Welcome, in this evening hour, as we gather together as brothers and sisters in Christ to spend time in prayer. Before we hear our call to prayer, I want to direct your attention to Article 26 of the Belgian Confession. It deals with Christ's intercession. And the first part talks a little bit about the majesty of our Lord Jesus Christ. And then the author says, If then we should seek for another mediator who would be favorably inclined towards us, whom could we find who loved us more than he who laid down his life for us even while we were his enemies? The expected answer is no one. And if we seek for one who has power and majesty, who is there that has so much of both as he who sits at the right hand of God and to whom hath been given all authority in heaven and on earth Again, the answer is no one. And then, and who will sooner be heard than the own well-beloved Son of God? And there is no one. And therefore, we come together tonight in Jesus' name. Hear now our call to prayer. If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. This is the confidence we have in approaching God, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have what we ask of Him. Before we spend some time together tonight in prayer, I'd like to meditate with you for just a few moments on Philippians 4, verses 6 and 7. So I invite you to turn to Philippians chapter 4 with me as we begin reading at verse 4 through 13. Most likely a very familiar portion of Scripture for many of us. It's a part of the concluding exhortations that Paul gives in his letter to the believers in Philippi. So beginning at verse 4 through 13 as we hear the Word of God, Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again, rejoice. Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me or seen in me, put it into practice and the God of peace will be with you. I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well-fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through Him who gives me strength. Again, the text, Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God, and the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Now, beloved, I trust you see there, right at the very beginning, there's a most comforting phrase included in that text that many of us draw from. We draw from it in our congregational prayers on Sunday, and in many other ways. And that is this phrase, the peace of God which transcends all understanding. See, even if we don't completely understand what that phrase means, it sure sounds good, and it is desirable. And that's because we like peace. We like the idea of peacefulness. We pray for peace in our lives. Yet the difficult truth is that our lives are often peaceless, without peace. As our worry and our anxiety at times shows. And then we need to be reminded that peace is needed, especially when there's a lack of it. When there's turmoil, when there's discontent, when there's trouble, when things do not go our way, which then often can turn into anxiety and worry and hopelessness. We need peace. Paul makes a connection here between worry and peace. I have to confess, I had not really noticed that before. I'd often gone to verse 7 without even thinking about verse 6 again. But he begins with the idea of worry or anxiousness. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God, and the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. That worry and that anxiety that plagues us from time to time is replaced by the peace of God. God alone gives peace. And He does so, as Paul makes clear here, through that means called prayer. That's the change prayer brings. Now, there's a wrong idea of prayer that runs among many people today, even among many evangelical Christians, maybe even among some of us. And that wrong idea of prayer is that prayer changes God's mind. That we need to flood heaven with prayer. Some might even see our prayer posting list as doing that. That we flood heaven with prayer and we must do that in order to get God to move. In order to get God to act on our behalf. So we flood heaven with prayer, and how then can He resist so many prayers of God's people? Now, prayer may very well be the means by which God has determined to act. But God is changeless. And God's people pray. We pray fervently. We pray faithfully because God has commanded His people to pray. He has commanded us to make our requests known to Him. And in that way, we show our dependence upon Him. But prayer doesn't change God. Prayer doesn't change God's mind. Prayer doesn't change what He has already planned to do or determined to do. Prayer is indeed a part of His plan in bringing things to pass that He has ordained, but prayer does not change God's mind. And the truth of prayer, the beautiful truth of prayer that Paul speaks of here is that it's for our benefit. As through prayer, God changes us. And you see, that's what we need, especially from time to time, because we do worry, don't we? We worry about work. Will I have a job tomorrow? Will I be able to fulfill the task that's given to me? We worry about our family. What will become of our children? We worry about our future. We worry about money. Will I have enough to sustain my family? We worry about friends. But we don't worry about these things when everything is going well, when things are going in our favor, when situations are as we would like. But when we are struggling with any one of these things for whatever reason, then it's very possible and very probable at times that we become anxious. And we become consumed with worry and doubt and hopelessness. And it's very real, isn't it? And it hurts. But if we think we have it bad, beloved, then we need to think about the Apostle Paul. And remember him and his example. This really is an amazing statement from him. It's an amazing directive that he gives to the believers in Philippi. Especially when we think about his circumstances. He