Prayers for Lord’s Day Worship

May be said in unison or with the minister praying and the congregation saying “Amen.”

Opening Invocation / Declaration of Dependence 

May be said responsively, with the minister saying the first line and the congregation saying the second.

Our help is in the name of the Lord,
who made heaven and earth. (Ps. 124:8)
Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, from where does your help come?
Our help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. (Ps. 121:1–2)
God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble. (Ps. 46:1)

Prayer of Invocation—1 

Almighty God,
to whom our hearts are open,
our desires are known,
and from whom no secrets are hidden:
cleanse the thoughts of our hearts
by the gracious power of Your Holy Spirit,
that we may perfectly love You
and worthily magnify Your holy name;
through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Prayer of Invocation—2 

Almighty and everlasting God,
You are always more ready to hear than we are to pray,
and to give more than we desire or deserve.
Pour down upon us the abundance of Your mercy,
forgiving us those things of which our conscience is convicted,
and giving us those good things for which we are not worthy to ask,
except through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord.
Amen.

Prayer of Confession—1 

Dearly loved brothers and sisters,
we are called to examine ourselves in the

light of God’s law.
Let us go to God in public confession:
Prayed in unison:
Our Father,
we are sinful, and You are holy.
We recognize that we have heard in Your law difficult words,
knowing how often we have offended You in thought, word, and deed,
not only by obvious violations,
but by failing to conform to its perfect commands,
by what we have done, and by what we have left undone.
Apart from Christ, there is nothing in us that gives us reason for hope;
for where we thought we were well, we are sick in soul.
Where we thought we were holy, we are in truth unholy and ungrateful.
Our hearts are filled with the love of the world;
our minds are dark and are assailed by doubts;
our wills are too often given to selfishness
and our bodies to laziness and unrighteousness.
By sinning against our neighbors,
we have also sinned against You,
in whose image they were created.
In this time of silent confession, we bring You our particular sins.

An opportunity for silent confession may be given.

Prayed by the minister:
Our Father,
although You are a holy God, who cannot look upon sin,
look upon Christ our Savior and forgive us for His sake.
You have promised us that if we confess our sins,
You are faithful and just to forgive us our sins
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
For if we do sin, we have an Advocate before Your throne,
Jesus Christ the Righteous, and He is the propitiation for our sins.
Give us Your pardon by Your mercies, dear Father,
for You have clothed us in Christ’s righteousness.
We ask also that You would give us an increase of the grace of Your Holy Spirit,
so that we may learn the wisdom of Your ways
and walk in Your holy paths,
for Your glory and the good of our neighbor.
Amen.

Prayer of Confession—2 

Brothers and sisters,
the law causes us to acknowledge and confess our many sins and wickedness,
not hiding them from the face of almighty God, our heavenly Father,
but confessing them
with a humble, lowly, penitent, and obedient heart,
that we may obtain forgiveness by His infinite goodness and mercy.
Therefore, I urge you to join me with a pure heart and a humble voice
before the throne of grace, praying:

Prayed in unison:
Almighty and most merciful Father,
we have erred and strayed from Your ways like lost sheep,
we have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts,
we have offended against Your holy laws,
we have left undone those things which we ought to have done,
and we have done those things which we ought not to have done,
and so we are helpless without You.
O Lord, have mercy upon us, miserable offenders,
spare us, as we confess our faults,
restore us, as we are penitent,
according to Your promises declared to us in Christ Jesus our Lord,
and grant, O most merciful Father, for His sake,
that we may hereafter live a godly, righteous, and devout life,
to the glory of Your holy name.
Amen.

Pastoral Prayer (Long)—1 

Almighty and merciful God:
We realize and confess before You that if You should take into account what we have done, we would be unworthy to lift our eyes toward heaven and present our prayers before You. Our consciences accuse us, and our sins testify against us. And yet, in Your fatherly goodness, You have adopted us in Christ and delight to hear our prayers, which we offer through His mediation. Therefore, we look to no other king and seek no other advocate for the help that we need in this world and in the world to come. You call us to seek, not only our own salvation and good, but that of Your whole church and the world, and we do so now.
We pray especially for Your benediction on Your holy gospel, that it may be faithfully proclaimed and that the world may be filled with the knowledge of Your truth. To that end, please send workers into Your field to plant, water, and harvest a people for Your name. But frustrate the work of those who would sow weeds of heresy and discord. Pull down all the strongholds of Satan in this world, and establish Your kingdom throughout the earth. Please give fatherly attention to Your servants who suffer persecution for the sake of the gospel and strengthen them in mind and body by Your Spirit, through the means of grace.

