Prayers...

Prayers for the week of  November 16, 2014

 Almighty and ever-living God, grant us confidence in Your exceedingly great promises, and enable us diligently to hear Your precious Word and use Your blessed Sacrament(s), and to cast off the works of darkness and walk in the light of Your way—for the day of Christ’s return is nigh.  Lord, in Your mercy,, hear our prayer.

Please bless the Widows and Widowers of Calvary.

Heavenly Father, almighty and merciful, we pray because You have instructed us to, and have promised to hear us.  Hear us again, and grant our petitions according to Your will, through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.

“But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that da to surprise you like a thief.  For you are all children of light, children of the day.  We are not of the night or of the darkness.” 

1 Thessalonians 5:4-5

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

“Give us this day our daily bread.”

In the Name of the Father and of (+) the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

O Lord, You give daily bread to all – faithful and wicked alike – even without our prayer. Yet, we are right to pray for our daily bread, that we might learn that it comes from You as the giver of all good things and so receive it with thanksgiving. To that end, lend your fatherly ear to my petitions:

·         For the ill, suffering, injured: O Lord, You promise that daily bread includes all our very life and health. Hear my prayer for those who are ill, suffering, or injured, especially Dan Johnson*, Lynn Grap (father of member Lyn Piela*), Susan Ail (niece of Kathy Hoppmann*)- and all the homebound members of our congregation including Velma Maas, Irma Martin, Velda Miller, Bruce Morecraft, Janet Keller, Alice Breneman, and Myrtle Stade, that they may, by Your grace, be given a portion of new health, or – if it be Your will – be given faith to bear (his/her/their) current affliction.

·         For the anxious, lonely: O God, You promise that daily bread includes all that we need to support this body and life, including defense from every evil.  Hear my prayer on behalf of Joe Hibbs, my neighbor Dale, my niece Roxanne, my sons Mark, Ryan, and Paul; grant them the trust that You provide for all of life’s cares and – as part of our daily bread – see us through all of life’s trials.  Give them the eyes of faith to see Your many blessings, daily given and renewed, even in moments of great anticipation.

·         For the mourning: O Lord, as You give, so You take away. Hear my prayer on behalf of Val and Dorothy who mourns the death of a loved one. Comfort them with the promise that, though You have taken from (him/her/them) a loved one, so You continue to provide for them through Your bountiful goodness. Grant them the faith which clings to the Truth that not only give us all temporal blessings, but – grace beyond grace – gave Your only begotten Son to die our death upon the cross, that we might receive – not merely daily bread – but also the eternal inheritance of heaven.

·         For the rejoicing: O Lord, You give us daily bread that is beyond measure or understanding.  Hear my prayer of thanksgiving on behalf of Lila who today rejoice(s) at the occasion of a visit from the Hill family.  Grant her a thankful heart that sees this blessing for what it truly is – a gift of daily bread that comes from Your hand, even as You freely give to satisfy the desire of every living thing.

Hear my petitions, O Heavenly Father, for the sake of Your Son, who has promised us that all good things come from your fatherly hand and, thus, has taught us to pray, “Our Father, who art in heaven…”