was in prison. He was under house arrest, but he was a prisoner. He was not free to walk about as he would like to, and he did not know what the outcome would be, whether life or death at that time. We know that he was persecuted. He was punished for his faith, even to the point of death, being flogged, being stoned, being left for dead. Eventually, he was put to death for his faith, and that was a threat that he lived with even at the moment that he wrote these words, Do not be anxious about anything. And Paul, you see, is living proof, beloved, that the health and wealth gospel that so many preach today that says, if you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, if you give your life to God, everything is going great. You're going to have money in your pocket. You're going to be healthy. Everything is going to go well. Paul is living proof that that health and wealth gospel is not the gospel of Jesus Christ. Instead, as he says to Timothy, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ will be persecuted. You see, we might say that if anybody had a reason to worry and to be anxious, it was the Apostle Paul. Of anybody, he would have had a right, we might say, on a day-to-day basis to ask himself, well, what kind of trouble will my faith get me into next? What kind of hatred and anger from society will it draw next? But he doesn't worry. He wasn't anxious. Paul knew God's peace. He had that peace deep down in his heart. Even in the most difficult of earthly circumstances, he had that peace that transcends all understanding. And in the midst of those circumstances, he gives God's cure for anxiety. Let me read the text again. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your request to God, and the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. And therefore, that worry and that anxiety is not to weigh us down. For the unbeliever, apprehension and fear and worry might very well mark their life. For those who do not place their trust in Jesus Christ. For them, the present, the here and the now, the today, is all there is. And even that is uncertain. But for the believer, there is a way out. Notice Paul does not say that God will give you what you ask for. He does not say that God promises to take away the cause of your anxiety and worry. Again, there's an amazing contrast here. Do not be anxious about anything. Nothing. In other words, stop your ongoing worry. How? by presenting it to God in everything. Present your request to God. Give it up to God. And do so with thanksgiving. Being thankful to God for who He is, as you know, and for what He has done. Believers acknowledge through prayer their utter dependence on God and at the same time express complete trust in Him. And God's promise? Again, not to give us what we ask for. I ought to thank Him for that. And not necessarily to take away the cause of our anxiety or worry, but God's promise is to change us with His peace. 1 Peter 5 or 7 says, Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you. The idea there too is that God has promised those whom He claims as His sons and daughters to take their cares upon Himself. To, I don't want to say worry about them for us, but in a sense to take them in that way. And that's not just a wish, that's not just a hope, but it's a promise with a guarantee. He will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. That's the guarantee in the very One who earned our salvation, in the very One who redeems us from sin and its misery. Our focus is redirected on Him. We are given confidence in Him that indeed in all things, God actually does work for the good of those who love Him. He keeps our hearts and minds focused on the hope that we have in God with all that means. Diverting our minds and our hearts from those things that would cause us worry and anxiety. He transforms His people from hopelessness and feeling like there's no way out of the situation to having hope and seeing that path clearly. He transforms His people from not feeling that they can face another day and as if they can't stand under the weight of the anxiety or the situation that caused anxiety to being able to face it with confidence. Not running away from it, not ignore it, but face it with confidence in the victory of the cross. And He promises us His peace that transcends all understanding. Very simply, it's beyond our comprehension. It's beyond our understanding and strength. It's beyond the sense of a human being. And we know that. It doesn't make any sense, especially for the world, how you and I, in the midst of a very difficult situation, turmoil, can have hope, can have joy. It doesn't make sense to the world. Beloved, through prayer, the Holy Spirit changes our attitudes, our outlooks, our expectations, and causes us to think God's thoughts after Him. As well, He causes us to find contentment that His way is perfect, that God makes no mistakes, and that He alone gives strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow. Allow me to conclude this meditation with a quote from a commentator who says peace comes because prayer is an expression of trust and God's people do not need to have it all figured out in order to trust Him. And the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Beloved, this is God's promise to all who take it to the Lord in prayer. Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, we have come together as individuals in our daily lives as the corporate body of Christ. And so let us join our minds together as one, our hearts together as one, and approach our God as one in prayer this evening. Let us bow before Him. Almighty and ever-living God, we come before You this evening and we bow, body and soul, before You. The Lord of creation, the holy God who stands apart from all that you have made, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who together fellowship eternally within the unity of your eternal being. And we come before you to acknowledge that you are the great King above all kings, who has revealed yourself to all men in the work of your hands from majestic mountains to surging seas, the all-wise and all-powerful sustainer and governor of the universe in which we live, indeed the very life-breath of each and every one here. We admit and we proclaim that you have created us, along with all men, male and female, for the purpose of ascribing to you the glory due your name. This is our duty as your creatures, especially as creatures created in your image. With intellects to know and understand who you are and your will for us. With wills to determine, to decide, and to act according to that will for us. And with affections to delight in that which brings you delight. And yet, Father, though we have been made in this way and for this purpose, In Adam and with Adam, we must confess that we have and we do continually rebel against you and against your will for us. Our intellects are darkened so that our understanding is distorted, impure, imperfect. Our wills are hardened so that we seek after our own desires, regardless of your will for us. And our affections are misguided so that we find delight in the basest of things and are easily distracted from the heavenly and eternal realities for which you have formed us. Forgive us, Father, for our sins, for they are many. And Father, we ask for this forgiveness because you have promised that if we confess our sins, you will show yourself faithful and just to forgive us our sins. And we stand on that promise for the sake of Christ who shed his blood to secure it for us. Living the life that we are called to, glorifying you in all things with his intellect, his will, and his affections, constantly and always. And who took to himself your wrath. And he died on the cross in our place. And he was buried. And Father, he was raised up the third day for us as well. That through faith in him we might also be raised and he has been ascended to your right hand in heaven and there he is our flesh in your very presence, Father, interceding for us. And we thank you, Father, that in Christ we know your presence. We thank you that you've shown us our sin and our misery through the revelation of your most holy law. And we thank You that You've given us to see ourselves for what we really are, how we really are, apart from Christ, dead in our trespasses and sins. And we thank You for the faith You have worked in us through the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ, to believe and to trust in Him alone for our salvation, and for providing in Him to us a way of escape and the way of life and the power of the Holy Spirit. We thank You for opening the way for us to gain access to Your throne of grace by virtue of His blood that we might stand in Your presence with confidence and with boldness without fear of Your wrath. And so that is how we come this evening, Lord, as those who have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ, recognizing with Martin Luther that we are all beggars, not only for the righteousness that we need, But in all things, Father, we are totally dependent upon you, the creator, our provider, and the giver of every good and perfect gift. And so we come this evening, Father, and we must confess one thing more, that this evening we come, as we all too often come, mindful only of our duty to come. But we thank you for this duty. This duty which is to be the chief part of our gratitude to you. This duty through which you train us for heaven. This duty through which you enable us by the Holy Spirit to attune our hearts and our minds and our wills to you. This duty through which we practice for that which will come naturally and continually and joyfully in eternity. Through which we are prepared for the delight that we will know in the glory of your presence with all the saints, the fullness of the body of Christ forever and ever. Thank you, Father, for this training ground. Thank you for hearing our prayers that we now bring to you in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, our advocate at your right hand, our elder brother, and our eternal friend, in whose name we pray. Amen. People of God, let us bow before the Lord in prayer. Father in heaven, we thank you for the opportunity we have to address you as our Father and to bring our prayers and petitions before you. By the righteous life and atoning death of your Son, Jesus Christ, you have adopted us into your family, and we thank you for this merciful providence. We also thank you for the earthly families you have given us. We thank you for the families represented in this congregation. We pray that you would continue to bless these families. Help husbands to love their wives as Christ loves the church. Help wives to submit to their husbands out of reverence for Christ. Help children to honor their fathers and mothers. May our families be used by you for the teaching and instruction of the faith so that the sign of seal of baptism may be confirmed by a hearty profession of faith. We pray also that you would bless those who are experiencing difficulties in their families or who are mourning the loss of a loved one. We pray that you might comfort them by your Holy Spirit. Remind them that you have promised to be a husband to the widow and a father to the fatherless, O Lord. And may you use this church and this place to help show your love to those who are experiencing family difficulties. We thank you for this church family you have given to us here. We thank you for Reverend Voss and Reverend Donovan. We thank you for sending us two men who have a heart for the gospel ministry, who faithfully minister the gospel of Jesus Christ every Lord's Day and who care for the needs of the flock. We pray also for the elders who assist the ministers in shepherding the