Specific prayers may be added for the peace, purity, and progress of the gospel throughout the world.

We pray also for those who serve our common welfare in temporal affairs. Grant those whom You have ordained to govern us wisdom and integrity. Give them a restraining fear of You to keep them from abusing authority, and give them the knowledge that they stand under Your final judgment. We ask that You would use them to contribute to the advancement of a society that is pleasing to You. May they restrain wickedness and vice, promote justice and virtue, and remove every obstacle to the preaching of the gospel and divine worship, so that the Word of God may have free course, the kingdom of Christ may progress, and every anti-Christian power may be resisted. Dear Father, who sends rain upon the just and the unjust alike, give to us also, we pray, such humility of conduct and faithfulness in our worldly callings, that we may contribute to the good of our neighbors and live peaceable lives in all godliness and honor.

Specific prayers may be added for civil authorities.

We remember also all who suffer from physical dangers, temptation, doubts, illnesses of mind or body, or financial distress—and especially those who are near death. Comfort, we pray, all widows and orphans, and be to them a father. Show Your mercy to prisoners, to those in the military, and to those whose business takes them great distances. Guard their families and bring them back safely, we pray. May the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ, Your Son, refresh Your people in their trials and give them the grace to bear the difficulties You send them for their good. Give also to us the grace to share in their suffering and provide for their needs as we are able.

Specific prayers may be added for members of the congregation.

Bless the land with fruitful harvest, and give us wisdom and patience to be good stewards of it and of the resources You graciously give us for our callings. Keep us from exploiting Your good gifts for our own selfish accumulation, and grant that we may be ever mindful of our duties to each other and to Your creation. Order our priorities and interests, so that our callings in life will promote, rather than hinder, our love for You and for our neighbor. We ask that You would deepen the bonds between us as spouses, and as parents and children, and resolve conflict and strife according to Your wisdom and grace. To those among us who are single, give gifts for building up the communion of saints, as well as faithfulness in the face of temptation, and grant that Your people may build them up in the most holy faith. Strengthen us through Your means of grace, that we may worship You, not only with our words, but also with our lives, and so build us up into one body, a city in the world whose light cannot be hidden. Make each of us, we pray, a living sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, pleasing to You. For this is our reasonable service in view of that sacrifice which alone has reconciled us finally and forever to You.

We bring to Your throne these intercessions on behalf of each other through that intercession of our elder brother at Your right hand, even Jesus Christ, Your eternal Son. Amen.

Pastoral Prayer (Short)—2 

O God, the Creator and Preserver of all mankind:
We humbly intercede on behalf of all people, that You would be pleased to make Your ways known to them, Your saving grace to all nations. [Specific prayers may be added for missions?/?missionaries and church plants?/?church planters.] More especially, we pray for the universal church, that it may be so guided and governed by Your Holy Spirit, that all who profess to be and call themselves Christians may be led into the way of truth and embrace the faith in the unity of the Spirit, in the bond of peace, and in righteousness of life.

Finally, we commend to Your fatherly goodness all those who are in any way afflicted or distressed in mind, body, or any other way. We especially pray for [specific needs are mentioned]. May it please You to comfort and relieve them, according to their particular needs, giving them patience in their sufferings and a blessed deliverance out of all their afflictions.
All this we ask for Jesus Christ’s sake. Amen.

Prayer before the Sermon—1 

Eternal Father,
who has spoken in various times and in various ways to Your people in the past,
but in these last days in Your Son, the incarnate Word,
we pray that You will open the mouth of Your servant to proclaim that Word in the power of the Spirit.
And we pray that this same Spirit will open the hearts of its hearers here assembled to receive Your holy gospel and write on their hearts Your holy law, even as You have promised.
All of this, gracious Father, we ask in the name of Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray, saying: “Our Father …”

Prayer before the Sermon—2 

Blessed Lord, who has caused Holy Scripture to be written for our learning,
grant that we may hear, read, learn, and inwardly digest them,
that through the comfort of Your holy Word, we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which You have given us in our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Prayer after the Sermon—1 

