Here is a guide for home worship for the Lord’s day – November 8, 2020.
Today is a good day to reflect on God’s sovereign care and will. These are easy things to celebrate when life is good and easy. They are likely more important when life is hard and difficult. Today will be hard to not be with our brothers and sisters in Christ. But God knew this would happen and we rest in His care. With this in mind, here are a few hymns to sing, a prayer to consider, and Scriptures to read. May the Lord bless you as you worship Him at home today – Pastor Stertz
- Call to Worship – Psalm 9:9-11
- Hymn – A Mighty Fortress is our God.
- Prayer
-
- Here is an adaptation of a prayer entitled “The Divine Will” from the Puritan book of prayers, “The Valley of Vision.”
O Lord, We hang on You; We see, believe, and live when Your will is done and not ours. We can plead nothing in ourselves in regard of any worth or grace. We can claim nothing in ourselves in regard of Your providence and promises. We hang on Your good pleasure.
If Your mercy makes us poor and vile, blessed be Your Name! Prayers that arise from our needs are but mere preparations for future mercies from You. Help us to honor You by believing before we feel for great is the sin if we make feelings a cause of faith.
Show us what sins hide You from us and block out Your love. Help us to humble ourselves for past sins and to be resolved to walk with more care. For if we do not walk in holiness before You, how else might we demonstrate the assurance of your grace operating in our lives?
It is the meek and humble who are shown Your favor, who know Your will, are pardoned, and healed. They are the ones who by faith depend and rest upon grace, who are sanctified, raised to life, and who demonstrate Your love.
Help us to pray in faith and so find Your will by leaning hard on Your rich and free mercy. We do so by believing You will give what you have promised.
Strengthen us to pray with the conviction that whatever we receive is Your gift. Teach us to believe that all degrees of mercy arise out of our prayers to You. So shall we wait for Your will. We pray for it to be done. By your grace, we will become more holy and obedient in Your sight.
- Hymn – God Moves in a Mysterious Way
- Scripture – Matthew 6:9-34
-
- Some themes to reflect on:
- What does it mean to pray that the Lord’s will be done? (Verse 10)
- How do verses 19-21 help us to think and live when things do not go as we had hoped or planned?
- How do Jesus’ illustrations of the birds and the lilies of the field help us to have peace in the middle of difficult times?
- Hymn – Like a River Glorious.