Father, as we come before You today in the name of Jesus, we declare that You are God and earnestly we will seek You. Father, it’s our desire to see You in the sanctuary; to behold Your power and Your glory. Father, Your love is greater than life and our lips will glorify You. We will praise You as long as we live and in Your name we will lift up our hands. You have satisfied our souls as with the riches of foods and with singing lips our mouths will give You praise.
(Psalm 63:1-5)
Heavenly Father, in this day we will give thanks to You Lord and we will call upon Your name; we will make known among the nations what You have done and we will proclaim that Your name is exalted. We will sing to You Lord for You have done glorious things and we will let it be known to all the world. Father, today we will shout aloud and sing for joy. We will declare that great is the holy one of Israel among us.
(Isaiah 12:4-6)
Father, we come before You in Jesus’ name with shouts of joy, we worship You with gladness that fills our hearts and with songs of joy before the Lord. Father, we declare today that the Lord is God and that we are Yours; we give You praise because we know that we are Your people and the sheep of Your pasture. Father, we enter Your gates with thanksgiving and Your courts with praise, we give thanks to You God and we praise Your name. Father, we Your people declare today that the Lord is good and His love endures forever. We praise You because Your faithfulness continues through all generations.
(Psalm 100)
As we come before You in Jesus’ name we Your people will praise You with our innermost being, Father, we praise Your Holy name. We will not forget Your benefits and we give You praise and thanksgiving because You have forgiven our sins and healed our diseases. WE praise You because You have redeemed our life from the pit and crowned us with compassion. Father, we praise You because You satisfy our desires with good things and You renew our Youth like the eagles. Father, we praise You and honor You for You alone work righteousness for the oppressed, You are compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in love.
(Psalm 103:1-8)
Father, as the deer pants for streams of water, so our soul pants for You, God, our soul thirsts for You. We hunger for You, Father, and we long to come and meet with You.
(Psalm 42:1-2)
Father, we pray today in Jesus’ name that You would send forth Your light and Your truth, let them guide us, let them bring us to Your holy mountain to the place where You dwell. Then we will go to the altar of God, to God our joy and our delight.
(Psalm 43:3-4)
Father, we pray in Jesus’ name and ask that You would clean our hands and purify our hearts so that we may ascend to the hill of the Lord and stand in Your holy place.
(Psalm 24:3)
Holy Spirit, we pray that You would reveal to us any unconfessed sin in our hearts. Father, we confess our sins before You and we thank You because You will be faithful and just and will forgive us. Father, we pray that You would purify us from all unrighteousness; and we ask it in Jesus’ name.
(1 John 1:9)
Father, we give You thanks and praise for the shed blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ which has brought us near to You and allows us to approach Your throne of grace with confidence so that we may receive mercy and grace in time of need.
(Ephesians 2:13; Hebrews 4:16)
Father, we thank You that we can worship You because we have been justified by faith and we now have peace with You Father through our Lord Jesus Christ and we have been given access to grace by faith in Him.
(Romans 5:1-2)
As we come before You in Jesus’ name we thank You for Your word and we pray, Father, as Your word is spoken to us in the service today, it will be as the rain and snow from heaven do not return to heaven without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, as it provides seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so Your spoken word will not return to You void, but it will accomplish what You desire and achieve in us the purpose for which You have sent it.
(Isaiah 55:10-11)
Father, in Jesus’ name we pray that as we hear Your message today which will come from the word of God, our faith will be increased. We ask, Father, that You would use Your word which is living and active and sharper than any double edged sword to rightly divide us even to soul and spirit, joint and marrow. Use Your word, Father, to expose the thoughts and the attitudes of our hearts.
(Romans 10:17; Hebrews 4:12)
Holy Spirit, we ask that in our worship service today, You would fill us with Your power so that when we leave and go out into the world, we may speak the word of God with boldness and effectiveness; and we ask it in Jesus’ mighty name.
(Acts 4:31)
diversitychurch.com
One of the privileges I have as a probationer in the ministry is to assist in leading worship. One of the most overlooked portions in many worship services today is the practice of prayer. This is a sad development. During the Reformation of the sixteenth century, one of the priorities recovered in the reformation of worship was prayer. As
Jon Payne
has recently said, “The worship of God in the Protestant and Reformed tradition has always stressed the centrality of reverent, biblically-informed, Trinitarian, Spirit-filled, Christ-mediated prayer.”
