How lovely is your dwelling place,
Lord Almighty!
My soul yearns, even faints,
for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh cry out
for the living God. Psalms 84:1-2
Lord God, we look forward to the time when we can meet together again. We look forward to singing along together as we sit in church. We are looking for face to face and not screen to screen interaction.
The psalmist longed for your presence, for the courts of the temple where your presence was. We thank you that your Spirit is within us. We thank you that it is not about a place or a building and that your promise to be with is real.
We are your temple, Lord. We are where your Spirit resides, and that is true for us as individuals. We give you thanks and praise for your Holy Spirit at work in our lives. But together as a church body, we are your temple, and we miss that community and Koinones that together we share.
We feel at times like the exiles in Babylon, cut off from the place of worship in Jerusalem. But we take courage and guidance from the words you spoke to Jeremiah. Build houses and settle down, increase in number.
Father, help us to wait actively, to be people of prayer. Bring peace and prosperity to the places where we live. Bless us with expansion Lord as we do ministry in new ways.
As we seek to move through this wilderness, remove from us the desires for Egypt, the places of comfortable bondage, but give us a passion and vision for your promised land.
Give us an increase in this time, O Lord. Whatever that increase may look like, we know it only comes from you. So we choose to look at you. Let your church prosper and increase. We ask all this in the name of Jesus, who is always faithful.
Amen.
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