We are your people, O God, called by your name, and in this assembly we proclaim your greatness. You are the Holy One, the King over all the earth, and we trust in your sovereign authority as we offer to you the thoughts and petitions of our hearts.
We pray for your church, O Lord, asking you to purify us and grant us grace to single-mindedly and whole-heartedly pursue our Lord Jesus Christ. Help us to see our lives rightly, to know with clarity the unparalleled worth of Jesus and, by his light, to see everything else. Reveal to us whatever might distract or hinder us from gaining Christ that we might share in the fullness of his suffering, death, and resurrection.
We are often afraid, Lord, beset by fears and doubts, by the uncertainty of our lives, and by the many things beyond our control. Grant us the courage to believe you and to trust in your word. Help us to listen to Jesus and to follow him in every area of our lives. Come to us, Lord, fearful and weak though we may be, and lift up our heads, enabling us to cast aside fear and to see Jesus only.
I invite your prayers for your own lives.
We proclaim the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus our Lord. We ask that the whole world would know him, would somehow be found in him. Give us courage to proclaim with our mouths and lives the lordship of Jesus. We ask that others will hear and see our testimony and, beholding Jesus, follow hard after him.
We are overcome with holy fear, O Lord, when we consider how you have revealed yourself. We worship you, mighty King over all the earth, the Holy One. We are awed by your majesty and humbled by the way in which you have stooped down to speak to your people. Help us to go forth with courage, renewed once more by the glorious vision of Christ Jesus our Lord, through whom we pray, Amen.