אבנימ

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name

O Heavenly Father, You dwell in a high and holy place, in unapproachable Light; no mortal can see you and live. All things are created and exist at your pleasure. The Living Ones around Your throne unceasingly cry Holy, Holy, Holy.

And yet though you are so high, you regard the lowly. You also dwell with those of a contrite and humble spirit, with those who tremble at your Word. By your gracious condescension, You have come down to us in Jesus Christ to make us Your own, that we might be with You, and share Your glory, forever. And now You have sent the Spirit of Your dear Son into our hearts, so that we come to You in love and adoration, crying Abba, Father. Help us to worship You in Spirit and in Truth. Help us to pray, for we do not know how to pray as we ought. Help us to rejoice in You, and to be mindful of, and thankful for, your Fatherly care.

We pray that Your great name would be honored and praised in all places, that the knowledge of Your glory will fill the earth, as the waters cover the sea.

We pray that as Your people,
our lives would faithfully reflect and testify to Your glory:

• that we would give no occasion to those who hate You to blaspheme Your great name
• that we would not deny with our deeds that which we profess with our mouths

Our Lord, we ask that you would send out Your Word to heal the nations. For those who blaspheme Your wonderful name, we pray that You would silence them by converting them and writing your Law on their hearts, as You did with the apostle Paul.

And for those who will not be converted, we pray that you would hear the prayers of your afflicted people, sustain them through their suffering, and avenge yourself speedily on those who oppress Your children.

We pray that

Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Our Father, you have set your King, Jesus Christ, upon His royal throne, and He is reigning in glory as You bring everything in subjection to Him, until every tongue confesses that He is Lord.

We pray that He would reign in our lives, in our thoughts, in our attitudes.
We pray that He would reign in our homes, in our relationships, in our vocations.
We pray that He would reign in His church, in this nation, and among all the peoples of the earth.

Please guard our hearts from thinking of Your Kingdom as something vague and generic, that makes few demands upon us. Let us comprehend it as intensely personal and practical.

You have said that if we love You, then we will keep your commandments, and that Your commandments are not burdensome.

O Lord, give us hearts to enthrone you in all parts of our lives; to love you supremely, with all our heart, soul, mind and strength:

• More than our own comfort
• more than our possessions
• and more than our pride

Give us this day our daily bread

Our Father, You are the faithful shepherd, and we are Your sheep – we shall lack nothing. No good thing will You withhold from those who walk uprightly.

But sometimes we have not, because we ask not.

We reflect back on the past weeks and months, and we see a clear record of your faithfulness.

• You have healed the sick.
• You have provided employment.
• You have supplied physical needs.
• You have restored relationships.
• You have acted on behalf of loved ones.
• You have comforted us in our troubles.

And so we come with confidence, as your beloved children, and ask of you, our Heavenly Father, to hear now our private petitions.

[pause]

For those situations where do not yet see Your answer, enable us to persevere in our prayers, and not to faint. Help us to trust in You without wavering, knowing that You will always do what is good and right, and in Your perfect time.

forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

Our father, we have no plea for our sins, but one: that our Lord and elder brother Jesus has taken the rap for us. His shed blood pleads our case before You, our Judge. And so, dear Father, for His sake, we ask you to forgive our sins and remove our transgressions far from us, as far as the east is from the west.

Please grant us Your help to humble ourselves under Your mighty hand, to confess our sins to You daily, so that You might restore the joy of our salvation and lift us up.

As You have so graciously forgiven us, help us Lord to freely forgive those who have wronged us. We know that if we do not forgive others, neither will You, our Heavenly Father, forgive us. While we were still your enemies, Christ loved us, and died on on behalf. So we ask that your Spirit will do that work of grace in us that we cannot do for ourselves: to make us like our Lord and Savior, kind and tenderhearted, even toward our enemies, forgiving them as You have forgiven us.

And lead us not into temptation,

Our Lord, we find that though our spirit is willing, our flesh is weak.
Keep lies and deception far from us.
Guard us from temptation:

• to think and speak contrary to your Truth, believing the wisdom of this world, rather than your Word
• to refuse to receive what you have freely given, such as your peace which passes understanding
• to seek after what You have not given us, such as something good that you have given to our brother
• to take and hold an offense
• to defend ourselves when we should humble ourselves

When we are tempted, help us to flee to Jesus, our way of escape.

but deliver us from evil.

You are our protector. We are defenseless and vulnerable without You. We pray that you would keep us from calamity, both physical and spiritual. Let your blessing be upon us, and guard us from the enemy our souls and his wicked schemes to subvert your Kingdom.

For yours is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory.

Amen.