obey and trust you with our whole heart.  We thank you for those hearts who hear your calling to support those who have lost their homes in the Louisiana floods - give them courage to restart and the means to do so.Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Father, please help repair what we have broken in our relationships when we just completely mess up and do not live out your word in our lives.  Teach us and help us to undo the damage we cause due to our sins and because of our disobedience to you.  We thank you especially for the Holy Spirit that lives in our hearts to help guide and lead us to opportunities to share your love with others - that they may see.  Let us give glory to you by strengthening us to act immediately and work diligently, seeing ALL people as if we were looking through your eyes Father, and seeing the pain that lingers in each and every person.  Let your power wok in their lives.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

We pray for those who point us in the right direction in our lives; those such as our pastors, teachers, and leaders who tirelessly teach the many ministries here at St. Andrews that help us all grow in faith.  Thank you for those who serve our community.  We pray for our veterans, firefighters, and offers - those who serve to protect us and keep us safe.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

We pray for our rulers, those who govern our country.  We pray that our candidates that are put in office are ones that have Christian values and morals to help bring a much needed change to our world.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Father, we continue to pray for the hour between services that allows us to be in your word more through study time.  We pray for our Good Shepherd ministry, New Life Ministry, H2H and High School Youth.  We pray for our mission teams training this winter to go spread the good news in Ghana, Thailand and Hong Kong.  We pray for Tao and Tia as they minister to the Hmong Community.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

We pray for those who have life-threatening health battles, and those affected by violence in our community.  We pray for the homeless, those battling addictions, those in violent relationships, and those suffering Mental Health issues.  Protect them all.  We pray that we may be a light in this dark world and extend love and mercy to them even when they may be out of our comfort zone.  We pray for members of our congregation - especially those on our hearts at this time.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Father, we know there is power in prayer so we thank you for allowing us to bring all these prayers and petitions before you today.  We ask diligently that you go to battle for us against the forces of evil that attack our hearts and minds.  We humbly ask in your Son's precious name, and all God's people said, Amen.