Preach Magazine Issue 1 - Creativity and innovation in preaching | Page 57

PRAYER

57

A prayer
by W Trevor Nuttall

Heavenly Father, we do not believe your word, and often think we know
better than Jesus, the embodiment of Truth. In our pride we discount
your miracles and seek worldly explanations at the human level.

W

e persist in limiting our minds to the
concept of a God of love, and shut
out the unwelcome demands of a
righteous God, forgetting that, if we
are to come to God at all, we will be drawn into
the same spiritual warfare which caused Jesus
to die on the cross.

he who is King of Kings! We confine God the
Creator to heaven, though you would be our
true Father; and we pay scant attention to the
Holy Spirit, who waits patiently to convict and
convince, and to make us into new creatures
in Christ, able to understand and live by, the
precepts of our God.

Forgive our church for losing its relationship
with the Father of our Jesus. We undervalue
the clear words of Jesus and persistently follow
the imperfect reasoning of our own hearts
(although the heart is deceitful above all things
and desperately wicked; Jeremiah 17:9, KJV).
Call us, and grant us no peace until we seek the
way back to you.

There is indeed no health in us. We grieve
our almighty Father in all these things and
we set ourselves up before a jealous God, at
our peril! In the pride that is so abhorrent to
you, we judge your word and your acts by
our standards, limited by our minds and our
sin, and so we prevent your working in and
through us.

We try to ignore what it cost Jesus in
Gethsemene, as he faced out the Satan we dare
to say does not exist; thus we despise the sweat
and blood of his anguish and obedience. We
think little of his promise that, ‘If anyone loves
me, he will obey my teaching; my Father will
love him, and we will come to him and make
our home with him.’

We do not deserve salvation because we do not
value it. Forgive us, Lord Jesus.

We do not try to understand your clear
teaching, and the work of the three persons of
the Trinity Godhead; we confine Jesus to earth;

But praise be to God for sending Jesus, who
‘while we were yet sinners became sin for
us that we might become the righteousness
of God’. We give heartfelt thanks for the
forgiveness he has bought for us at terrible
cost. May we praise and glorify him in the
church and the world, until we cast our
crowns before the throne of grace, and see
him face to face! In Jesus’ name, Amen.

FORGIVE OUR CHURCH FOR LOSING ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH THE FATHER OF
OUR JESUS. WE UNDERVALUE THE CLEAR WORDS OF JESUS AND PERSISTENTLY
FOLLOW THE IMPERFECT REASONING OF OUR OWN HEARTS. CALL US, AND
GRANT US NO PEACE UNTIL WE SEEK THE WAY BACK TO YOU.

LWPT8173 - Preach Magazine - Issue 1 v3.indd 57

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