I offered this prayer on April 24, 2005 at Northside Baptist Church. There are two direct hymn references and one heavily adapted song from Sarah McLachlan, "Push"...

It is to you Great God that we come this morning:

We stop to acknowledge your dominion over all and in our lives…

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to you;
Holy, Holy, Holy, merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!

Let all things their Creator bless, and worship Him in humbleness!

We pause to recall that you are the Lord of all history and still guide your kingdom today…

And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to un-do us,
We will not fear, for You have willed the truth of Jesus to triumph through us:
The Prince of Darkness grim, we tremble not for him; his rage we can endure,
For lo, his doom is sure, one little word shall fell him!
That word above all earthly powers, no thanks to them, abides;
The Spirit and the gifts are ours through Jesus who with us sides:
We will let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also;
The body they may kill: Your truth abides still, Your kingdom is forever!

We rest and remember that we are sinners in the hands of a loving Abba and you are the lover of our soul…

Every time we look to you the world just melts away,
All our troubles, all our fears dissolve in your affection.You’ve seen us at our weakest but you take us as we are;And when we fall, you offer us a softer place to land.We get mad so easy but you give us room to breathe,No matter what we say or do, because you’re too good to fight about it. Even when we start to push just to see how far you’ll go,You won’t stoop down to battle but you never turn to go.Your love is the antidote because nothing else can cure us.There are times we can’t decide…when we can’t tell up from down,You make us feel less crazy when otherwise we would drown.But you pick us up and brush us off and tell us we’re okay,Sometimes that’s just what we need to get through the day.You stay the course, you hold the line, you keep it all together.You’re the one true thing we know we can believe in.You’re all the things that we desire: you save us, you complete us.You’re the one true thing we know we can believe in!

May our words to you always model the words that our friend and brother Jesus taught us to use:

Our Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.