O Lord our God, and God of our fathers, we thank You that You are a God who hears and answers prayer! We praise You that if only two or three of us agree on a matter and bring it before You, You will take notice and act! Help us pray in the name of our most holy Messiah, pray in the Holy Spirit, pray good prayers that You will hear and answer! May Your Spirit help us to pray as we should! O Lord, open our lips that our mouths may declare Your praise!
Let Us Confess Our Sins
The Lord is holy and separate from anything that is evil or wrong. Sin interferes with our relationship to God. It prevents us from praying properly. As we draw near to God through prayer, first we need to confess our sins to Him. If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness!
Let Us Give Thanks And Praise
Let us give thanks to God, and praise Him because of who He is and what He has done; as it is written, “Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name!”
He is the eternal and infinite God, self existent, without beginning and without end, omnipresent, all powerful, all knowing, all wise, perfect, complete, and unchanging. He is the Creator of Heaven and Earth and the Source of all life and existence. He is full of love. He is gracious and merciful, holy, righteous and just, faithful and true, good, kind and generous.
He created us, He sustains us, He helps us, He redeems us, He saves us. He preserved humanity through the Flood; created the holy nation to be a light to the world; saved Israel out of Egypt; performed signs and wonders for us; gave us great leaders; gave us His Word; made excellent promises and covenants with us; taught us the principles of salvation; brought us into the Land He reserved for us; sent us judges and kings, prophets and priests, holy men and women.
Blessed be the Lord for sending the Messiah, who is the Savior of the world! Blessed be God for the matchless gift of His precious Holy Spirit, who connects us to the Creator, gives us eternal life, transforms us from within, and guides and teaches us!
The Lord is to be praised for giving us new opportunities when we fail. His mercies are new every day!
Thank God for making us His exalted sons and daughters; for our great and eternal inheritance; for friends and family; for food and abundant and good water; for shelter and clothing; for giving us gifts, talents and abilities; and for jobs and the means by which to earn a livelihood. Praised be the Lord for allowing us to live in a nation that affords us freedom of religion and freedom of speech, and where other precious liberties still exist.
Let Us Pray For Ourselves And For Others
Rabbi Paul writes: “I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, in order that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. … Therefore I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and dissension.”
Pray for our leaders: for federal leaders (the President and his Cabinet, Congress and the Senate); for state and local leaders; for the election of godly leaders men and women who will apply biblical principles to their decisions; for national morality; and for repentance where we are failing – especially in the supreme moral failure of our day – abortion.
Pray for our legal system: the courts, judges, prosecutors and police.
Pray for all branches of the military, especially those presently in harm’s way, and for their families, and for veterans.
Pray for our educational system, that our children would be taught well and learn well.
Pray for national revival; for a great outpouring of salvation.
Pray for a complete end to injustice.
Pray for racial harmony.
Pray for the strengthening of our families.
Pray for the growth of Messiah’s Community of believers; for the Messianic Jewish movement; for pastors, rabbis, missionaries, evangelists; for leaders to preach the truth and not compromise, that they may be strong, and tell us the whole counsel of God; for the many suffering and persecuted Christians and Messianic Jews.
Pray for the Lord’s blessings to come to the people of Bloomfield Hills Baptist Church, that they would be blessed for blessing us.
Pray for the salvation of the Jewish community in Metro Detroit, throughout Michigan, the United States, Israel and the rest of the world.
Pray for the growth of Congregation Shema Yisrael – that the Lord may add to our numbers according to His will: pray for holiness, purity of life, determination, zeal for the Lord; that we regain our First Love, be filled with the Holy Spirit, fulfill our duties and responsibilities with excellence, experience the joy of the Lord and the peace that passes all understanding, manifest the fruits of the Spirit, have a clean conscience, have the inner witness that we are saved, walk in the fear of God and fulfill His will; and for greater love, unity, purity and dedication.
Pray for those who are suffering, hurting, sick and afflicted among us.
Pray for our children and teens, that they may walk with the Lord, and return to the Lord when they have strayed.
Pray that God, who wants all human beings to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth, would save our friends, families, co workers, and others whom He has placed on our hearts and in our lives.
Blessed are You, O Lord our God, king of the universe, who hears our prayers, and who hears and answers the prayers that the Son of God is even now praying for us! Praised be You O Lord, the true God who answers prayer!