Prayers...

Prayers for the week of September 21, 2014

 Lord God, Father in heaven, You desire mercy and not sacrifice, for Jesus Christ has given Himself as the sacrifice to make us acceptable to You. Therefore, have mercy upon us and, if it be Your will, find acceptable the petitions we bring. Lord, in Your mercy: hear our prayer.

These things and whatever else You know that we need, kind Father, grant us for the sake of Your beloved Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

“…Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  Go and lern what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’  For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”  Matthew 9:12-13

A Prayer based on the Petitions of the Lord’s Prayer

“And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

Make the sign of the cross: In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

O Lord, “If you would mark iniquities, O Lord, who would stand? But with You there is forgiveness, that You may be feared.” As a Father who deeply loves His children, You promise to freely forgive us as we repent of our sins. To that end, lend your fatherly ear to my petitions:

For the ill, suffering, injured: O Lord, without You, man has no hope for the sick to be healed or the sinner to be forgiven;  yet You have shown Your power and will to do both. Hear my prayer for those who are ill, suffering, or injured, especially  Myrtle Stade* and Clayton Holcomb* (hospitalized), Kathryn Knox (Gale Moe’s* aunt), David Orkfritz (Missy Kovacik’s brother), Sue Ail (Kathy Hoppman’s* niece), who all contend with cancer, Rebecca Freese (Richard Mulles* sister - recovering from a stroke) and Peg Wright’s* grandson, Jace, (complications following surgery); also please bless my neighbor, Dale; comfort them with the certainty that – because their sins have been forgiven on account of Christ Crucified – they may be certain that you will provide for their temporal health and their eternal well-being, in accord with Your will.

For the anxious, lonely: O God, You promise to answer those who call upon You in their day of trouble. Hear my prayer on behalf of Dan, Vickie, Anne, and Joe Hibbs forgive them where – in trial and tribulation – they grow weary and doubt your Word. Strengthen them through Your Word of Truth and its promises, reminding them that – because they are forgiven in Christ – nothing can separate them from Your love.

For the mourning: O Lord, You take no delight in the death of even the wicked, but desire all men to be saved, and have given Your only-begotten Son to bear the sins of all the world. Hear my prayer on behalf of Judy Rud, Val Jones, and Dorothy Thompson, who mourn the death of a loved one. Comfort them with the promise that we have been forgiven in Christ, so that all who die in Christ still live with Him in paradise.

For the rejoicing: O Lord, because You have paid the redemption price in Christ, and have forgiven all our trespasses, You also delight in giving us every blessing under heaven. Hear my prayer of thanksgiving on behalf of Jim and Linda Hill for their grandchildren and myself and Lila for jobs and possessions and health and that of our children and family. Grant us all a thankful heart that rejoices in the many blessings that flow to us as those forgiven through the blood of the Lamb.

Please bless our Calvary shut ins Geraldine Hagemann* , Margaret Joseph*, Velma Mass*, Bruce Morecraft, and Janet Keller.

Also please bless all widows and widowers of Calvary.

9/27/2014 - In light of recent events,  there has been a  prayer request asking that we remember in our prayers the Christians in the Middle East whom are suffering persecution and facing martyrdom for the Faith. 

‘Lord Jesus Christ, in this world of unrest and strife You founded Your holy Christian Church through faith as a kingdom of peace and joy.  You have established this worldwide communion of saints in which all believers are joined by the invisible bond of faith and in which we are gathered around Your Word and Sacraments.  I thank you for making me a citizen in Your holy kingdom through the cleansing waters of Baptism.  I praise You for Your goodness because You bestowed upon me and all Your children Your Holy Spirit.  Keep the flame of faith alive in all believers through the forgiveness and peace given us through Your precious body and blood in the bread and wince of the Sacrament.  Continue to fill us with the spirit of love and peace toward one another.  Make us the salt of the earth and the light of the world.  Fulfill among us Your promise that the gates of hell shall not prevail against Your Church.  Extend Your kingdom so that Your salvation reaches to the ends of the earth.  Hear us for the sake of Your truth.  AMEN.’   (Lutheran Book of Prayer p.144). Comfort them in this time of sorrow, that they would not grieve as those who have no hope, but as those to whom belongs the certain hope of “the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.”

Hear my petitions, O Heavenly Father, for the sake of Your Son, in Whom we have the forgiveness of sins and, thus, the right to come to you as dear children who have been taught to pray, “Our Father, who art in heaven…”