A Pastor’s Prayer for Our Church in 2020
Good and gracious Father, who sent Your beloved Son into this world to redeem a people for Himself, a Bride to love and cherish for eternity; who sent Your Spirit to enliven our hearts to love and cherish You for eternity, may our church bring You great glory in the year 2020.
In light of a decade past filled with disappointments and disillusionment, I pray that we would be a people of joyful hope in the decade to come. In a world that is striving for rival kingdoms of darkness – of self-glory, cynicism, apathy, political posturing, material striving, sexual idolatry, give us the power and grace to make known Your kingdom of light.
May our church display Your kingdom of light through our devotion to Your holy Word. May we never stand in authority over Your word, but in humility allow Your word to stand in authority over us. May we not lean upon our own understanding, but lean upon what You have said. May we be quick to listen, slow to speak. May we adore You as you reveal Your glory to us in Your sacred Word. May we obey You in childlike faith and in pursuit of a childlike joy.
May our church display Your kingdom of light through our devotion to fellowship. May we bear each other’s burdens and sorrows. May we rejoice in each other’s happiness and successes. May we celebrate and meditate on all that we have in common in Christ; and never mind what we don’t have in common outside of Christ. May our fellowship be marked by love, mercy, and holiness. May we think often on how we can be a blessing, and not on how others can be a blessing to us. May we view one another through the eyes of Christ – as deeply and eternally loved. May our fellowship be strengthened as we partake weekly in our Lord’s Table. As we come to the Table with all of our sins and imperfections, may You unify us in love that we might accept one another as we have been accepted in Christ. May our fellowship overflow into our daily lives. May we break bread with joyful and generous hearts, enjoying all of God’s goodness to us, specifically the gift of Christian community.
May our church display Your kingdom through a devotion to prayer. May we count it a privilege that we live in a country that gives us the freedom to gather together and pray! May we grow in our understanding of the subversive, revolutionary power of prayer. May Satan’s kingdom be shaken, as we pray for captive souls to be released. May Satan’s kingdom be shaken as we pray for hearts to be awakened by the light of the gospel. May our church be strengthened as we pray for God’s blessing and help – that disciples would be made, the gospel advanced, and every member presented mature in Christ on the final day. May prayer be like breathing to us – that we’d declare our dependence always upon You as the God who cares not only for us but for all of His creation.
In all of this, I pray that we would be a people of light and love. May we see all people as neighbors worthy of our concern and love. Help us to move toward people like Christ would have us, not away from them. Help us to know how we should speak, how we should care, and what we should do when situations present themselves to us in all the complexity of life in a broken and sinful world. May we see many added to our church because someone loved them enough to tell them the good news about Christ. May we see many baptized because Your Spirit used our imperfect attempts to be faithful and caused them to bear fruit. Add to our number, not for our own glory but for Your glory alone. Not to us, Lord, not to us, but to Your name give glory because of Your faithful love, because of Your truth.
In the strong and powerful Name of King Jesus, Amen!
This prayer is inspired by Acts 2:42-47. You can listen to the recent sermon here.
