Sunday, April 13, 2008

Nine pastoral prayers

This afternoon I listened to a sermon by Matt Chandler: Nine Pastoral Prayers. There's a God-centered vision behind these prayers that I want to appropriate for my local church. Here are Chandler's nine prayers:

1. That we would see the greatest problem in the universe is not mere moral failure, but rather failure to honor God.

2. That we would understand that discipline rarely brings about love, but love always brings about discipline.

3. That we would realize that children of God are not under wrath, but under mercy.

4. That we would find that the fullness of all things, including life and joy, is in Christ.

5. That we would experience a holy discontentment with where our lives are, and we would espouse the hope of what our lives could be.

6. That we would recognize that God has purposefully placed us here at this time and this place for his glory.

7. That we would develop a taste for truth, even difficult ones.

8. That we would embrace Biblical Christianity not American Evangelicalism.

9. That we would believe in the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit, and desire them earnestly.

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