Father,
Many of the things we hope for in life are uncertain and even if we get what we hoped for, if often unsatisfying and always short lived. Only the inheritance you won for us in Christ is certain, and satisfying, and eternal. And so you are the God of hope. We may be poor, a failure in business, we may be alone with no family, we may be weak in body, declining in mind, or oppressed by conflict. Those who love you look up to you out of such misery and you promise them eternal glory, honor, and immortality and tell them to endure a while longer.
You have not only provided the thing that we hope for, but you stir up the certainty of it within us. You could have kept heavenly joy a secret. But instead, in this life your Spirit causes our inner person to be full of hope. In this way you allow us to carry in our souls now a taste of that future joy. Do that for us.
Help us to set our hope firmly on heavenly things. It is not only difficult for us to set our minds on heavenly things, it can be hard for us to set our minds on anything. Please steady our minds, like a parent steadies a child learning to walk. Teach us to be able to focus our attention on the unchanging things above, and not be beaten from thing to thing of immediate concern, but of little value. Help us to find more joy in knowing that our names are written in your book, than we find even in the successes we gain for your kingdom in this life.
I ask that our hope might be so overflowing that those who know us would see it and desire you for themselves. Give us the clarity to speak to them and draw them to yourself.
We thank you for setting us in your great family and allowing us to worship you side by side and so increase our joy and hope as we see your Spirit working not only in ourselves but in one another.
May you be honored in all that is done here this morning. May our songs be pleasant to you. May you be pleased as the truth is taught through the reading and exposition of the scriptures. Help us to be receptive hearers, that we would not be hearers only but doers of the word. Help us to love you with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. In our fellowship, help us to speak truth with each other, always seeking others' interests ahead of our own. We ask that you would specially encourage those who serve in the nursery who enable us to gather here.