Prayer
January 30, 2009

O Lord, God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant of love with those who love Him, we come before you in reverence and bring to you our offering of praise, and prayers and petitions.

Lord, You can measure the waters in the hollow of your hand and You can wrap them up in your cloak. You have stretched out the heavens and you know the stars by name. You have established the ends of the earth and have weighed the mountains on a scale. You are majestic in power. Your deeds are glorious. We come to you, not because of who we are, but because of who You are, with our praise, prayer, and petition.

I pray to you today for those who are facing rejection. Hear their prayers, O Lord, see their tears, list them on your scroll, surely you have a record of them. In your love, Sovereign God, with your gracious hand, wipe them away from their faces, and remove any disgrace that they face.

Help them to not fear man, O Lord. Help us to remember that mortal man is like grass… here today and gone tomorrow… and even the place where it was, remembers it no more. Rather help us to trust in You. Help us not to forget the Lord, our maker. For You have stretched out the heavens and have laid the foundations of the earth. You remain from everlasting to everlasting.

Remind us, O gracious Lord, that You also have faced rejection. For we all have turned away from you. We had become a burden to You. Yet in your mercy, though our sins were like scarlet you have washed us and made us white as snow. Help us to remember that there are many who still reject you today… for you came to your own and your own did not receive you. Give us grace to pray for all whom you have created.

As we walk through the stinging storm called rejection, help us to take refuge in you. Bring us and hide us in You. Please be our shield, become a fortress that surrounds us. Protect us from our own vicious thoughts that tear our minds asunder. Safeguard us from those whose desire is not to build us up, rather it is to tear us down. And guide our feeble mind with your wisdom, your grace, and your love when we face rejection.

Help us to remember that in all things we are victors, conquerors in Jesus Christ… for you have created us for eternal purposes. You turn the pages of our lives and know what is written, even before one of them came into being. Remind us that no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what You, our God, have prepared for those who love You.

We cannot understand the depths of the riches and knowledge of God. We cannot fathom the paths You trace. With your incomprehensible wisdom, guide us today. With your loving kindness protect us today. With you grace that surpasses all understanding teach us to forgive. And in your love, establish us in You today.

We bring our prayer to you because you are our God… and it is only in you that we have our salvation.
Amen.