I am slowly catching up on posting Jon Boardman’s pastoral prayers from the worship services of Covenant Presbyterian Church. Here is his prayer from Sunday, September 5, 2010.
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Pastoral Prayer
Covenant Presbyterian Church, Oviedo, Florida
9/5/2010
Jon Boardman
Jehovah-shalom – “The LORD is peace.”
In the Old Testament, men of God would build an altar to the LORD, whenever God did a mighty act on their behalf, and would name it after the characteristic that the LORD had revealed to them at that moment.
For instance, Abraham built an altar after the Isaac incident and called it “the LORD is my provider”; Moses named his altar after the armies defeated their enemies and called it “the LORD is my banner”; and in Judges, Gideon also built an altar and named it “The LORD is Peace.”
Gideon built this altar after an angel had appeared to him and told him to fight the Midianites, and then Gideon realized he had been talking face to face with God. The idea of facing God, let alone his enemies, was a terrifying prospect for Gideon. However, God said to him: “Peace to you, do not fear; you shall not die” (6:22-24).
In response to God’s presence, Gideon built his altar and worshipped the LORD.
When we feel discouraged and overwhelmed by the enormity of life’s trials and its battles and when the darkness just seems too overwhelming, the LORD assures us of His presence and His peace. We must go to Him, in worship, and find our solace in our Savior.
Join me as we pray to the God of peace.
Jehovah-shalom,
You are peace.
In You we find wholeness, completeness, and soundness of life.
Forgive us when we try to base our peace on circumstances, relationships, or material possessions.
Peace can only be found in a right relationship with You. And we acknowledge what Jesus has done in procuring our peace.
Because of Jesus, we have peace with You. We thank You for the assurance of our salvation and for not having to fear anything from You.
Grant Your people peace this morning – peace from internal strife and external strife.
We pray for those whose lives are restless due to internal strife.
Whether the struggle is with depression, temptations, anxieties, life decisions, or bitterness, we ask that You would grant them the power of Christ to overcome such struggles.
We also pray for those facing external strife. Whether the strife is due to difficult neighbors, marital conflicts, gossiping peers, overbearing bosses, unresolved conflicts, or other such relational problems, we ask that You would bring Your reconciliatory power upon each of these relationships.
We pray also for our church and for her peace and purity. You have raised up elders with the task of maintaining the peace. Grant them Your wisdom and courage to fulfill their calling.
We pray for stability and peace as we move from this facility to the next. May we find encouragement and confidence in our worship of You regardless of the meeting place.
We also pray for peace in our community, across our country, and throughout the world. There are political, economic, social, and racial divisions that threaten the peace and unity of the people of God. But You, O God, have united us under the banner of Christ and the gospel of peace.
Help us to live in unity as Your church in the world and to be peace makers as we take the good news to the far corners of the earth.
We pray for the children affected by the wars and divisions of this world.
Just as Jesus prayed that in this world we would have tribulation, but we can take courage because he has overcome the world, we pray that our children would find courage in Christ.
And Lord, we ask that You help us to make the most of the opportunities to reach our young people for Christ.
We pray for our missionaries and evangelists this morning. We ask that You grant them health, prosperity, well-being, security, and rest.
Protect them from the powers of darkness; be their shield and their rock.
We especially pray for Carole as she travels in Africa and mentors women and equips others with the gospel of peace.
We also pray for David Clow during his travels. Grant him safety and give him wisdom to make difficult decisions concerning his mother.
We now turn our thoughts on those who suffer in the body and seek relief from their pain.
For Don, Mary Ann’s brother-in-law, we ask for Your healing touch from the lesions in his brain. In these uncertain times for him and his wife, we ask that they would embrace You, the LORD of peace. May they find comfort in our Savior.
For Joey, we ask that you might heal her from her back injury.
For Henry, we ask for his healing from his broken leg.
For Jim, we ask for respite from his pain and healing from his cancer.
For Lisa, we too ask for your mercy and for mending touch.
For Joseph, we ask for continued strength and healing.
And for so many of our loved ones battling ailments of the body, we ask for your mercy.
Grant all these loved ones Your peace and assurance.
And we pray in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace.
Amen.