I’m excited to share a special resource with you that may enrich your Sunday mornings. Each week, I write an opening prayer based on a specific psalm for my church’s Sunday morning worship service, using Don Whitney’s method from Praying the Bible. My goal is to provide a thoughtful, scriptural, Christ-centered prayer to start the worship service. Each prayer is typically around 500 words and includes adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and supplication. They highlight Christ’s redemptive work and our need for the Holy Spirit’s guidance. I trust these prayers will encourage you as you worship the LORD.
Psalm 72: A Prayer for Righteous Leadership
Worship and Adoration
Our Gracious and Almighty God, we come before you this morning with hearts full of gratitude and praise. As we gather in your presence, we acknowledge your greatness and give thanks for the privilege of worshiping you together as your people.
Prayer for Leadership
As the psalmist declares in Psalm 72:1:
God, give your justice to the king
and your righteousness to the king’s son.
We ask that you grant wisdom, discernment, and integrity to all those in authority over us. As stated in verse 2:
Let him judge your people with righteousness
and your afflicted ones with justice.
Lord, we ask that your kingdom would advance in our midst. As written in verse 3:
May the mountains bring well-being to the people
and the hills, righteousness.
We pray for the vulnerable in our society. In verse 4:
Vindicate the afflicted among the people,
help the poor,
and crush the oppressor.
May your reign of righteousness and peace be established in our land.
Confession and Evangelism
We confess our sins before you, both individually and corporately. Forgive us for the ways we have failed to honor you and love our neighbors. Purify our hearts and renew our minds by the power of your Holy Spirit so that we may walk in a manner worthy of the gospel.
Draw those who do not know you to saving faith in Christ. As stated in verse 9:
May desert tribes kneel before him,
and his enemies lick the dust.
Use us as your witnesses to proclaim the good news to the ends of the earth, that, as described in verse 11:
May all kings bow in homage to him,
all nations serve him.
Thanksgiving and Trust
We thank you that our Savior, in verse 12:
Will rescue the poor who cry out
and the afflicted who have no helper.
He has had pity on us in our helpless state and has saved us by his grace. We praise you that, as celebrated in verse 14:
He has redeemed us from oppression and violence,
for our lives are precious in his sight.
As we navigate the challenges and trials of this life, we declare our trust in you. In verse 16:
May there be plenty of grain in the land;
may it wave on the tops of the mountains.
May its crops be like Lebanon.
May people flourish in the cities like the grass of the field.
Provide for our needs and cause your church to thrive for your glory.
Closing Praise
In verse 18, we declare:
Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel,
who alone does wonders.
We exalt your glorious name and ask that your renown would fill the whole earth. Receive our worship and use it to advance your kingdom purposes in the world.
We pray all of this in the mighty name of Jesus, our Savior and King, AMEN.
Note: All scripture references are from the Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
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