congregation. We pray that you would bless them in the tasks you have set before them. Help guide their decisions by your word and the government of the church in this place. We pray also for our deacons that you might equip them to manage the funds of the congregation and minister to the poor and the needy. Lord, we also thank you for our church secretaries and custodians who work oftentimes behind the scenes to care for the church. We thank you for all the volunteers who contribute of their time and talents for the many programs of the church. We thank you for the generous spirit that abounds in this congregation and we acknowledge that this would not be the case unless we were being renewed daily by the power of the Holy Spirit. Continue to sanctify us by your spirit until that day when Christ shall return and we shall be glorified with him. We also ask that you would be with the member of our congregation for whom we have been praying anonymously, who is under discipline. Help that one to be reconciled to you and restore that one to our church family. We also pray for the schools that you have given us to aid the church and family in the instruction of our members. We pray especially for Calvin Christian School. Thank you for raising up Christian educators and administrators to work there. Thank you for board members who give of their time to manage the business of the school. Be with our students that they may receive an education that is centered on Christ. Keep the students safe in their activities, thinking especially of a faith expression group as they travel. Give them safety, and may they minister through music the glory of your name. Lord, also be with our Christian colleges and universities and other institutions of higher learning that your truth may be seen both in your creation and in your word. And be with our seminaries and those who labor in teaching and learning there that a new generation of pastors may be trained up for faithful service to the kingdom of Christ. Father, you have given us so many blessings in our families, our church, and our schools. We know that in ourselves we do not deserve anything but your wrath. But we thank you for our faithful Savior, Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. It is in his name we pray. Amen. I will continue our prayer service with a prayer for comfort and healing of affliction. Let's turn to our Lord in prayer. Eternal and merciful God and Father, you are the salvation of the living and eternal life for the dying. You alone have life and death in your hands. You continually care for us and nothing can befall us apart from your will. We take comfort knowing that you do order all things for the good of the believer. Lord, like the psalmist, we ask that our cry would come to you and you would not hide your face in our distress, but would turn your ear and hear our cry. For those suffering the infirmities of old age, we ask you would relieve us from our fears, grant us calmness of spirit, comfort in loneliness, patience in our infirmities, and peace of mind and soul. For those suffering from cancer and the debilitating effects from treatment, we ask for relief from pain, physical tolerance to the treatment, appetite to give strength, patience through the process, and a cure of the disease. For those with illnesses where diagnosis is elusive, we pray for determination and wisdom by the medical staff to search and find the cause and that you would provide a path for treatment and recovery. For those suffering from chronic pain, we ask for wisdom for a correct diagnosis, treatments that correct and relieve and are restoral to a more active life. for our little ones born with special needs we ask for successful treatments where treatment is not within the human realm we ask that we would recognize and be comforted in knowing that you are the creator and you have a purpose for these very special lives for those experiencing difficulty in their pregnancy we ask that you would care for that new life and each could be brought to term and be well-born. For those with mental duress, we pray for recognition of a need for help and a desire to seek that help and that you would provide relief from their anxieties, calmness, and a peace of mind. For those struggling with addictions in their lives, we pray that these weaknesses would be recognized and a desire for change would be sought, strength where strength of character is required, and error where we cannot deal with these excesses within ourselves. For those dealing with their own inner demons, we ask for that peace and healing that only can come from the great physician. For all dealing with any of these afflictions, we pray for patience, we pray for comfort, and we pray for healing. We ask that you would grant us faith to accept without reservation your will in our lives. And we pray for this all in the name of our Lord and Savior. Amen. O Lord, our God, our hope is found in none other than you. And we ask you now to hear our prayers for the well-being of this country. O Lord, all things are possible for you, and we know that our Lord Jesus Christ upholds the universe by the word of his power. We ask you that you hear our prayers for his sake alone. O God, you have set the government of this country in place and there is no authority that is not from you. You have created this government a terror not to good conduct but to bad and have given the authorities the right to be your servants and do good but also to carry out your wrath and evildoers and would tremble at that thought. We ask you then that the civil authorities of this country would be faithful to their calling and task. May just laws be upheld and just decisions made in courts. May the authorities not encourage vice or evil of any kind or even attempt to oppress the weak or hurt your church. Please frustrate any wicked plans, O Lord. But may the