We ask that You would strengthen our brothers and sisters who suffer for the faith. In America, being a Christian can be a convenience. In other lands, it can mean certain persecution and even death. Some of our dear brethren suffer alone in prisons damp and dark. Some of our fellow Christians are outcasts, are given lowly jobs, and suffer financially. They fear for their families. They fear for the future of their own children.

Lord, like us, they are weak, and we ask You to strengthen them. They know pain and injury and we ask You to heal them. They know sorrow and we ask You to comfort them. Confuse their enemies. Use their testimony to convert those who persecute them. Give them the knowledge that it is a privilege to suffer for the name of Christ. Few men will know the joy of that calling. Reward them with confidence and assurance.

Lord, life is in many ways a great mystery to us. Who knows what tomorrow may bring. It seems that crisis and scandal have become part of our daily appetite. Deeds hidden have become deeds revealed. What once was shameful is now shouted from the housetops. Character is attacked. Crime goes unreported. There is theft in high places. The love of money seems to control the world. We live on borrowed money that we probably will never pay back to the lenders. The borrower has become a slave to the lender. We fight unending wars and bring our dead soldiers home in secrecy. We ask our young men to give their arms and legs in war, even their sight and their sanity, and then when they come home, we forget about them. Lord, it ought not to be that way.

Lord, bless this Church. As we seek to be faithful to Thy word, reward us in our endeavors. Fill the pews, both on Sunday Morning and Sunday Evening. Fill our Sunday School rooms until we have to find more room. Give us more covenant children. Bring the prodigal sons home. Lord, we ask not for our own glory. We ask not that we might be praised. We ask so that the world might look at us and see Jesus.

Our ways here are not the ways of the world. They say that churches like our church will die, because we do not keep up with what is new and exciting in other churches. Lord, we do not judge other churches, but we do hold dear to the primacy of preaching, the administration of the sacraments and church discipline. Reward our faithfulness.

Lord, give us faith in the power of the Holy Spirit to use the word of God to draw men to Christ. Sometimes the gospel is in season and sometimes it is out of season. Regardless of the season, help us to proclaim the truth of the word of God. In the end, that is what pleases Thee.

Lord, grant grace to those who suffer in both their bodies and in their minds. We live in a fallen world. Even in days of great advances in medicine, yet suffering abounds. Guilt and hurt still ravage the land. Even the Church is not exempt. We can praise Thee with our tongues and with the same tongues we can lash out at our brethren. The same ears that hear the word of God are the same ears that entertain gossip and the degradation of a man’s good character. We are suspicious. We are judgmental. We expect much and give little.

There is much undone that needs to be done. Often in most churches a small core keeps it going. Let it not be so here. Help us to support this Church to the best of our ability. Help us to pursue its peace and purity. Help us to submit to its discipline as men watch over us who must give an account for their labors. Help us to keep our vows.