Sunday, January 19, 2014

Morning Prayer

Years ago I memorized a short prayer from the Book of Common Prayer to say daily. It goes like this:
“Lord God Almighty, and Everlasting Father, you have brought us in safety to this new day: Preserve us by your mighty power, that we may not fall into sin, or be overcome by adversity; and in all we do, direct us to the fulfilling of your purpose; through Jesus Christ our Lord amen.”

I recite it every day when I get in the car to leave the house. I’ll admit I’m usually thinking of me and sometimes my family when I recite the prayer, but that’s going to change. I want it to be a prayer I recite for us… PCC. After all, it is written in the first person plural… it’s not “me”, it’s “we”. The prayer fits well what I think we want to be together & what we want to ask God to do for us, in us, & through us. Let’s break it down into the parts.

“Lord God Almighty, and Everlasting Father…”
We’re all created in the image of God, & through Christ we all call on the Almighty as “Everlasting Father”. That, of course, makes us brothers and sisters, family.

“…you have brought us in safety to this new day…”
When all is well with us, we know who to thank. When one brother or sister rejoices in some unexpected blessing or some long anticipated blessing, we all rejoice. We are a people filled with gratitude for our God. We come every Sunday to praise him and give thanks to the Lord together.

“Preserve us by your mighty power that we may not fall into sin, or be overcome by adversity…”
Together we face two adversaries in this life. The first is sin. We gather to confess our sin and receive forgiveness. We also respond to the gospel by turning away from sin to walk together righteously before God. We share a desire NOT to sin anymore. We’re not obsessed with the sins of non-believers. Rather, we are committed to walking faithfully before God ourselves… together.

The other adversary is adversity. The world is destined to be renewed. All wrongs will be made right. Every tear dried, & death will be no more. But not yet. Till Christ returns we endure adversity of all kinds. The prayer is not some fantasy that we’d never experience any trouble or hardship or suffering of any kind, but that we will not be overcome by adversity. So we stand together and share in one another’s sufferings and adversity, praying for those in chemo and rehab and looking for a job and trying to keep their family together. By the almighty power of God we will not be overcome! Faith, hope, and love will endure forever in us.

“…and in all we do, direct us to the fulfilling of your purpose; through Jesus Christ our Lord amen.”
We’re doing more here than merely surviving, trying to avoid sin & enduring adversity. We have a God-given, God-ordained mission. We are sent to…
·        Proclaim the Gospel
·        Produce disciples
·        Praise God together

So we pray for God’s direction in fulfilling his purpose in us and through us.
That’s what we’re about here at Pflugerville Community Church. We share a communal faith that fills us with gratitude, and ministers to one another as we face temptation, seek forgiveness, endure adversity, & do the work of God’s mission… proclaiming Christ, producing disciples, and praising God together.