You know all things. Your eyes are in every place, watching the evil and the good. There is nothing hidden from Your sight. You hear every word in every secret place. You know every thought in the heart of every man. Men scheme, but You know their schemes. Men judge unjustly, and their judgments pass before You. Men take vows and break their vows. You know it. We sometimes know it, but You always know it.

Lord, we thank Thee that we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ our Lord. He is the righteous One. He gave Himself for a propitiation for our sins. Lord, we thank You that He bore our sins on the Cross and that His resurrection was His vindication and justification. When He was raised from the dead, the world was silenced and all accusers proved wrong. Doubters became believers. The weak became strong. Despair was turned into hope and confidence.

Lord, help us to die unto sin. Make us wise to what sin is. Help us to see the sin in our own lives. Where we may see humility, God may see pride. Where we see confidence, God may see arrogance. Where we see love, God may see in us personal gain. Yet, too where we may see failure, God may see success. Where we see weakness, God may see strength. Where we see nothing good, God sees a vessel of honor. Lord, help us to understand ourselves according to the values of the Scriptures and not according to the values of man. You are opposed to the proud, but You give grace to the humble. A man in a low estate is an opportunity for God to show grace and mercy.

Lord, work in us the virtues of the Holy Spirit. Work in us those graces that show forth in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Lord, we pray for the Church. Sometimes She seems broken. Sometimes She seems powerless. Sometimes division and confusion wrench Her apart. Sometimes She is more pure and sometimes less pure. Regardless of the condition of the Bride at the moment, She is Your Bride. She is Your body. She is the place where we find God and maintain our union with God. Without Her, life would not be the same. Without Her, we would be like blind men roaming around in a dark forest. She is the light set upon a hill. She is the compass on the surface of the sea. She is like the woman who gives life and nurses her young children. Lord, we praise You for Your Church.

We watch kingdoms rise and fall. We watch great men become weak and old. We watch the idols of men fall into pieces. Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are regarded as a speck of dust on the scales; all the nations are as nothing before Him, and they are regarded by Him as less than nothing and meaningless. As we watch men play for power today, and as we watch the nations posture themselves for leading the pack, help us to remember how small a thing it is.

Lord, we know the Church shall be here until Christ comes to receive Her unto Himself. Thus, Lord, give us a Church where we can find peace and hope. Give us a Church that shall shelter us from the storms of life. Give us a Church where men pray and God answers. Give us Jesus Christ living in the midst of His Church.

Our Father give us rest on this the Lord's Day. Let not the work of the week become the labor of the Lord's Day. For these few hours, help us to set aside all our worries, and dismiss the concerns of all other days. Help us to remember that today is a foretaste of the blessings eternal and everlasting. The taste is small, but the taste is real. Resting from our labors that we might labor all the more. Resting in Christ, that we might know Christ all the more. Let not men steal what God has given to us. Let us guard it and protect it because we need it.