A Pastoral Prayer

God,

Sitting here this afternoon, my heart floods with gratitude for Your goodness. I do not have enough thanks to give You. I sit here in this beautiful office surrounded by books I love and my heart is moved. Thank You. Thank You for choosing me to sit in this seat. Thank You for making my nealyr three decade old dream come true to pastor this church. I cannot even put into words how that makes me feel. To serve as pastor at Spring Creek Baptist Church is one of the greatest honors and privileges of my life. You made that possible.

Thank You for these great people. A loving supportive flock. Friendly to newcomers. Caring to long standing members. Thank You for them accepting my family. Thank You for them praying for us and seeking You with us. Thank You for their devotion to You and to grow in You. Thank You for their sacrifices in money and time. Thank You for their work.

Thank You for these wonderful facilities to meet You in. Thank You for the ones who came before me to dream this dream and to pray it into reality. I get to be a beneficiary of their dreams and again I'm filled with gratitude. Thank You for letting me stand behind that pulpit where I have felt at home since the first Sunday. My family belongs here and I thank You for it.

Thank You for a flock that loves You and hungers for Your word. These are no tickle the ears kind of folks. They want Your truth and I delight to share it with them Sunday morning and evening and Wednesday night. Thank You for that privilege.

Thank You for sending new faces, new members and most importantly new converts. Hallelujah for all of them. Thank You for the ones driving from as far as Paradise and Crowley. Thank You for the ones who drive a short distance to get here. Thank You for sending children to this church. Thank You for their smiles, their enthusiasm and their infectious joy.

Thank You for filling this church with genuine servants. Not just people who hold a title, but for those who serve and labor without titles and the desire for recognition. Thank You for a beautiful people I am so proud to talk about braggingly, and to associate with. They are down to earth simple people. They are not pretentious. They are not fools. They can smell a phony. They can see right through professional preachers and spot the difference in God called pastors. Please help me be a God called pastor to them.

Thank You they chose me to be their preacher. I plead with You to help me earn the right to be their pastor. Thank You again for choosing me to sit in this chair. Thank You for this chair that showed up on my first day in this office. You know where it came from and I rejoice You loved me enough to answer that exact prayer for an office chair before ever officially taking my post. What a joy to get to come and work in this space. You know I often find it hard to leave as I bury myself in prayer, study, writing and planning. It is such a git from You to get to serve HERE!

I ask You to help me give You my best and the Spring Creek flock my best. I ask You to renew my energy day by day so I can work effectively for You. I ask You to expand my vision for what You want to do. I dare not come asking You to bless my plans for the future. I humbly submit to Your leadership here. Spring Creek is Your church. You alone are the Head. I bow before You and ask, "What do You want to do here?" Help us as a church body to all do that.

There are thousands of people around us. Many of them do not know You. I ask You to penetrate the darkness and allow us to reach out to love and tell Your good news to them. I ask You to move in this country church in ways that astound the uptown churches. I ask You to bless the uptown churches too.

I lift up these people to You. Some are aging and do not feel well. I ask You to sustain their health. Some are on the mend. I ask You to help them in their recovery. Some carry heavy burdens for their loved ones. I ask You to intervene and lift the load. Some need a miracle. I ask You to send it. Others need Your provision. I ask You to meet their needs. Please show me how to be a faithful shepherd. To love with more than just words. To love in deeds and truth.

God, thank You. Thank You for answering a prayer I long held in my heart and before You to get to come back here and serve one day as pastor. Thank You for making that come true. May I never lose my joy for being here, my increasing love for these people and my desire to not take any of this granted.

I ask it all in Your name, Jesus. Amen.