Prayer

Heavenly Father,

We delight in you. Your handiwork has been on display this week in glorious fashion. The cool mornings and warmer days. The new greens and flowering trees on the backdrop of evergreens and blues skies and the shimmering waters of the Georgia Straight. Thank you for this grace to see and acknowledge you as the Creator of All. You do all things well! Though our seasons change, you do not change. You have brought us into your Communion that has existed forever: the communion of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

We need your help Lord Jesus; change is hard for us. There is a chasm, a great divide still in our hearts and in the pattern of our lives. Between the rich and the poor. Between the favoured and the unfavoured. Between those who are like us and those who are not. And too often Lord it seems we fall victim to our prejudices. We settle into our circles of comfort without giving attention to the log in our eyes. We have a frail semblance of love for we refuse to seek your grace for what is awkward.

Forgive us Lord. Give us a new heart. Give us a new Spirit. Renew a right heart within us. Cause us to be a blessing to the city, to the campus, and to our neighbour – even the neighbour who shares space with us whether they be family or roommates or even lab-mates. Give us the joy of your salvation. And let us see the brilliance of your new creation in Christ Jesus.

Your Spirit, Lord, seeks to cause your church to rise as a people animated by You for your glory. We lift up your church now, our brothers and sisters who are under pressure in some communities in China and in Nigeria. Where your church is seeking to love their neighbours through the pandemic, fortify them even through their own griefs to be able to love.  May you comfort these dear children of Jesus. 

We pray that the glory of Jesus may be seen through our brokenness — we’ve been pieced together again by Your power. You have shown us mercy and we say Great is your Faithfulness. 

Now we pray again as Jesus has taught us:
(Join with me in the Lord’s Prayer)

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one;
for yours is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory, 
forever. 
Amen

This prayer was part of the Origin Church Weekend Broadcast on 14 May 2021.

Heavenly Father,

Thank you for bringing us into your communion — the communion of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This costly grace formed in the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus has granted us the faith in which we stand and has changed our lives forever. Thank you!

In Christ Jesus you have radically altered our past, present, and future.
You have forgiven us of our sins.
You have wiped the slate clean.
You have loved us.
You have brought us out of the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of Your Son.
You have given us a new heart.
You have filled us with your Spirit.
You are making us new.
You are renewing our minds.
You are transforming our attitudes and actions.
You are giving us new desires.
You are fulfilling your word.
You are pouring your love into our lives.
You will cause every promise in Christ to be a Yes.
You will return to set all things right.
You will redeem our lives.
You will be praised forever!

Oh Spirit, Come— Gather the Church of Jesus into praise and into intercession with you.

We long for every tear to be tenderly wiped from our faces.
We long for our faith to be sight. But even now Lord fortify us with the disciplines and rhythms that tap deeply into your life and your Word.

Oh Lord, we set before you peoples who feel forgotten and crushed in this coronavirus pandemic. We plead with you for healing across the whole planet. We seek You for peace in homes and the transformation of relationships fractured by neglect or even violence. We pray that the love of Jesus would abound so that our neighbours experience love and not accusation, hate or violence. May your grace bring more us into your joyful communion.

We seek You & your Kingdom so we pray as Jesus taught us: (Please join me in the Lord’s Prayer)
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one;
for yours is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory, 
forever. 
Amen

This prayer was part of the Origin Church Weekend Broadcast on 7 May 2021.

Heavenly Father,

Thank you for the grace that has brought us into your Communion — the communion of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ our Lord laid down His life that He might be lifted up for all to see on the Cross for your salvation. His death confounded the powers and authorities and you triumphed over death in His resurrection. You have delivered us from the evil one and have settled the debt of our rebellion.

Now by this gift of faith we are buried with Jesus in baptism and you have raised us into glorious life with Him!

Praise the Lord!
You have forgiven us our sins and free us from the tyranny of shame.
Praise the Lord!

For a time we do not yet see all things under your feet. Yet, we desire that your Spirit would continue to transform our hearts. May our feet and our hands move in accordance with your love. May our voices speak winsomely and boldly of Jesus who fills our hearts.

Oh Lord, teach us your ways. How our hearts are drawn to envy those with more of whatever the lusts of our eyes desire. How easily we are deceived to neglect the weightier matters and  to let our hearts grow cold and hard.

Revive us Lord! Revive us — we open our hearts to you and say Come Lord Jesus.

(Please join me in the Lord’s Prayer.)

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one;
for yours is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory, 
forever. 
Amen.

This prayer was part of the Origin Church Weekend Broadcast on 23 April 2021

Heavenly Father,

In a world where our habits of feeling, thinking, and acting do not always reveal your glory we can become like beasts, possessing riches without truly understanding what you have given us. But there You are, loving us, calling to us, and saving us! Thank you! You reached out to us; Raised the veil, and brought us into your fellowship. Now we abide in the communion of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. You have given us a new hope: Christ in us, the hope of glory!

We confess we do not always know what we do. We confess we sometimes know what we are doing and rebel against You. We confess that our ways and our thoughts are not your ways and your thoughts. 

We want to listen again to the voice of Jesus  — 
that we might turn from hate and become generous;
that we might turn from lust and become sincere;
that we might turn from anger and become loving.
Lord we drop these at your feet and ask you to forgive us.

Restore to us the joy of Your salvation and fill us with Your Spirit that we might bear the good fruit Jesus has made possible. 

Nothing is impossible with you.

We pray for your peace in the hearts of many being drawn toward violence in Northern Ireland, in Haiti, and in Myanmar. Oh Lord, come. Raise up leaders who will put the brakes on the descent into dark days in which everyone just does as they see fit without regard for their neighbour or for the weak.

We lift up the dear people of Minneapolis who are reliving the trauma of death from the power welded by police. Oh God, how long!? Empower your church who know the Great Healer, to welcome, to care, to advocate, and to proclaim Jesus — gentle and humble — as Lord.

We know we need you Lord and so we pray as Jesus teaches us:

(Please join me in the Lord’s Prayer.)

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one;
for yours is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory, 
forever. 
Amen.

This prayer was part of the Origin Church Weekend Broadcast on 16 April 2021.