Every now and again I like to share an example of a pastoral prayer from Grace Fellowship Church. I do this because there are few examples of pastoral prayers online and I thought these may serve to inspire themes, passages, or ideas as other pastors and elders prepare to lead their churches in prayer. Here is one pastor Paul Martin prayed before our church not too long ago.
O God our Father,
We love you so much, and thank you for our Lord Jesus Christ.
We have already admitted our sins to you. We have admitted that we have deserted the front lines in our spiritual war, but that we cannot go further with you until we are sure you have blotted out our sins, removed our iniquities far from us, and nailed the record of condemnation against us to the cross of our Saviour. Give us that internal witness from the Spirit that these things are so. Lord Jesus, where would be without you?
Surely there are some here today who are full of doubt, others who are full of guilt, some who are wondering why they are not making greater progress in their faith. Lord, we admit that this world is a broken place. None of us are what we hoped to be. All of us fall short of your glory. We confess that the world’s greatest problem is not “out there” but “in here”, in our hearts.
We long for the day when you make all things right, when perfect justice is meted out, when every broken thing is fixed, when the entire creation functions the way it was made to function. Lord, may that day come quickly. Until then, send grace, Lord—free, undeserved help and intervention and strength and protection. Our reach is too short, our strength is too small, our intelligence is too low. We need God. We need you.
Our country needs you, Lord. Every one of the 37,023,827 souls that live in this land needs Jesus. We praise your great Name that “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” But “how then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?” O Saviour, open our mouths at work, at home, at the park, in the library, on the bus or subway — open our mouths to tell hell-bound sinners the Good News of a risen Saviour! And reap a great harvest of souls in Canada. From the Prime Minister to the newest immigrant, call your children to yourself and establish your church as one united loving body in this land
Please give grace to our church tonight as GraceKids meets. Please save all our children. May every one of them come to know Jesus, not just know about Him. Raise up a mighty spiritual army of men and women out of the boys and girls of this church. Protect every one of them from wandering away, wasting their lives, or living in open rebellion. Use the teaching tonight to save some, warn others, and produce spiritual fruit in all.
And now, O God, as we move from proclaiming your worth to listening to your word, unplug our ears, tenderize our hearts, and open our eyes. We want to be changed from being with you. We want to be made more like you because you, in every aspect of your person, are everything we want to be like—full of love, purity, holiness, grace, faithfulness, zeal, servanthood, promise-keeping, joy, goodness, and everything that is commendable and good. Make us, “imitators of God, as beloved children.” And let us “walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Do all of this that the fame of Jesus Christ would spread across our globe.
Amen.