Given the importance of prayer and that prayer is quickly becoming a lost art, learning to pray, and more importantly, learning to lead in prayer is of utmost importance. One great resource that I have been using is Leading in Prayer by Hughes Oliphint Old.
Old provides brief instruction and many examples of the different prayers that are typically found in a Reformed worship service. Worship is a meeting between God and his covenant people, a meeting that is initiated by God, and as such, the service is a dialogue between God and his church. God initiates the conversation with the “call to worship,” in which God invites his people to ascend the hill of the Lord to be assembled in his presence. The first response, or prayer, from the people to God, then, is what is called the invocation. In the invocation, the church calls upon the name of their God for his help to assist them in their privilege and grand task of serving him in worship.
According to Old, there are six basic elements that make up the literary form of the invocation.
1. Call on the name of God. Old reminds us that it is important to use names that God has revealed in the Bible. God is not a God of a thousand names and it is his perogative to reveal how he is to be addressed. “The inventing of glorious names for God is not regarded as an open field for human creativity.”2. Pray in Christ’s name. We can only come to God, even in response to his invitation, in the merits of the perfect mediation of our heavenly High Priest, Jesus Christ.
3. Hallow God’s name. There are two basic ways to hallow, or honor, God’s name. First, we are to proclaim God’s attributes. Second, we are to make known his deeds of creation and redemption.
4. Claim God as our God.
5. Petition that worship be empowered by the Holy Spirit.
6. Conclude with Trinitarian doxology.
At the most basic level, the invocation says, “Father, hear us in the name of your Son.” Although we can tend to think of this prayer simply as an opening prayer, or way to get things started, the reality is, this prayer is theologically rich, and may I say, mind-blowing. At the heart of this prayer is the basis by which one approaches God – and that basis is the Trinitarian relationship enjoyed between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. As Old says, “Christian worship has its logic in the doctrine of the Trinity.” The unity and fellowship of the Trinity is not static, but is overflowing and expressive of how each member seeks to glorify the other – and as they do so, the church is the beneficiary by being brought into that fellowship. The invocation is our plea to God for assistance to be received into this fellowship.
Given the importance of this prayer, I have been preparing my Invocations beforehand in order to help me develop the art of prayer. Here are my Invoations along with their corresponding Calls to Worship for tomorrow:
Call to Worship:
Let men bless themselves by him; let all nations call him blessed. Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, who alone works wonders. And blessed be His glorious name forever; And may the whole earth be filled with His glory. Amen, and Amen.
Psalm 72.17b-19
Invocation:
LORD God of Israel and Father of Jesus Christ your royal son, our King, you alone are our God and the wonder worker of your creation. From you we have come into being and to you we return in the end. And we praise your name that even as the whole earth is filled with your glory, you fill us with the glory of heaven itself as you recreate us according to the righteousness of our King. O that you might grant to us to ascend your hill, united in Christ and empowered by your Holy Spirit, that we may serve you and bless your name in the singing of our hymns and psalms, in the prayers cast at your feet and in receiving your word to the nourishment of our souls. It is into your hands that we place ourselves and our worship, humbly asking you to glorify yourself. For to you be all service, blessing and adoration, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Would you receive us, then, into your presence through the name of your royal son, Jesus our Christ, who taught us to pray, (Lord’s Prayer).
Call to Worship:
How lovely are Your dwelling places, O LORD of hosts! My soul longed and even yearned for the courts of the LORD; My heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God. For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand outside. I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
Psalm 84.1-2; 10
Invocation:
O LORD God of hosts, fulfill the longings of our souls for your glory and strengthen our hearts in which the highways to Zion bring us home to dwell in your house, for a day in your courts are better than a thousand elsewhere. For you alone turn our wilderness into a place of springs to quench our parched souls; you alone are our shield who protects us from the dangers of the Valley of Baca. Look on the face of your anointed that we might enter now into your courts, and be received in the house of our God. Extend the scepter of your grace to us who trust in you and bless the ministry of your people as we worship you, extolling the name of our triune God in our corporate singing, confession, prayers and reception of your word. Renew us in the beauty of holiness that we may be radiant in your presence. For to you belong all glory, laud and honor, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, three persons and one God, world without end. Amen.
apilgrimsredress.blogspot.com
One of the privileges I have as a probationer in the ministry is to assist in leading worship. One of the most overlooked portions in many worship services today is the practice of prayer. This is a sad development. During the Reformation of the sixteenth century, one of the priorities recovered in the reformation of worship was prayer. As
Jon Payne
has recently said, “The worship of God in the Protestant and Reformed tradition has always stressed the centrality of reverent, biblically-informed, Trinitarian, Spirit-filled, Christ-mediated prayer.”
