Pastoral Prayer: Our Eternal Father

Eternal Father,
You are our everlasting Companion, Provider, Protector and Redeemer.

From eternity past You knew us. Before we were knit together in our mothers’ wombs, You planned our frame. You wrote our names in the Lamb’s book of life. You appointed for us each day of our lives, knew their number and wrote their tale.

At our birth You were with us, drawing us out and breathing into us the breath of life. Through our youths You accompanied us, in our growing and wondering and wandering.

You appointed our births and our new births. In Your wise time You pursued us by Your Holy Spirit, spoke to us through the gospel call, gave us life and the righteousness of Christ and adoption as Your children. You sought Your sheep and made Yourself known to us as the shepherd of our souls.

You are with us now, continuing to save us. As You paid for the guilt of our sin, so You are now breaking its indwelling power. You defend us from the evil one. You offer us the words of life. You equip us with all that is necessary for doing Your will. You sustain us in our suffering and feed us with Your love.

Down to old age, You will keep us. You will not forsake us at last. Even as our hairs grey and our bodies fail and the breath of life fades, You will be with us. You who began a good work in us will carry it on until it is at last completed and we are returned to the dust and to the rest You have prepared.

You have known us since we first woke and will know us when we at last sleep, and You will know us when we wake again in resurrected glory. You will dwell with us in a world made new, forever writing our stories into the glorious epic of Your kingdom.

Father, build us up in the comfort and the courage of Your presence. Make us fearless in love, selfless in charity, and secure in the face of the anxieties of this world. Remind us that nothing can touch us but what Your plan and Your grace have allowed, and that You will work them all for our good and Your glory.

As You are with us, so we pray You would be with those dear to our hearts. Comfort and keep them, heal and protect them, and at Your appointed time draw them up from the dust and give them the exaltation of Your peace.

AMEN