Pastoral Prayer based on Gen. 15:1-7 (Abraham trusted God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness)

Holy God:

We worship you because you are God. We praise you because you are worthy of praise. We thank you
because you have been good.

You are always, always faithful. We turn to the left and to the right, and your spirit never leaves. You
keep drawing us back to yourself. You keep drawing us back to truth, to reality, to life, to hope.

Teach us to trust you. Teach us to hear your voice, to believe your promise, and to live boldly in
response to your call. Make us your own again. Bind us together as one people, a people who care
for each other, who share our challenges and our blessings, and work together to see your Kingdom
established in our community. Help us to have eyes to see those who need to be blessed through
us. Help us to see those who need the blessing that you’ve given to us, that you have called to share
through us. Call us afresh to share the Gospel with those who are without hope, to encourage those
who are downtrodden, to feed the hungry and clothe those without clothes, to visit those who are
lonely.

Holy God, we are grateful for the love we feel here. We thank you for the opportunity to gather with a
family of faith, to be built up in hope, to hear your word and be renewed, to have the broken places in
our lives mended, and to sing your praise.

Help us to live our lives in joyful gratitude for all you have done.

Amen.