2.2 KiB
Context
Scripture Reading: Genesis 19:12-26
Sermon Text: Luke 17:20-37
Prayer
Father,
We come to You now to recognize that we are people of a fallen world. In accord with the world that we were born of, we are sinners that seek to delight our hearts outside of You and Your prescriptions. You are merciful to warn us not to set our hopes on a fallen world and provide means of escape. We are stubborn, doubting You and clinging to a world who's destruction is sure. You are again merciful to seize our hearts when we do not listen.
We remain fickle in our conviction of Your warnings though. We have a love for the dying world that will inevitably fail us, and we continue to ponder what it offers. We carry the inclination to again gaze upon that from which we must depart. We doubt You and we ponder the hopes of the flesh.
Though we often lack contentment, we are complacent. We purpose our days to satisfy desires rooted in a world that we must depart from. We set our cravings and delight on that which is of this world, rather than pouring ourselves into eternal good. We delight in possessions and entertainment and vacations, and we let the eternal weightiness of our brothers' faithfulness fall by the wayside. We neglect warning others of the wrath to come. We are embarrassed to speak of Your judgment.
We live as if these few decades in our fallen bodies are the only years we will ever live. We live as though all that we ever do, we must do now, having little hope for the surpassing majesty of the eternity that You have planned for us. We work for advancement in the fallen world, giving insufficient thought to investment in the world to come. We pay little mind to the rewards of the age to come.
We revel in the faded glories of history, seldom recognizing that the glories of the great empires of this age and ages past as the paltry things that they are compared to the glory of the kingdom to come.
Now, we ask that You forgive us. We ask because of the blood of Your Son, which was shed for us. You seized our hearts to awaken us to our peril, now keep hold and ensure that we press on to the safety that You prescribe.
It is in the name Your righteous Son, Christ Jesus that we pray. Amen.