Psalm 30
May 1, 2022 Lord our God, we are so thankful to be able to come to You this morning in praise. You are the one who lifted us from the depths. You are amazingly both holy and merciful. You are our Help, our Healer, our Rock. And You delight to give us good things.
Lord, for many of us, the time of weeping has felt longer than a night. Maybe it’s the two years of this pandemic. Maybe it’s chronic illness, fractured relationships, mental health struggles, or financial challenges. But we know that You delight to turn our wailing into dancing and trade our sackcloth for joy. We pray for Your favor this morning on those who are in a time of weeping. Renew our hope for the good You want to do in us. And help us, even in the midst of pain or uncertainty, to find deep joy in You—because we know You are sufficient for that. And we know what You are preparing for us is better than our wildest dreams or anything we chase after in this life.
We thank You, Father, for guiding our search team as they interviewed potential candidates and for connecting them to David and Abbie Nelson. We praise You for the unity and clarity that You gave them as a team, for this sense of excitement in Your provision. And we are reminded once again in how You delight to provide for Your church and how You have been behind the scenes in preparation all this time. We pray for continued unity and clarity for all of us as David comes to candidate. We pray for You to be at work in him and in us, that we can be mutually encouraged by each others’ faith, for our joy and for Your glory. We pray that You continue to lead Centennial Church into seasons of deepened faith, greater joy, and increased fruitfulness in Your Kingdom work.
We thank You also, Lord, for partners in Your Kingdom work. We are thankful for our sister churches in the EFCA, for the NCD conference this past week that gave us a chance to connect with other leaders and be encouraged by what You are doing around the state. We thank You for the district staff who pour so much into Your larger church, and we pray that You continue to give them wisdom, stamina, compassion, and provision to do Your work. We pray for Kingdom growth for churches around the Cities, that Your gospel would reach more and more people. We specifically thank you for Trinity City Church and the work they are doing in St. Paul and in raising up leaders, and we pray that You provide for them as they prepare to send off David Nelson. Thank You for the joy to be found in partnering with others for the sake of Your name and in celebrating together how You provide.
Remind us throughout the week of Your goodness, Father, and help us to respond with hearts full of praise. We ask this in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and all God’s people said, Amen.