Good and Gracious God,
Almighty and Courageous God,
Because You are holy, we seek to be holy.
We seek to find those places
where we shirk from growth,
where we hide from responsibility,
where we live in denial,
where we protect ourselves from disappointment.
We seek to find these areas
and to lay them before You at the foot of the cross.
We know You have not designed us to live lives of fear…
But every time we turn on the television or look at our smart phone,
we see the stories of pandemics, terrorism, riots,
natural disasters, road rage, violence…
We could go on and on.
Sometimes it’s hard to stop thinking, “What if??”
What if I have a car accident and get injured?
What if someone steals from me?
What if I develop a disease?
What if I my spouse betrays me?
What if my children fail in school?
What if I lose my job?
These questions and so many others constantly run through our minds.
We feel powerless to do anything about them but worry.
And then we remember worry indicates a lack of trust in You, God,
And then we worry that we’ve disappointed YOU!
But God, we DO trust You.
We can do all things, because You have given us strength.
Help us to be courageous in Your name.
Let us not live in fear –
fear of failure, fear of setback, fear of anything -
but allow us to acknowledge our fear
and focus our attentions and efforts
on serving You and our neighbor -
for all that we do that benefits Your children
also glorifies You and Your name.
Help us to shift our focus away
from dangerous circumstances
and toward loving You,
by reminding us that You are the Almighty God,
the God of the impossible.
You can do anything.
We want to trust in Your ability and not our own.
Teach us to see difficulties in our lives from Your perspective,
to focus on You and Your power,
for You are mighty and powerful, righteous and true.
Holy God, we pray for authentic, courageous faith.
We pray for faith that will empower us to seek You always.
We pray for faith that will give us the energy to love our neighbors,
however we best can with the gifts You have given us.
Help us, God, not to lean on an intellectual faith
but a faith that flows out of uncompromising devotion and obedience to You.
Today, we embrace Your grace and power
to boldly move forward with decisive and determined courage
into the blessings You have for us.
Today, we make this vow to You, O God.
We choose to release everything that has tried to hold us back.
We release the past;
We release our bitterness;
We release our failures and missed opportunities.
We release our fear.
We will follow the example of Joshua, with uncompromising devotion.
May our courage and obedience be an inspiration to others.
May you light a fire of confidence in our hearts
to embolden us to stand up for what we believe in
and to work to do what is right in this world.
May we be humble, bold, integrity-infused leaders,
not merely faithful believers.
We pray all these things in the name
of the one who call us
to live out that faith and courage everyday,
Jesus the Christ, who taught us to pray...
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
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