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21 Days of Prayer - Day 4

Heavenly Father,

You are mighty and loving. You do not treat us as we deserve, but according to Your love and mercy. You send rain on faithful and the wicked alike. You are patient with all, delaying the day of judgement that more would be saved.

I confess that I have sinned. I have not always cared for those around me as You call me to do. I have, at times, turned a blind eye to the suffering around me in my community. I have sinned against both You and my neighbor.

(take a moment to reflect on the past day and confess your sins.)

I am sorry for my sins and ask for Your mercy. For the sake of Jesus Christ and His suffering and death, please forgive me.

Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer:

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name,
Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
And 
forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us;
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. 
For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever.

Amen

Prayer of the Day:

Lord, You care for everyone, from the greatest to the least. There is no one who escapes Your eye. You say that it is Your will that all should be saved. To that end, rather than removing Your church from the world, You send us into the World that we might show Your love to those who are far from You and share the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ with them.

We pray for our community in Wesley Chapel, Lutz, Land O’ Lakes, Zephyrhills, New Tampa, San Antonio, and all the surrounding areas. Bless our community that all would be cared for in body and spirit. Help us to see where people are suffering and seek to help those in need.

So many of the people in our community feel a sense of loneliness and isolation. Bring the people of our community together as one. Help us to form real and meaningful relationships with one another. To serve one another and share life with each other.

The greatest need of our community is You. As we come together, unite us in Christ. May it be Jesus that connects us and sustains us. May we speak Your Word to each other, especially Your Gospel, that our community may have true unity and life.

Amen

The Psalms:

The Psalms have long been considered the prayer book of the Bible and have been used as prayers by countless Christians over the centuries. So, we join them in this practice and pray a Psalm.

Psalm 107

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
    his love endures forever.

Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story—
    those he redeemed from the hand of the foe,
those he gathered from the lands,
    from east and west, from north and south.[a]

Some wandered in desert wastelands,
    finding no way to a city where they could settle.
They were hungry and thirsty,
    and their lives ebbed away.
Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,
    and he delivered them from their distress.
He led them by a straight way
    to a city where they could settle.
Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love
    and his wonderful deeds for mankind,
for he satisfies the thirsty
    and fills the hungry with good things.

10 Some sat in darkness, in utter darkness,
    prisoners suffering in iron chains,
11 because they rebelled against God’s commands
    and despised the plans of the Most High.
12 So he subjected them to bitter labor;
    they stumbled, and there was no one to help.
13 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
    and he saved them from their distress.
14 He brought them out of darkness, the utter darkness,
    and broke away their chains.
15 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love
    and his wonderful deeds for mankind,
16 for he breaks down gates of bronze
    and cuts through bars of iron.

17 Some became fools through their rebellious ways
    and suffered affliction because of their iniquities.
18 They loathed all food
    and drew near the gates of death.
19 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
    and he saved them from their distress.
20 He sent out his word and healed them;
    he rescued them from the grave.
21 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love
    and his wonderful deeds for mankind.
22 Let them sacrifice thank offerings
    and tell of his works with songs of joy.

Luther’s Morning Prayer:

I thank you, my Heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have kept me this night from all harm and danger; and I pray that You would keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please You. For into Your hands I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.

Luther’s Evening Prayer:

I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have graciously kept me this day; and I pray You to forgive me all my sins where I have done wrong, and graciously keep me this night. For into Your hands I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the wicked foe may have no power over me. Amen.

In Christ’s Service,

Pastor Kurt