A prayer using Jesus’ direct words from Matthew 23 to protect your church from the sins of the Pharisees.
Quick Prayer
Please pray aloud: Lord, protect my church from the sin of the Pharisees! May we never honor you with our lips with hearts far from you. May we never worship you in vain, teaching the things of man as the things belonging to you.
Cleanse us God, not only from an evil outward appearance, but also from inward greed and self-indulgence, hypocrisy and wickedness.
In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Full Prayer
Please pray aloud: Lord, I come to you praying the words of warning your Son spoke to his disciples, asking you to protect my church from the sin of the Pharisees! May we never honor you with our lips with hearts far from you. May we never worship you in vain, teaching the things of man as the things belonging to you.
Keep us from tying heavy and cumbersome loads on people, prescribing religious duties or some veiled form of legalism for others while having an unwilling heart to help them.
Keep us from the vanity and idolatry of practicing our faith in a way for others to see. Forgive us if we love wearing religious clothing or religious jewelry more than we love you.
Keep our leaders from pride when others hold them in high regard because of their title or authority. Remind us that the greatest among us is a servant, and that those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.
If we have any manmade rules or cultural preferences that keep others from entering your kingdom, show us, God. Move us to change, lest we ourselves fail to enter your kingdom.
Protect my church from the sins of the Pharisees!
—Pray for Your Church
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Forgive us if we ever intentionally or unintentionally make another Pharisee, who loves following your Law more than they love following your Son.
Remind us that you are what makes sacred any object or ritual in our worship service. Forgive us for any idolatry in our worship, whether formal or informal.
Forgive us for quibbling and quarreling over the nuances of your Word while neglecting the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. We should practice the latter without neglecting the former.
Cleanse us God, not only from an evil outward appearance, but also from inward greed and self-indulgence, hypocrisy and wickedness.
Keep us from hypocrisy! Keep us from inflated sense of righteousness! Keep us from any and all deception that leads to the depths of hell.
Protect my church from the sins of the Pharisees!
Some of the Scripture used in today’s prayer: Matthew 15:7-9, Matthew 23
In the middle of praying for your faith or your loved ones, it’s easy to forget to pray for the very thing we all need—the church.
In 52 Prayers for Your Church, you’ll be guided to pray for 52 different aspects of your church. From prayers for volunteers to prayers for the growth of the church to prayers for the building itself, you’ll not only discover new topics for prayer, but you’ll learn how to pray for those topics in a Scriptural and conversational way.
Whether for personal use, or for a Bible study, or for a church–wide effort, your church will be blessed by 52 Prayers for Your Church!