government instead remember the fatherless and the widow and all who suffer injustice. Keep the authorities free from greed and arrogance that defies you. O Lord, bless the president and all his cabinet, the Congress and the courts, with wisdom and godly fear, fitting for those who lead a nation. And we pray for this nation. Thank you for the blessings that we enjoy through its prosperity, for jobs and houses, for peace at home and abroad. Thank you for the courage of those fighting abroad, for the armed forces. We pray that you would spare many lives, both among them and among those in the countries where they are. We pray that you would save even many more. Lord, many in this nation are rebellious and are miserable. We pray that you would send your spirit to heal the brokenhearted, send your spirit with power to convict people of sin so that they would turn to Jesus for salvation and many more would be brought into your church. Lord, we depend on this life and provisions, physical provisions that come through the economy, and we ask you that you would bless all the efforts of those who work honestly. Bless the crops and this year's harvest, that there would be plenty, Lord, if that be your will. But keep us far from idolizing prosperity. Lord, so often your plans are not our plans, and our plans would only lead to lukewarmness. We ask you instead that you would give us neither poverty nor riches so that we neither steal from you and turn away from you or forget you and become arrogant. Lord, we ask all these things of you for the sake of our Savior, Jesus Christ, and his name alone. Amen. Let us once again humble ourselves before the Lord for he never tires of hearing our prayer. O mighty and sovereign God it is your cause and not our own that engages our hearts we appeal to you in greatest freedom to set up thy kingdom in every place where Satan reigns glorify thyself and we shall rejoice for to bring honor to your name is our sole desire we adore thee that thou art God and long that others should come to know it to feel it to believe it and to rejoice in it it is you Lord that commanded your first disciples as representatives of all those to follow saying as the father has sent me I also send you again it is you Lord Jesus who said with all authority go therefore and make disciples of all the nations baptizing them into the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you. Therefore we pray Lord that your church universal including every local congregation and every Christian in it be sent into the world knowing what must be done believing and trusting in you that you will enable them to fulfill this great commission grant that through the work of worldwide witness making disciples and planting churches that all men might come to love and praise thee that you have all the glory from the intelligent world that Jesus Christ be proclaimed everywhere as God incarnate as Lord and Savior that thy invitation to enter life through turning to Christ in repentance and faith bring many sinners to thee for thy dear name have mercy on us Lord for we are weak and forgive us that to the eye of our own reason everything concerning the conversion of others seems like an overwhelming task as dark as midnight But you, O God, can accomplish great things. The cause is thine, and it is to thy glory that men should be saved. We pray, Lord, that all Christians, wherever they may be, will not only be mindful that they are called to do works of mercy and compassion, but they will do so with desire. Lord, you have commanded us to love our neighbor. Grant that we and all Christians would respond with generosity and compassion to all forms of human need. It is you, Lord Jesus, who healed the sick, fed the hungry, and taught the ignorant. We pray that those who are new creatures in Christ practice this same compassion. Knowing that through the works of mercy they make credible the gospel that is preached. about a Savior whose love transforms sinners into those who love God and other people. Lord, use us as you will. Do with us what you will. But, O, promote thy cause. Let thy kingdom come. Let thy blessed interest be advanced in this world. For the Jew first and also for the Greek, according to thy divine appointment. For it was your Son, our Savior, who ministered to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And we know from your word that the Apostle Paul always went to the Jew first as he preached. So, Lord, we pray that all Christians continue bearing witness to the Jews. For it was from Israel, according to the flesh, that Christ came to be Savior of the world. Oh, do thou bring great numbers to Jesus. Let us see that glorious day and give us to grasp for great multitudes of souls. Let us be willing to die to that end. And while we live, let us labor for Thee to the utmost of our strength, spending time profitably in this work, both in health and in weakness. Cement our oneness with our blessed Lord, that faith may adhere to Him more immovably, that love may entwine itself round Him more tightly, that His Spirit may pervade every fiber of our being. Then, send us out to make Him known to our fellow man, to the whole world, to our neighbor, and especially to those who You will place around us each day. Equip your servants of thy holy word. Embolden them, strengthen them, protect them, and give them whatever they need that they might proclaim thy gospel. Water the hearts of those who hear thy word. That seed sown in weakness may be raised in power. O Lord of power and grace, all hearts are in your hands. all events at Thy disposal. Set the seal of Thy almighty will upon the ministry and mission of Your church and all Your people. We pray it all in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. Please stand for our parting blessing, beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be and abide with you all. Amen.