Given the importance of prayer and that prayer is quickly becoming a lost art, learning to pray, and more importantly, learning to lead in prayer is of utmost importance. One great resource that I have been using is Leading in Prayer by Hughes Oliphint Old.
Old provides brief instruction and many examples of the different prayers that are typically found in a Reformed worship service. Worship is a meeting between God and his covenant people, a meeting that is initiated by God, and as such, the service is a dialogue between God and his church. God initiates the conversation with the “call to worship,” in which God invites his people to ascend the hill of the Lord to be assembled in his presence. The first response, or prayer, from the people to God, then, is what is called the invocation. In the invocation, the church calls upon the name of their God for his help to assist them in their privilege and grand task of serving him in worship.
According to Old, there are six basic elements that make up the literary form of the invocation.
1. Call on the name of God. Old reminds us that it is important to use names that God has revealed in the Bible. God is not a God of a thousand names and it is his perogative to reveal how he is to be addressed. “The inventing of glorious names for God is not regarded as an open field for human creativity.”2. Pray in Christ’s name. We can only come to God, even in response to his invitation, in the merits of the perfect mediation of our heavenly High Priest, Jesus Christ.
3. Hallow God’s name. There are two basic ways to hallow, or honor, God’s name. First, we are to proclaim God’s attributes. Second, we are to make known his deeds of creation and redemption.
4. Claim God as our God.
5. Petition that worship be empowered by the Holy Spirit.
6. Conclude with Trinitarian doxology.
At the most basic level, the invocation says, “Father, hear us in the name of your Son.” Although we can tend to think of this prayer simply as an opening prayer, or way to get things started, the reality is, this prayer is theologically rich, and may I say, mind-blowing. At the heart of this prayer is the basis by which one approaches God – and that basis is the Trinitarian relationship enjoyed between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. As Old says, “Christian worship has its logic in the doctrine of the Trinity.” The unity and fellowship of the Trinity is not static, but is overflowing and expressive of how each member seeks to glorify the other – and as they do so, the church is the beneficiary by being brought into that fellowship. The invocation is our plea to God for assistance to be received into this fellowship.
Given the importance of this prayer, I have been preparing my Invocations beforehand in order to help me develop the art of prayer. Here are my Invoations along with their corresponding Calls to Worship for tomorrow:
Call to Worship:
Let men bless themselves by him; let all nations call him blessed. Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, who alone works wonders. And blessed be His glorious name forever; And may the whole earth be filled with His glory. Amen, and Amen.
Psalm 72.17b-19
Invocation:
LORD God of Israel and Father of Jesus Christ your royal son, our King, you alone are our God and the wonder worker of your creation. From you we have come into being and to you we return in the end. And we praise your name that even as the whole earth is filled with your glory, you fill us with the glory of heaven itself as you recreate us according to the righteousness of our King. O that you might grant to us to ascend your hill, united in Christ and empowered by your Holy Spirit, that we may serve you and bless your name in the singing of our hymns and psalms, in the prayers cast at your feet and in receiving your word to the nourishment of our souls. It is into your hands that we place ourselves and our worship, humbly asking you to glorify yourself. For to you be all service, blessing and adoration, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Would you receive us, then, into your presence through the name of your royal son, Jesus our Christ, who taught us to pray, (Lord’s Prayer).
Call to Worship:
How lovely are Your dwelling places, O LORD of hosts! My soul longed and even yearned for the courts of the LORD; My heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God. For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand outside. I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
Psalm 84.1-2; 10
Invocation:
O LORD God of hosts, fulfill the longings of our souls for your glory and strengthen our hearts in which the highways to Zion bring us home to dwell in your house, for a day in your courts are better than a thousand elsewhere. For you alone turn our wilderness into a place of springs to quench our parched souls; you alone are our shield who protects us from the dangers of the Valley of Baca. Look on the face of your anointed that we might enter now into your courts, and be received in the house of our God. Extend the scepter of your grace to us who trust in you and bless the ministry of your people as we worship you, extolling the name of our triune God in our corporate singing, confession, prayers and reception of your word. Renew us in the beauty of holiness that we may be radiant in your presence. For to you belong all glory, laud and honor, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, three persons and one God, world without end. Amen.
apilgrimsredress.blogspot.com
