Scripturally Based Service Prayers

Lent 1C

Call to Worship (based on Psalm 92:1-2, 9-16)

L: God has promised, “Those who love me, I will deliver; I will protect those who know my name.
P: God is our refuge and fortress, the One in whom we trust.
L: Because you have made God your refuge, the Most High will command angels to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.
P: God is our refuge and fortress, the One in whom we trust.
L: When we call upon God, God will answer. God will be with us in time of trouble. God will rescue, honor and show us salvation.
P: God is our refuge and fortress, the One in whom we trust. Let us worship God.

Prayer of Confession (a meditation on Luke 4:1-13, Matthew 6:13)

L: Lead me, O God according to your Holy Spirit lead me. Even in the dry, wasted places, lead me. Keep me focused upon your love and help me to forget my hunger. I am hungry. The stomach pangs. The throat parches. The skin burns. The mind wanders. I am hungry.
P: Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
L: Lead me, O God into the place of shade where I can think, where I can pray, where I can worship you. Remove from me the desire to confuse your thoughts and desires with my own. Cleanse me of the need for the approval of others, of the need to prove myself to the doubters.
P: Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
L: Take me to the place where I can behold the world that you love, the people to whom you have sent me. How I would win them for you! How I would create in them the desire for you! If only they would see me as you do! If only they could have faith as I do. If only they could love you as I do! But, help me to focus on your glory and not mine. Help me to love all people as you love, without condition or judgment.
P: Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Assurance of Pardon (adapted from Romans 10:8b-13, Mark 9:24)

L: St. Paul wrote, “if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
P: Indeed, God I believe, help my unbelief, and do not put me to shame.
L: “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
P: Thanks be to God.

Unison Prayer of Dedication (adapted from Deuteronomy 26:1-11)

God of our past, help us to remember the faithfulness of our ancestors – how they trusted in you enough to bring the first fruits of their labors to the sanctuary and laid them at the foot of the altar. Together with them and all those who would follow where your Spirit leads, bless these offerings of the first fruits of our labors. We celebrate and thank you for the bounty of your creation and pray that these gifts of ours may be used for the purpose of sharing your grace and peace with others. Amen.

Benediction (adapted from Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16)

L: In Christ the Holy Spirit leads us where God is.
P: God is our refuge and our fortress.
L: God is with us always – guiding, protecting, saving, loving.
P: Thanks be to God!