Sunday, 20 September 2009
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Jesus as King: A Prayer and Responsive Reading
I prepared this prayer and reading for our EPIC worship gathering today:
http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> name="ProgId" content="OneNote.File"> name="Generator" content="Microsoft OneNote 12">Our Father in Heaven, You are holy. You created all things by the command of your Word, and yet you yourself are uncreated. You are in all things, and everything that is, exists because you continue to sustain it.
We have come together this morning as your children, as recipients of your good gifts,
to acknowledge that the Earth is yours, and everything in it.
We acknowledge that you are the giver of all good gifts, that everything that is good and perfect comes from you.
We acknowledge that you put your glory in everything you create, that all things might point us back to you.
You have given us Hearts with which to love as you have loved us.
You have given us Souls that seek and dream and aspire to be more than we can dream - to be what you dream us to be.
You have given us Minds to ponder, explore and question the good world you have given us.
And you have given us Strength to run and play and hug and smell and hear and so much more - to enjoy creation with you.
You have given us all this and more, and we gratefully receive these gifts from you.
We confess that we are not always wise stewards of your gifts. We confess that we are easily distracted, that we often allow our lives to become cluttered.
Our hearts often wander, and we fill them with lusts and longings for that which you have taught us will poison us.
We squander our souls, too often settling for so much less than you created us to be.
We sully our minds with trivial matters and our tongues become spears that pierce our brothers and sisters.
And we turn our bodies over to the peculiar gluttonies of our culture. We indulge ourselves in our works or our foods or our drive to buy, buy, buy.
We allow ourselves to be formed in the image of the consumer, the taker…
…Rather than in the image of the giver of all good things.
Forgive us for our foolishness. Forgive us for becoming enamored by the glory you've placed in this beautiful world you created, for cluttering our very Selves with that which is not you.
Forgive us for worshiping our families, our country, our jobs, our friends and spouses and significant others. Forgive us for worshiping our electronics and homes and cars and
schedules and pets and diets and every other good thing we place between our hearts and your throne.
Forgive us for serving far too often the created rather than the Creator.
Remind us in our time together that You sit on the throne at the center of creation.
Teach us to love as you do, give ourselves for the redemption of our brothers and sisters even as you gave yourself to us.
Teach us to dream God-sized dreams, to see our selves and our potential with YOUR eyes, not our own.
Teach us to speak gentle words that heal, and to consider our world and our culture with wisdom
Teach us to be good stewards of our gifts, to discipline our bodies and our time.
Teach us again what it means to center our Selves on you and you alone, to make you the only Person on the throne of who we are
And to understand that all we have flows from you, our good and gracious king.
We thank you most of all for the gift of our salvation and redemption, given to us in the person of your Son Jesus. We pray all these things in his name, and in his name we now declare ourselves your faithful children.
The Earth is Yahweh's, and everything in it!
He shall reign forever
Yahweh is the King over all kings.
He shall reign forever
Yahweh is the Lord over all lords.
He shall reign forever
Yahweh is the Ruler over all presidents and prime ministers.
He shall reign forever and ever.
We are Yahweh's children. He is our good and gracious Father.
We look to Yahweh.
We are Yahweh's subjects. He is our strong and powerful King.
Our hope is Yahweh.
Hurricanes strike. Economies collapse. Wars are raged.
We look to Yahweh.
Nations rise and nations fall. But our hope is not in nations.
Our hope is Yahweh.
Our families and our jobs, our belongings and our being belong to Yahweh.
He shall reign forever.
The desires of our hearts, our deepest dreams and aspirations belong to Yahweh.
He shall reign forever.
Our tongues and our thoughts, our struggles and successes belong to Yahweh.
He shall reign forever.
Our hearts, our souls, our minds and our strength belong to Yahweh.
He shall reign forever and ever.
In our blackest nights, when we despair of hope, Yahweh is our light.
We look to Yahweh.
In our greatest accomplishments, when we achieve more than we ever thought we could, still then
Our hope is in Yahweh.
With every piece of who we are, we serve the first and last, A and Z, the origin and goal of our very lives.
We look to Yahweh.
He is our great king and we gladly, gratefully kneel at his throne, which sits at the center of creation and the center of our hearts.
Our hope is in Yahweh.
He shall reign forever!
He shall reign forever and ever!
We look to Yahweh!
Our hope is in Yahweh!
Our hope is in Yahweh!
Our hope is in Yahweh!
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