Our merciful God, who is pleased to condescend to speak to us through Your Word,
grant us all grace that we may not be mere hearers of Your Word, but doers also.
Give us the grace of Your Holy Spirit that we may believe what has been proclaimed to us.
May we bring glory and honor to Your name in all that we do, as You conform us to the image of Your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
All of this, gracious Father, we ask in the name of Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray, saying: “Our Father …”

Prayer after the Sermon—2 

Almighty God, graciously grant that Your Word, which we have heard, may be inscribed inwardly on our hearts.
As we receive Your Word meekly with pure affection, may our hearts be filled with love and reverence for You.
Cause us to bear the fruit of the Spirit and to live in holiness, diligently following Your commandments.
And may it please You to use us to lead those who are lost, wandering, and confused into the way of truth.
All this we pray for the honor and praise of Your name, through Jesus Christ our Lord, in the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Prayer before the Explanation of the Catechism—1 

Almighty and everlasting God, our heavenly Father, we acknowledge that we are sinners, conceived and born in sin, unable of ourselves to do any good.
But we do repent of our sins, and seek Your grace to help us in our remaining weaknesses.
Through the teaching of Your Word, which we confess with the church throughout the ages, satisfy our hunger and quench our thirst with Your refreshing truth, that we, with all our hearts, may love and serve You,
with our Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, the one and only true God, who lives and reigns forever. Amen.

Prayer before the Explanation of the Catechism—2 

Our heavenly Father,
we ask You to look upon us in grace,
as we look away from ourselves into the face of Your Son, whom You have appointed our Mediator and Savior.
As all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are in Your Son, guide us by Your Holy Spirit into the true understanding of the doctrines of Christ.
May our meditation upon His truth produce in us the fruit of righteousness to the glory and exaltation of His name, the instruction and edification of this congregation, and the salvation of the lost through our witness.
We pray this in the name and favor of Your well-beloved Son, Jesus Christ, in dependence on His Holy Spirit. Amen.

Prayer after the Explanation of the Catechism—1 

Gracious and merciful Father,
we give You thanks for having established Your covenant with believers and their children. For, as You have told us, “the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.”
This promise You have not only signified and sealed by holy baptism, but daily prove by perfecting Your praise through the mouths of children, and so putting to shame the wise and understanding of this world.
Continue to establish Your saints in this faith throughout their lives.
So give us the grace to inwardly digest the food You have given us and to instruct our children in Your knowledge and fear until they have reached complete maturity.
All of this we ask in the name of Christ Jesus our Lord, who taught us to pray, saying: “Our Father …”

Prayer after the Explanation of the Catechism—2 

Our gracious God,
You build Your church on the foundation of the doctrine of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ being the chief cornerstone, and so we pray that You would bless our congregation to grow in their teaching.
Assist us in meditating with joy on Your mighty acts, enlighten our minds more and more with the light of the everlasting gospel, kindle in our hearts a love of Your truth, nourish us with the full counsel of the Word of God, enable us to contend for the faith once for all delivered to the saints, and defend us from the sins of heresy and schism.
And as we have heard the true doctrine proclaimed to us, by Your great blessing may it be preserved among us and propagated through us by our lips and lives to the glory of the one true God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Prayer of Thanksgiving 

Almighty God, Father of all mercies,
we, Your unworthy servants, do give You most humble and hearty thanks for all Your goodness and loving-kindness to us and to all people.
We bless You for our creation, our preservation, and all the blessings of this life,
but above all for Your inestimable love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ,
for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory.
And, we ask You,
give us that due sense of all Your mercies,
that our hearts may be sincerely thankful,
and that we may show forth Your praise,
not only with our lips, but in our lives,
by giving up ourselves to Your service,
and by walking before You in holiness and righteousness all our days;
through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with You and the Holy Spirit, be all honor and glory, world without end. Amen.

Concluding Prayer—1 

Almighty God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
You have given us grace to offer our common prayers with one heart.
You have promised to grant our requests when we ask You in Jesus’ name.
Fulfill now the desires of our hearts and the petitions of our mouths, as is most beneficial for us, Your servants,
and grant us in this world knowledge of Your truth, and in the world to come life everlasting;
through Jesus Christ our Lord, who, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, is eternally praised. Amen.

Concluding Prayer—2 

Almighty God,
who has promised to hear the petitions of those who pray in Your Son’s name,
we ask You mercifully to incline Your ear to us, who have now made our prayers and supplications to You.
Grant that those things that we have faithfully asked, according to Your will, may be obtained, to the relief of our needs and to the setting forth of Your glory;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.