A Sunday Morning Prayer for Church Members

Written by Dr. Hershael York and offered in prayer during Corporate Worship on April 24, 2016

“Catch the foxes for us, the little foxes that spoil the vineyards, for our vineyards are in blossom.” Song of Solomon 2:15


Lord, protect them from laziness, a love of sleep or of recreation that would eclipse their desire to worship You with brothers and sisters and prevent their attendance in the church You have ordained as the pillar and ground of truth. Lord, gather them.

Protect them from distraction, which would rob You of their intentional praise and attentive hearts. Lord, focus them.

Protect them from worldliness, which silently erases their uniqueness and peculiarity in a generation that is perishing in desperate need of gospel witness. Lord, mark them.

Protect them from sinfulness, which circumvents the very purpose for which You saved them, to make of them a holy nation that would show forth the glory of Your Son. Lord, sanctify them.

Protect them from monotonous and routine worship, which denies that You are the One true and living God, the divine object of all our singing, praying, and proclamation. Lord, excite and animate them.

Protect them from being overwhelmed with grief and sorrows, which would make them believe their burdens greater than Your gospel relief. May they rest in Your grace and delight in Your yoke. Lord, lighten them.

Protect them from being empty vessels, merely swept clean but still endangered by other spirits stronger than the last. May the Word preached by Your servant be the Word applied by Your Spirit. Lord, fill them.

Protect them from religion, which would substitute their own deeds or efforts for relationship with the One who loved them from the foundation of the world. May they be satisfied only with the reality and never merely the form, only with the Person of Christ and not the idol. Lord, love them.

Amen