I prayed this prayer at our gathering for our church today. I thought it would be fitting to share it with the events of the Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting this week. I also prayed for our students camp coming up soon.

Father, you have made this day for your glory. We exist to bring you praise. It is not our names or our glory we seek. But Lord, this day, we desire to glorify you in our thoughts, our words, and our actions. Lord, we have gathered today as your people to sing together, to pray together, and to open up the Word together to hear the Scriptures preached. Father, we have all rebelled. And it is by your grace and mercy that is revealed in Christ Jesus that we are redeemed. He took our sin upon the Cross. If we have come to him in faith then we are declared righteous. Because of Christ, we are able to approach the throne in confidence knowing that you hear our pleas and our cries. Lord, in our gathering, in our local church, our people have dealt with sicknesses and the losing loved ones. We have people traveling and we have people going to college. Our people are walking through various things that this life brings. Lord, you are the great comforter in all these things. You are our rest and our hope. We have nowhere else to go. It is you who holds all things together, not us. Lord, it is you who should be worshiped alone, not any human or man made creation. As we gather this Lord’s day, our tongues declare that you are enough. You are the satisfaction of our souls and we have nowhere else to go. Father, this local body of believers is a gift. As we sing, we are encouraged by seeing and hearing each other sing. As we hear the Word, we are thankful for this privilege of being able to hear the Word preached and being reminded of the Gospel every week. We are thankful for this gathered assembly of believers here.

Lord, we are a local church that cooperates with a larger group of churches in the Southern Baptist convention. We pray that the Annual Meeting in Anaheim honors you. Lord, we are grieved when wicked men do wicked things. We pray for those who have been harmed and hurt. May those harmed find rest in Christ. We pray that what is brought to the floor of the meeting this week brings all glory and praise to you. If it be your will, bring about a change in the convention of Southern Baptist churches that only you can get the glory from. May we hate what is evil and love what is good. May our local churches that cooperate together care for the souls of men and women, may we rest upon the sufficiency of Christ and the Word, and may we cooperate together to send servants of Christ to reach our neighbors and the nations. But Lord, if it also be your will that this convention of churches dissolve. May it be so. May your will be done and your Kingdom come.

Father, our students and adults at the end of June will be going to a camp. To retreat. To remove themselves from the distractions of the world for a time. In this camp, may You work in the hearts of students. May you remind them that living for anything other than Jesus is worthless. May you work in the lives of our speakers and chaperones. May we counsel the Word of God well. May you be glorified in this camp and may students that have not trusted in Christ, may they find their rest in Him alone. May the gospel be preached with clarity.

Lord, as we have gathered this day, there is much on our hearts and on our minds in the coming weeks. But may you bring our ears attention to the preached Word and by your Spirit, may our hearts’ affections be stirred to live for Christ alone. May the Word be brought faithfully and may we see Jesus.

All this we ask and pray. For your glory and our good. In Jesus name. Amen.

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Evan Knies is an elder of North Hills Church in West Monroe, LA. He is the husband of Lauren and father to Maesyn. He is a graduate of Boyce College and Southern Seminary.