A Day of Grace: Autumn and early winter 2025
Spiritual Formation in the Reformed Tradition
the lord’s prayer
according to the Westminster Larger Catechism
our father which art in heaven
Father, all majesty is yours, you are exalted in the heavens! Fill me with confidence in your fatherly goodness as I draw near to you; may I dwell on your grace, and seek you earnestly as bring you the needs of others and myself.
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness. - Psa. 29:2
hallowed be thy name
Because my heart is cold to honor you rightly, by your grace, enable me to know you rightly, and to glorify you in thought, word, and deed, as you work all things to your own glory.
Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God. - 2 Cor. 3:4-5
thy kingdom come
Destroy the works of Satan, Lord, and allow for the gospel to be proclaimed throughout the world. Bring my heart under the rule of Christ, and equip your people for rejoicing.
He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son. - Col. 1:13
thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven
I am so prone to murmur against providence. Father, take away the perverseness of my heart, and make me able to submit to your will with humility and cheerfulness.
Teach me to do your will, for you are my God! Let your good Spirit lead me on level ground! - Psa. 143:10
give us this day our daily bread
Provide me with a competent portion of all earthly gifts which are necessary to the needs of your church, my friends and family, my neighbors, and me. Grant that we might receive those gifts with thanksgiving and utilize them with contentment and holiness.
Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me. - Prov. 30:8
and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors
I acknowledge that I am a debtor to your justice, and only Christ can save me. For His sake, pardon my sins, and soften my heart to forgive others, just as I have been forgiven.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. – 1 Jn. 1:9
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil
You sometimes order our lives that we face assault from temptations, and I am so weak and easily ensnared. Protect me, Lord, and enable me to stand should the world, the enemy, or my own flesh attack me.
Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. - Matt. 26:41
for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.
You alone are worthy, O God. Let me ask all these things with confidence in your power, your purpose, and your eternal glory.
Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. - Eph. 3:20
praise & intercession
Prayer of the Week
October 5 – 11
Keep, O Lord, your household the Church in continual godliness, that through your protection it may be free from all adversities, and devoutly serve you in good works, to the glory of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
October 12 – 18
O God, our refuge and strength, true source of all godliness: Graciously hear the devout prayers of your Church, and grant that those things which we ask faithfully, we may obtain effectually; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
October 19 – 25
Set us free, loving Father, from the bondage of our sins, and in your goodness and mercy give us the liberty of that abundant life which you have made known to us in our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
October 26 – November 1
Almighty and everlasting God, you govern all things both in heaven and on earth: Mercifully hear the supplications of your people, and in our time grant us your peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.
November 2 – 8
Almighty God, you have knit together your elect in one communion and fellowship in the mystical Body of your Son: Give us grace so to follow your blessed saints in all virtuous and godly living, that we may come to those ineffable joys that you have prepared for those who truly love you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.
November 9 – 15
Grant us, Lord, not to be anxious about earthly things, but to love things heavenly; and even now, as we live among things that are passing away, to hold fast to those that shall endure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
November 16 – 22
O God, whose blessed Son came into the world that he might destroy the works of the devil and make us children of God and heirs of eternal life: Grant that, having this hope, we may purify ourselves as he is pure; that, when he comes again with power and great glory, we may be made like him in his eternal and glorious kingdom; where he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
November 23 – 29
Almighty and everlasting God, whose will it is to restore all things in your well-beloved Son, the King of kings and Lord of lords: Mercifully grant that the peoples of the earth, divided and enslaved by sin, may be freed and brought together under his most gracious rule; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
a prayer for Holiness | John Calvin
O Lord our God, since you have called us to be your people, grant that we may grow in righteousness and holiness. Withdraw us from the defilements of the world, and make us steadfast in our calling, that we may be a holy people for your glory, and extend this grace also to all nations, through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
intercessions
It may be helpful to maintain a list of prayer requests that come to you. Additional topics for prayer are suggested below. They can be used on a 30-day rotation or perused for reminders.
1. Unity among God's people / civil authorities / the poor
2. The Presbytery / Stewardship of Creation / to know and love God.
3. The diaconate / times of economic stress / the relationships of children and parents
4. The Harvest of lands and waters / homeschoolers, schools, colleges, and universities / Mercy
5. The Lord’s Day worship and music of the church / honor for all those made in the image of God / prisoners
6. Men's and women's ministries / those who serve others / lifelong preparation for the day of our deaths
7. An end to disease / the President and all in civil authority / the unrepentant
8. All Missionaries / justice to be done in our courts / a desire to seek God
9. Peace in places that have suffered violence / the children of the congregation / Guidance in difficult decisions
10. The tourism industry / an end to racial prejudice / union with Christ
11. Those suffering scarcity or famine / the governor and state legislature / the bereaved
12. Successful evangelism / commerce and industry / those who have become absent in our lives
13. New pastors and pastors in training / those in bondage to addiction / quiet confidence
14. Times of worry and anxiety / agriculture and farming / those who are preparing to die soon.
15. A true desire for God / other denominations & churches / the unemployed
16. Appreciation of God's creation / our city and region / inner renewal through the word
17. Justice to be done in our courts / those with chronic disease / personal commitment to obedience to God
18. Those who are underpaid or underemployed / situations of turmoil within extended families / those who are preparing to die soon.
19. The Supreme Court and all lesser courts / those who live alone / satisfaction in Christ
20. Good harvests for farmers and gatherers / those in the Armed Forces / the recovery of the sick
21. The General Assembly / healthy marriages / help and mercy for the lost
22. The Supreme Court and all lesser courts / those who shape public opinion / our remembrance of the deceased / participation in the peace of God
23. Upcoming elections / medical professionals / watchfulness over our own hearts and those of others.
24. The session / enemies of the Gospel to be won to Christ / joy at the end of life
25. The Spirit of Prayer / Congress or a state legislature / in times of suffering or weakness
26. Those who serve others / the discouraged and downcast / Christ to be formed in us
27. Justice to be done in our courts / Grace to seek God in every way / a virtuous heart
28. Those who travel / families / Holy thoughts and desires
29. Those afflicted with mental suffering / fathers and mothers to be honored / to please God rather than men
30. The elderly / marriages and families that are falling apart / the coming of God’s Kingdom
31. The most immediate concerns of your own heart.
concluding doxology
Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. – Jude v. 24-25Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.
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