Please find below the notes from the Elder's Prayer this past Sunday.

As a church, we have just sung together some great encouragement to each other.  Did you catch it?  We have just declared that we should Rejoice together – as a body of believers, as a church we should rejoice.  

Together we sang that we should Rejoice with one heart, one voice.  That we should rejoice of battles won or rejoice in the midst of the fight – regardless, we should rejoice. 

We have proclaimed the truth that His perfect love will never change and that his mercies never cease.  Ponder those truths for just a moment.  His perfect love never changes, His mercies never cease.  Those truths are worth rejoicing! 

We have sung the truth that our God is all in all.  This describes a God to be praised, a God to be rejoiced, and a God to be enjoyed.  Do you this?  Did you enjoy God this past week?  Did you stop in the midst of your busyness to rejoice in God?  Do you regularly find joy in Him?  I don’t often enough.  I’m guilty too often of seeking joy in other ways.  This reveals a sinful independence in my heart.  As I struggle with this, my prayer this morning will adapt words of the puritans from the Valley of Vision prayer book as I pray. 

Let’s pray.

Father God, you are incomprehensible, yet you are prayer-hearing God – Thank you. 

You are Known, but beyond knowledge, Revealed in many ways through scripture, but unrevealed in many ways too
        
We come to you with difficulties, necessities, and distresses; We come to you with a spirit of grace and supplication, with a prayerful attitude of mind,
with access into warmth of fellowship,

So that in the ordinary concerns of life our thoughts and desires may rise to thee, and in habitual devotion we may find a resource that will soothe our sorrows, sanctify our successes, and qualify us in all ways for our dealings with people around us.

Thank you for making us capable of knowing thee, the author of all being, of resembling thee, the perfection of all excellency, of enjoying thee, the source of all happiness.

O God, be with us in every part of our arduous and trying pilgrimage;  We need wisdom, counsel, protection and comfort.  You are the source of all that we need.

Let our belief be more obvious to our conscience, more perceptible to those around us.

While Jesus is representing us in heaven, may we reflect Him on earth.  While He pleads our cause as our mediator, may we rejoice in Him on earth.

Please Continue the gentleness of thy goodness towards us, And whether awake or asleep, let thy presence go with us, thy blessing attend us.

Thou hast led us on and we have found thy promises true.  We have been sorrowful, but thou hast been our help, fearful, but thou hast delivered us, despairing, but thou hast lifted us up.  Your promises are ever upon us, And we praise thee, O God.

Help us God to rejoice in You, regardless of our circumstances.  Remind us of the truth of your love and of your great mercy.  Forgive us for our unbelief and our sinful independence.  Help us to trust you more completely and more thoroughly.