Great and honourable Father, we come to You through the
precious Name of Jesus. You established us as Your Church, to do Your Will on
the earth and to make disciples of all men. Attached to this mission, You
granted us the power of Your Spirit, that we may prevail against the gates of
hell. We come to You today asking for Your mercy and forgiveness.
We have each gone our way and neglected Your Great
Commission. You told us to be in the world, yet not of it; we have made
ourselves comfortable here. Trading in the wares of the world, we have made
enlargening our barns for survival our primary activity and neglected to rely
on Your Providence. Our hearts do not beat in sync with Yours any longer and we
have become cold and distant. We no longer have Your passion for the lost and
perishing people who do not know You. Rich in the treasures of this world, we
think we have need of nothing. However, we are really blind, poor and wretched!
The love of God is not in our hearts, neither love for our own brethren.
Lord, open to us the treasures of Your Word that we may
no longer be poor. We ask you for gold tried in fire, and eye-salve to take
away our blindness and hypocrisy.
Quicken our cold hearts with the fire of Your love, that we may not be
Christians in name only but with all our hearts. We no longer want to be just
followers and fans; we want to be disciples for that is what You intended. We
no longer want to be just hearers of Your Word. We have been so for centuries.
We want to apply Your Word practically in our lives. We hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for we have none of our own and so we come to You, the fountain of
Righteousness.
Lord, You promised that if we asked anything in Your
Name in accordance with Your Will, that You would do it. We ask for a revival
in our spirits and a reformation in our hearts. Create in us clean hearts, and
renew in each of us a right spirit. Grant us Your Holy Spirit that we may
honour You in the world today, proclaiming Your great Name always. Help us to
love our neighbor, both in and outside the Church. We have mostly been a
reproach to Your great Name for we have tried to do things in our own strength.
We have neglected Your blueprint and Your great wisdom and tried to cut corners
in doing the work You appointed us. Help us to be no longer a reproach, but to
bring glory to Your Name. Forgive us.
Revive us again! Help us as a Church to work in unity
with one another, and to use the gifts You have given each of us so that we may
finish our appointed work of taking Your Message to the whole world. We have lost
our authority, because we have not lived the Gospel. Lord Jesus, when You were
on this earth, You spoke with great authority because You are the Word
personified. Help us to be the same, to speak with great authority, the authority You have given us.
Revive our hearts and reform our lives, that we as a
Church and as Your servants, may bring great honour to Your Name (Matt 7:29).
AMEN
