A Prayer Before Worship

Father, we come to worship this morning with hearts that are not entirely at rest. Some of us carry worries about money or health. Some of us carry grief. Some of us are simply tired from a long week and unsure that we have much to offer. Your Son told his disciples not to let their hearts be troubled, and he gave them reasons. We ask you to make those reasons real to us today.

Remind us that there is room in your house. Remind us that Jesus has gone ahead to prepare a place, and that he is coming back. Remind us that he is the way, and that we do not need to find the route ourselves, only to follow him.

Open our eyes as we sing and listen and pray, so that we see you in Jesus. We have looked at him for a long time, some of us for many years, and we still ask, like Philip, to be shown the Father. Show us. Let the words we hear today be your words, and let the works we remember be your works. Send us home with hearts that trust you more than they did when we arrived. In the name of Jesus, the way and the truth and the life. Amen.