| JCRB April 2008 International Conference “If ye are willing to make this repentance than ye are asked to kneel while the Prayer is offered.” Heavenly Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ we humbly petition thee. We have assembled here this night with a desire to worship and honor thee and draw close to thee as we make final preparations for the gathering of thy saints in conference. We have come to this gathering in anticipation of receiving of the ministry of thy spirit. We have come prayerful and desirous to lay ourselves open before you in acknowledgement that we have not always done as a people, those things that you require at our hands. We have come desiring with a great desire for the manifestation of thy Son to be in our midst, even as you sent your Son into the presence of a people at Bountiful who were gathered out from the desolation of their land, we now petition that you send your Son to this assembled people, gathered out from their lands of desolation so that they may worship thee. You are a righteous, just and faithful God. You are holy and truly, there is no other god besides thee. You have prospered us upon this land of Joseph, both with those things from above and beneath. Yea, the precious things of heaven and the precious things that are from the deep that coucheth within the earth. For the good of him that dwelt in the bush, Lord, we Praise your name. Yet in our blessedness we have ignored thee and have found ourselves serving other gods, and have found other alters to fill the affections of our hearts. Have you not sent the invitation unto all men to repent and receive you? You have invited us to come and partake of the tree of life, to be washed in the living waters, cleansed by that water and eat of the bread of life freely. But in response to this unmerited invitation you have asked us to bring forth works of righteousness. You have called us to be a holy people. Do we have cause to weep and wail at the fairness of your judgments? We may say, wherein have we sinned? But you may answer, wherein have you been righteous? Yet we have not stripped ourselves of pride. We have not stripped ourselves of envy. We have mocked our brother in the church and heaped persecutions upon him. Yea Lord, we confess we have not been humble and full of love. We know of a surety, that unless we repent and come unto thee with full purpose of heart, we are neither prepared to be blessed in the conference that is before us, yea even greater, nor would we be fit to stand in His presence if you would choose to send or Lord and bless us during our gatherings. We petition thee to pour out upon us the spirit of cleansing that we may abide His glory. Thy word, how sure is it? Hast thou not said, “For this cause hath repentance been declared, that men might be saved.” Yet we have not hearkened unto the counsel that has been for our own good. We have thought that we could counsel you, the living God, for surely thy servant Moses discovered that “man of himself is nothing.” For many years we have wandered from thee and each other, ignoring the command to be one. Our past and present distresses are self inflicted and we now wander as the blind for the wall. We have sought for the seed of Joseph to be restored to his rightful place to lead us, yet if he had come, would he have found a people ready to follow? You have called us to gather, that the kingdom might be built up. Some have traveled to the land of Zion; and are residing upon the consecrated land, yet in our hearts we have not gathered. We are loosing many of our youth to the allures of the world. Our careers and places of position hold more appeal than does the simple joy of Jesus dominating our lives. We recognize that we have sinned greatly and would cry out with this petition that you would remember us and give us grace in this present wilderness. Lord we beg of thee not to forsake neither to abandon us thy people. Even as thine ancient prophets offered sacrifice and the fat of rams that as the smoke of savor rose to the heavens above, may the hearing of our prayer be sweet unto your ears. May this prayer be found in that vial that sits next to your throne with those other prayers that are precious unto you. May this prayer be sweet through the sacrifice that we can bear before thy throne of grace, our broken hearts and contrite spirits, may they be wholly acceptable to thee. That thou would renew our strength, infuse our minds with divine light, order our steps with gladness and joy, that we may send forth thy light into the midst of darkness. As the great prophet Jeremiah said, to complete the work of fishing and hunting after Israel, as well as the gentile. Let all have opportunity to hear of saving grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you Lord for calling this gathering, we thank you Lord for ordering this gathering, for bringing in and being in every detail of this gathering, for not by the will or way of men are we here, but rather under the holy prompting of that spirit which is divine, we thank you Lord for allowing us breath to utter these words of hope from unclean lips. Lord, have mercy on thy people. In the worthy name of Jesus Christ, Amen. |
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