We begin our new series this week, “Geared Up for Life.” It is, in part, practical application, but it begins with theological foundations. These first three weeks are the “why” of our discipleship journey. The underlying moods of this part of the worship series are gratitude and joy. What we learn is that our lives are lived in response to the grace of God. So, however we can express that joy and however we can offer up thanks to the God who rescues and then equips us will be meaningful and enhance our understanding.

Prayer: Ephesians 1:3-14

Only

“How we praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms
because we belong to Christ.” Ephesians 1:3

we sit down
with our sharpened pencils,
to chart out the
longitude and latitude
of your grace
only
to keep running
out of paper;

we tie a string
around each sin,
dropping them into
your sea of forgiveness,
only
to discover we can
never plumb its depths;

we scrabble and scrape,
push and pummel ourselves
from Land's End to John o' Groats
on our self-planned journey,
only
to find
we are at the
starting point
of your Way;

how foolish we are
to try to limit you
by our imagination
only.

Prayer for Grace

O God our Father,
we thank you that today you have called us
to worship you and learn of you.
You alone know our needs.
Satisfy them with your unchanging love.
In your presence may we find comfort in sorrow,
guidance in perplexity,
strength to meet temptation,
grace to overcome the fascination of disobedience,
and courage to face up to the hostility of this rebellious world.
Above all, may we meet Jesus
and go out from our worship indwelt by his spirit.
This prayer we ask to your glory and in his name.
Amen.

Written by Michael Saward. Posted on The Jubilate Group website, https://www.jubilate.co.uk/liturgy/prayer_for_grace.