A Prayer For Those Who Have Walked Away

 

 

Heavenly Father, who dwells in the heavens above, but also in the earth beneath, hear our prayer as we lift our voices to You.  We come to You, not because we must, but because we may; not because we are deserving, but because we are depraved; not because our faith is strong but because it is shaky; not to receive but to renew our fellowship with You.

 

Our choice is you O God.  You are our all in all.  You are our Father and our friend; our helper and our hope; our comforter and our consoler; our life and our love.  You keep us standing when our trials are taxing; you keep us going when the road is rough; you keep us believing when the future is fearful..

 

Father, this morning You have laid on our hearts those who have at sometime in their lives confessed faith in You but now are not living in fellowship with You.  We think of those who once responded to the invitation to believe in You but have walked away from You and Your church.  We think especially of those who were raised in the womb of a believing family but have found their interest and their joy in other things.  Build a fence about them and protect them from the Evil One.  Bring into their lives those who know and walk with You that they may  be a positive influence on the lives of our loved  ones.     O Lord, above all be merciful to them and grant that they may see the error of their ways and come to recognize that Your love, peace and joy is far more satisfying than anything the world can give.  Create in them a thirst for You, so as the deer pants after the water brooks so may they pant after You O Lord.  Yes, may they respond once more to the invitation of the Psalmist who wrote: “Trust in the Lord and do good, feed on His faithfulness.”

 

We pray for those who because of the pain and hurt, sorrow and suffering, war and violence, disappointments and tragedies, in our world, have given up on their faith.  We pray for those who can no longer believe in a God of love who permits so many awful things to happen.  Why do bad things happen to good people, remains a stumbling block for many, and for them we pray.  Give to each an understanding of the wages of sin, and the power of Satan.   May they remember that we live in a fallen world, inhabited by fallen people.  We have an enemy in Satan, who is constantly trying to get us to believe that You do not exist, and if You do, You are not loving and caring.  May we ever remember that we are called to join in the battle to destroy the works of Satan..  O God, deliver all who faint and fall because of this mornin’s news or because of the challenges of the day.   Restore their faith and hope in Your love and wisdom.

 

  All this we humbly pray, in the name of Jesus.  Amen.