Shiloh Baptist Church

 

God, our Father, we come this day seeking Your face, and not Your hand. We come, Almighty God, on one accord, with one voice, heads bowed, and knees bent in your Presence – To Give You Glory. We come, Almighty God, as the covenant community the family of Shiloh Baptist Church, to honor You for how good, and how faithful you have been to each of us. O, God, our lives have not been without suffering, or trials, or tribulations, but you have been without pain, but here we stand, O God, in Your presence. You have kept us! You have restored us! You have sustained us! O, God You have rescued us one more time, and we are grateful. Thank You Father!

 

It’s a New Year, O God and You have brought us to it. We don’t know what the future holds for us, or what one day from the next will bring, but we know that You hold the future, and that our lives are in Your hands. God, we have come to bless Your Name. We understand that healing is in Your Name. We understand that peace is in Your Name. We understand that holiness is in Your Name. We understand that righteousness is in Your Name. We understand that salvation is in Your Name, and we thank you for Your Son Jesus, our Savior, who paved the way for us to come. We thank you for Your Holy Spirit, who leads, guides us, and comforts us in all our distresses. Lord, we are many, with many issues, and different needs, and we come from different places; yet You are God of all.

 

I don’t come knowing the petition of every heart, but I come knowing that regardless of that need, we look to you, not just to meet the needs, but to settle the issues of our hearts. Already God in this New Year, some have lost loved ones; someone’s mother has died; someone’s father, or sibling has passed away, and death is a grief that is so hard to bear. Someone has received the doctor’s report, and this New Year has begun with the same heartaches and fears that we had at the end of last year, but You, O God, are still the same. You are God, who does not change. As You have been with us in times past, please be with us now, O God, continue to be our strength when we cannot stand.

 

Continue to be our bridge over troubled waters. O, God continue to be the Voice among voices that we hear, that will grant us Your peace in our distress. Lord, we cry out to You because we know that You hear us, and it is solace for us to know that You care for us. Before we resolve to do anything, before we come up with any plan of our own, for this year, we seek your will. We seek Your direction. We want to follow your path, and we want to be obedient to Your Word. God, we ask that You continue to bless this House of Prayer, these Your people, and our Pastor, who You have equipped. We ask, O God, that You will continue to bless his household, his wife and children. We ask no less for all of the families here, and across the globe. Thank You, Father, for the privilege of prayer; and the opportunity to bring our cares and concerns to You, but more than that, Thank You for being a Big Enough God to meet all of our needs.

 

In Jesus Name, Amen.   

 

Submitted by Deaconess Irene Gardon