A prayer based on Mark 16:1-8.

<aside> 🙏🏻 Our Lord and God, Saviour for the world Rescuer of all trust in Your Son. How we praise You for Your plan of redemption; for the grace and mercy You give to those who don’t deserve any of it; for the cross where Your wrath against us because of our sin was satisfied, where the penalty of our transgressions was paid for, and where forgiveness was achieved.

We thank You that Jesus gave His life as a ransom for many and the many included us, because Your Spirit gave us new life. We thank You that He opened our eyes to see and gave us the faith to believe that Jesus is who He says He is and has done and will do all that He said He will. We thank You for the certainty and assurance we can have of this because He is alive. He has risen from the dead. Thank You that His resurrection guarantees that He has been victorious over sin and death and has secured salvation and eternal life for us.

Father, we confess that at times this good news, that a human died and came back to life on the third day, seems hard to believe. We ask for Your help in overcoming any doubts we may have. Strengthen our faith in the historical facts of Jesus’ resurrection: that when those brave women went to the tomb, to anoint the body of the most despised man in the whole of Israel, they saw the stone had been rolled away and Jesus’ body was gone. Help us to believe the heavenly explanation that came from the angel they met: that the reason Jesus who was crucified was not there, that His body was gone, was because He was no longer dead, that He had been raised and is alive. Give us certainty in our minds and a recognition that the eyewitness testimonies are reliable and trustworthy.

And may we not stay silent about this. Holy Spirit give us a boldness to go and tell people that Jesus has risen. Remove any embarrassment we may feel about speaking about our resurrected Lord, because His death and resurrection is good news for everyone. Would we not be ashamed to speak of the One who can save people from their sins, and testify about the One who has taken the punishment our wickedness deserves.

Lord Jesus, as You made clear to Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salmone, You have not finished with the ‘Peter’s’ of this world; those who fail You; who haven’t loved You as they should; and who have rejected You. We thank You that this means we can call people to repent and believe the gospel. Increase our faith that as we do, Your Spirit will be drawing people to You to be saved.

We give You our God all the glory because Your Spirit has opened our eyes to see our risen Saviour and have granted us faith to believe in Him. And Lord, would You do that for those we know who are lost and perishing, so they can join us in adoring You.

Amen.

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