My prayer coming into church this weekend...

"God, what an honor it is to know you and to serve you. You are good King and we are humbled to come under your leadership in the Kingdom you've established. But our human understanding and the limitation of what our eyes can see cause our hearts to break with people and places that don't seem to represent your kingdom coming to earth as it is in heaven. I know that's why we're here, to keep crying for that reality to become our reality and live in such a way as to bring heaven to earth. Your economy and your behavior and your presence to this planet that desperately needs you, Jesus.

There is so much brokenness...can you come and mend and heal today, Lord? There is so much confusion...can you come and enlighten with your Spirit and bring understanding and clarity? There is so much corruption...could you foil the plans of the wicked and prosper the ways of the upright? There is so much arrogance...could you be patient with us, Lord, and woo us to yourself so that we can learn humility in the presence of your humble and gentle heart? There is so much addiction...can you break the chains the hold so many hostage and give us your power to overcome the strongholds and strangleholds that imprison, Lord? There is so much family dysfunction...can you move, by your Spirit, in the homes of our community and work in people's hearts to honor their vows and stay faithful to truth, Jesus? There is so much sin tempting us...can you give us the strength to take our stand and not give in to the short-lived pleasure that only satisfies for a season? There is so much bitterness...can you soften the hearts of those who have been abused and mistreated and given them your heart of forgiveness that you exhibited while hanging on the cross?

Set the captives free! Set us free, Lord! We need you so desperately...please don't pass us by, please don't perceive us to be self-sufficient and self-absorbed...we so badly need your eyesight, your heartbeat, your lifeblood. We can't do this without you. Our church can't be the lighthouse on the hill without your light filling our hearts within the face of Jesus Christ. We cannot be the salt unless you fill us with your savor.

So this weekend, Lord, pierce through the darkness and have your way in the hearts of all who come. For those who can't be with us, move mightily in their spirits that we may be united around the banner of Your Lordship. This is my humble cry. In Jesus Name, Amen."