A prayer from the refuge

A prayer based on Psalm 14

Living God,

We come to you, our strength, refuge and deliverer.

We live in a world of fools, where many say in their hearts that you do not exist.  They want nothing to do with you.  They want to live their lives 'my way.' We confess there are many times when we live like this.  Times when we ignore your word.  We pretend you do not care how we live.  We kid ourselves that you don't know what we are doing - and that our action do us no harm. Forgive us for our functional atheism.  Forgive us for only turning to you when is suits us, when we hope to gain from it; and ignoring you the rest of the times. Help us to remember we live our lives before you, and so may we seek to worship you in all that we think, say and do.

Ever present God,

We thank you for dwelling right there in the midst of us, your people.  You do not abandon us, rather you stand with us.  You do not simply show up from time to time.  You are with us, moment by moment; generation to generation. Thank you for the strength that bring us, and the protection that offers us. We pray for those who attack your people.  As they encounter you, we pray they will overcome the dread of seeing you, and be lead to trust in you.  Change their stubborn rebellious hearts, into ones which call out to you, and find in you their all in all.

Lord God, our refuge,

We do not take you for granted.  We do not simply leave it all up to you - we run to you, we hide in you, we cry out to you. We join in that defiant longing and song - crying for complete salvation. We thank you that you have sent your deliver from Zion.  We praise you for all that Jesus has accomplished and we look forward to that day, when we shall be restored, when nothing can taint our worship of you.

Until that day - may we rejoice and be glad in you.

Through our Saviour we pray,

Amen