Lord, there are many in the world today, even many that we see everyday who need to hear the gospel. They are cast down. They are filled with guilt and depression. They worry about standing before Almighty God. Lord, we pray that these people will hear the gospel. May they know that Christ came not to save the healthy, but the sick. The healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do.

Lord, we thank Thee that not only are we forgiven and made right with God, but we have the promise of the Holy Spirit to change our lives. We need to be changed. We need to overcome indwelling sin. We need to have a change of attitude. We need not only forgiveness of the past, but we need hope for the future. You offer that too in the gospel. You offer everything. You have forgotten nothing.

Lord, give us the outpoured Spirit that we might live in accord with Thy ways. We need help. We are still weak and sometimes we get weary with sin. We get weary with the world. We get weary with each other. Lord, pour out your Spirit upon us that we may fight the good fight and finish the course well.

Lord, we pray for Thy Church. Help us to remember that the Church is bigger than we are. The Church is greater than we are. When we are dead and gone, the Church will march on without us. The Church on earth has outlived all the great saints of old. They lived for a few years and they died. So shall we, but the Church shall be here in its glory until the Bridegroom comes again to receive her unto Himself.

Yes, the Church is full of troubles. The Church has been marred by sin. There are false prophets within and enemies without. She is not always so pretty to be anyone's bride. Yet, with all her problems, she belongs to Thee and You will sanctify her until the consummation.

Lord, give wisdom to those who have been called as overseers in the Church. Such men are weak and battle with their own sins. Yet, you have given them authority on earth. Whatever they bind on earth will be bound in heaven. Whatever they loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. We will all stand before God to be judged according to our response to those weak men who have judged according to Thy word. Ultimately, we all answer to God. Great will be that day. Fearful will be that day. Grant to us a confidence not in our good works, but in our response to the leaders on earth. Grant to us a good conscience so that we may not fall into the hands of the devil himself.

Lord, grant compassion on the weak and weary. Raise up the down trodden. Humble the proud. Modify our excesses. For many of us, it is not that we do not love Thee. It is not a lack of zeal. We just tend to go to excess. We do not know how to balance ourselves. We go too far. We do not go far enough. We let pity overrule the need for justice and we let judgment nullify the need for pity. We do nothing well. We worry too much. We think of ourselves too much. We work too much. We work too little. We waste time. We slumber when we should be awake and we are awake when we should be asleep. We defend our rights when we should be submissive, and we are silent when we should speak. Lord, deliver us from ourselves. Give such love for Thee and for one another, that we do not go to excess in anything.

Lord, help us to pray. First, help us simply to pray. Help us to pray without ceasing. Do not allow us to be strangers to prayer until a crisis comes. Do not allow us to be delinquent until the sky falls in upon us. Help us to be constant in prayer. Help us to pray for each other. Hear our prayers and answer them. When we do not get what we hope for, help us to be confident that the Lord knows best. Sometimes what we pray for would only destroy us, and yet we continue to pray for it like a child praying for the sweet taste of poison.