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The Fulfillment Realized – A Prayer

On January 12, 2020

Father, after many years of waiting for Your promises to be fulfilled, You brought Christ into the world and made His coming known to the Gentiles, and specifically during this time of Epiphany, you revealed Him to the Magi who had come to see this King who had been born. In fulfillment of so many Old Testament passages such as Moses who says, “Rejoice O Gentiles with His people,” and Isaiah who says, “The Gentiles will hope in Him,” You brought about a great fulfillment to bring salvation not just to ethnic Israel but to include the Gentiles around the world with Your chosen people Israel and so all Israel will be saved together. We rejoice together that we are seeing the promise spoken to Abraham that he would be the father of many nations fulfilled in our very midst. Father in Your great kindness, across history and even to this very day, you are continuing this fulfillment in effecting your work of the covenant of grace in Christ our Lord and bringing in Your called people from every tribe, tongue, language and nation. You are building Your church and the gates of hell cannot prevail against it. Though we see so much persecution around the world against believers and even in our midst feel it with our family and friends at times who don’t know You, You are working a glorious end in which You will be lifted up and highly exalted and we will be caught up together and share in Your glory. Lord fill us with the hope and wonder and mystery of these truths that we would seek and find our treasure first and foremost in Christ, seeking the things that are above where He is instead of fleeting things here on Earth, and find rest for our weary souls.

Father in heaven, who at the baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan didst proclaim him thy beloved Son and anoint him with the Holy Spirit: Grant that all who are baptized into his Name may keep the covenant they have made, and boldly confess him as Lord and Savior; who with thee and the same Spirit liveth and reigneth, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen. (BCP)

The Pursuit and Divine Welcome of Christ – A Prayer

By David Westerfield

On December 15, 2019

In Theology

Lord You manifested Yourself in signs and wonders throughout history, you made your words, testimonies, statutes, laws, and your promises known to Your people through Your prophets, and in time the last of Your prophets, John the Baptist, proclaimed that the greatest and final Prophet had come into the world in order to prepare them for His arrival. It is through Jesus, our great Prophet, Priest and King, that the final Word from God to man was made known to us in a Person for the sake of our salvation. It is through Him, the Lamb of God, offered for our sins, that we have come into the joy of being freed from slavery to sin and its resulting punishment, and welcomed into Your very throne room as Your children who sit at Your feet to learn from and enjoy You. And by Your Spirit You have come to make Your own home within us as a down payment, a guarantee of our inheritance with You. Would You enable us to cherish Christ in our thoughts, words and actions and behold Him ourselves, in our hearts as the Lamb of God who came into the world, that we might find in Him our greatest delight and be deeply satisfied now and for all eternity, chasing away the idols and desires of the world that press in upon us.

Stir up Your power, O Lord, and with great might come among us; and, because we are sorely hindered by our sins, let Your bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with You and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, now and forever. Amen. (BCP)

The Father Who Runs After Wayward Sons – A Prayer

By David Westerfield

On November 17, 2019

In Theology

Father You are the God who ran after us as the father ran after the prodigal son upon returning to him, who had squandered everything. We are those Lord who have lived in a far off country, living lives opposed to You and those who have been made alive by Your Spirit and not begrudgingly welcomed into Your kingdom but actually rejoiced in by You. When we were obstinently opposed to You, You died for us Lord Jesus because that is Your heart and we are your reward. While we were still in our sin and the shame and guilt that results, You bore our burden upon the cross by willingly exposing Yourself to utter shame and the eternal guilt that was owed to us. When we were guilty, through Your life, death, and the resurrection, you counted us righteous. You are our Father, and through Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit, we are Your children. Would you grow us into maturity in our faith, that we would increasingly see the connection between our belief in You as our Lord and Savior and are life actions and choices made in response. Father would you give us rest to find our joy and peace in the finished work of Your Son? Would You enter into the deep recesses of our hearts where we are spun up and anxious and following the never-ending busy pattern of the world and slow down long enough to drink deep from the well of Your never-ending streams of gracious water provided for us by Your Son. Would you draw near to us? Apart from You we are helpless, frail, broken and wandering. Abiding in You, we are helped, strengthened, healed and brought home to rest in You.

Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP)

Breaking Through the Darkness in Revelation – A Prayer

By David Westerfield

On September 29, 2019

In Theology

Father, it is in Your kindness and goodness that in looking upon us with compassion in our low, sinful state, You chose to make yourself known to us. Though we were blinded by our own sin and the darkness of our hearts and understanding, You broke through in making Yourself known to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And to Moses you made yourself known as the great I AM. You revealed to him the very essence of your name, that before anything was, you were there, uncreated, self-sustaining from all eternity. You are before all other gods, You are the One from whom everything came into being, spoken into existence from nothing. We worship you together as the great I AM, who was and is and is to come, revealed finally and ultimately and most clearly in Your Son, Jesus. He is the great I AM made known to us in flesh, who is not only our creator but our redeemer and the sustainer of our lives at this moment, the One whom will get to rejoice in for all eternity.

Almighty God, by triumphing over the powers of darkness Christ has prepared a place for us in the new Jerusalem: may we, who have this day given thanks for his resurrection, praise him in the eternal city of which he is the light; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP)

The Gospel Embraced, For the Sake of Our Neighbors – A Prayer

By David Westerfield

On September 12, 2019

In Theology

Father, in light of Your Son’s condescension from heaven and Your great love toward us, that the Lord Jesus would set aside His heavenly throne in order to be numbered among us, to redeem us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, to raise us to new life through His resurrection, and to bring us with Him into His eternal Kingdom: Father out of that love and grace that we’ve experienced and soak ourselves in today, would You produce the fruit of being other-oriented and not so self-concerned and self-consumed with our own needs and conveniences; would we set our gaze toward Christ crucified for us, that we would be a people freed from self to pursue our neighbors, for the sake of the gospel and for the sake of tangible needs that we see all around us, these two coming alongside together as a witness to the good news of eternal resurrection life and the inbreaking of new creation. We need Your Spirit to accomplish this in us for apart from You we can do nothing.

Grant, O merciful God, that your Church, being gathered together in unity by your Holy Spirit, may show forth your power among all peoples, to the glory of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP)

Awaken Our Hearts – A Prayer

By David Westerfield

On July 12, 2019

In Theology

Father, we know that no good thing can come from us in our flesh, but only that which is wrought in our hearts by Your Holy Spirit. Lord we are weak and frail apart from You, and even dead in our trespasses and sins before we come to know You, unable to respond positively until you shine the light of Your Spirit in our dark hearts to give us life from within. Even as believers though, we all know how easily we can stray from You in our thoughts and actions and even in the way we plan our lives. Lord when we set about a course for our lives, in our own wisdom, strength and power, it can only end in frustration and destruction when our course isn’t centered on Your Son. Would you go behind and before us to enable us to think and do always that which is pleasing to You, to live according to Your will? Remind us always not only of our daily dependence upon You, but even how You brought us to Yourself from the very beginning through the life, death and resurrection of Your Son, through the application of Your Spirit bringing and sustaining life within us when there was none.

O Good God, our King and Creator, seeing we have our whole trust in Thee, and do worship thee in spirit and truth, despise not, we pray thee, the sighs and prayers of thy poor servants, oppressed and afflicted by thy enemies; and keep us continually under thy protection, until we be glorified with our Head and Saviour, Jesus Christ thy Son. Amen. | Prayer on Psalm 5 – Prayers on the Psalms (From the Scottish Psalter of 1595)

