Friday, June 15, 2018

Prayer of thanksgiving and confession based on Psalm 74



As I sat down to write a prayer for Sunday Morning worship the psalm in my devotions was Psalm 74. Written in the shadow of the destruction of Jerusalem, written in the very real dread that God had abandoned his people. Not the easiest Psalm to write a prayer for public worship from... But you know there are times and situations when it feels just like that. Maybe its like the storm weather has caught us unawares like the Shag in the image with this post was by a wintery wave as it sat resting on the rocks. Maybe it is just the ongoing drain of facing life's challenges and ups and downs, but in such times we are called to have faith in God to trust in who God is and what Christ has done for us... 

I do try and write my prayers in a sort of poetic way, at least its cut up into stropes or verses that have the same number of lines... It's a liturgical prayer for a public worship so it does have fixed elements like confession and asking for God to fill us afresh with his Holy Spirit and I'd love to do that more creatively but in reality I don't want to play round with those elements I want people to know those realities.  i'm not a poet by nature or skill, however as always I hope this prayer is helpful to you. feel free to use any or all of it if you find it useful... or none of it if you don't.  

Lord God

Sometimes it feels like you’ve given up on us,

That you’ve consigned us to the too hard basket

Walked away and left us in our difficulties

We feel alone and rejected, that you are angry with us

Vulnerable to those who would stomp all over our faith

And leave our hope vandalised and shattered



Righteous God

There are times when we don’t find you anywhere

In quite contemplation you are strangely absent

Creation is silent and fails to speak of your grandeur

We go to your house to worship and you are not even there

We don’t feel your loving touch in the care of others

Your warmth in the help of sisters and brothers



Holy God

It can seem that you have deserted us and walked away

Your presence like a long missed precious memory

We feel it, we feel it like a deep sharp pain

but deep within we know it is far from the truth

Our faith is not in the ebb and flow of experience and feeling

It is based in trusting in what you’ve shown us of yourself



All Powerful God


While situations seem so much out of our control 


And we feel adrift in the churn and blur of history

You have shown that you are sovereign, you reign from go to whoa


Beyond our ability to fathom it, you created all that there is


By your hand the earth is our life sustaining home 


We say you are our king and you are our saviour



Saving God

You have shown us that you are there and that you care

You see what afflicts us, you hear our cry

You are not unconcerned but bend down and draw near

You sent your son, Jesus into this world

In Jesus life death and resurrection you have reconciled us to you

And you abide with us, always by your holy spirit





Loving God

We may not feel it but we know it

Situations may seem dire and grim but they are not the end

We cry out to you in the hope you will lift us out

But in fact you come and walk with us and work alongside

We are constrained by time and place and here and now

But from the view point of eternity we will see your answer



Faithful God

In faith and trust we reach out again to you

We confess our sins, that we have done wrong

We acknowledge our guilt, that we have left good undone

We reach out because you are faithful and just

As we confess our sins you forgive us and make us clean again

We reach out knowing we are reconciled with you in Christ



Good God

We know you keep your promise

So we ask you to fill us with your spirit again

We know it is your desire that all may come to know you

So we pray you would aid us to witness to our hope in Christ

To proclaim in word and deed your great love and saving grace

Through us, bring glory to your name, Father Son and Holy Spirit 
Amen 

No comments:

Post a Comment