Pentecost Sunday – A Prayer

By David Westerfield

On June 9, 2019

In Theology

Lord God, we worship You as the God who isn’t distant from us, but One who made Yourself near and accessible and known to us. In the very beginning, by Your Spirit You hovered over the face of the waters in creation, intimately involved in all You were making. By Your Spirit You made Yourself known to Moses at the burning bush, declaring yourself to be the Great I AM from all eternity. By Your Spirit You came and dwelt among Your people in the Temple, where only the High Priest could go once a year to make sacrificial offerings on behalf of the people. Your Spirit came upon King David, anointing and empowering him as Your chosen king, a man after Your own heart. All of the prophets, empowered by Your Spirit, spoke words of both blessing and judgment with the goal of repentance and faith in the hearers. And then finally when Your Son came, the perfect Prophet, Priest and King, He accomplished for us that which we could never accomplish: the very redemption of our bodies and souls and the Spirit dwelling with us now perpetually. And all of the writers of the Scriptures through which we have come to know all of this were carried along by Your Spirit and wrote precisely that which You intended us to know for eternal life and godliness. And on this day Lord we celebrate the outpouring of Your Spirit at Pentecost, promised long ago, upon all who call upon the name of Jesus. No longer did Your Spirit dwell in the Temple for now Your people’s hearts were the very temple where He dwells. No longer do we need to offer sacrifices to commune with You, for Christ has made a once for all time sacrifice, putting away sin by the sacrifice of Himself and tearing the curtain of the temple that You may dwell in the hearts of Your people. Your Spirit empowers us, gives us strength, convicts us, draws us, and ultimately points us and unites us to Your risen and ascended Son. Lord we praise You for this unfathomable gift as a church together. Would Your Spirit work in our hearts as a church, drawing and moving us to strive to know and be known in our life together. Would You create community and depth of relationships that center on Christ’s glory as the end goal of all things. We can’t do this in ourselves and our flesh Lord because we can too easily fall prey to the ways the world engages in relationships. We all need the humility Your Spirit provides and we ask for Your help.

God, who as at this time taught the hearts of your faithful people by sending to them the light of your Holy Spirit: grant us by the same Spirit to have a right judgement in all things and evermore to rejoice in his holy comfort; through the merits of Christ Jesus our Saviour, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (BCP)

I Will Take Joy in the God of My Salvation – A Prayer

By David Westerfield

On May 19, 2019

In Theology

Habakkuk 3:17-18: Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.

His Glory Displayed – A Prayer

By David Westerfield

On March 31, 2019

In Theology

Lord Your glory is so obviously displayed and reflected in the power exhibited within creation. The floods lift up their roaring, the sea cries out Your name, the hills bear prosperity for all of us to enjoy, the lightning lights up the world so as to put on display your infinite power and knowledge. Yet Lord, your glory is displayed in its highest and surest regard in Your intentional pursuit and giving of Yourself to weakness resulting in unfathomable suffering. At the cross we see displayed what it took for you to make us Your own, what it took for our sins to be abolished, along with its due penalty: it took the God of the universe becoming nothing, taking the form of a bondservant, being nailed to a cross along with the record of debt that stood against us and bearing the curse due to us because of our lawlessness. Lord what kind of love is this that would move You to take regard of those who have betrayed your glory? And yet that is Your heart, to make rebels Your own children, to make us Your children. You were willing to be cut off from the land of the living that we might be brought in to paradise, to be cursed that we might be blessed, to be stripped of all that we might be clothed in your pure robe of righteousness. Lord help our unbelief. Heal our pride and our self-inflation by looking to that cross. Help our frail state and weakness, and would you shine forth in it to give us Your strength, the very strength of the Spirit that raised Christ from the dead. Would You give to us the gift of humbly walking in the reality of what we already are: Your justified, accepted, rejoiced-over children, and find our ultimate identity in this over the identities the world presses in and would have for us. Lord may we find our ultimate hope and joy and rejoicing in Your rejoicing over us.

The Delight of the Father – A Prayer

By David Westerfield

On February 17, 2019

In Theology

Father you are a God who delights in revealing the beauty of your salvation to those who least deserve it. You are a God who delights in making Your name known and shining your face on those who have long been laid low in darkness. And as we’ll read in Jonah today Lord, you are a God who delights in relenting from disaster for those who call upon your name and turn from their sin to embrace You as their God and savior. In a myriad of ways Lord, all of us have lives that if you hadn’t intervened by Your Holy Spirit would have ended in disaster, both now and for eternity. But because of your steadfast love and faithfulness, and the kindness of Your heart toward us, you have set our feet upon a rock, and given us rest when we were weary and wandering in darkness. Father would we drink deeply of this grace that is poured out for us from your table of delights, and would we come to expect that in whatever good or difficulty comes to us from your hand, that we would know You are indeed for us and not against us.