A Prayer to Be Welcoming at Church
By Emma Danzey
“Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God." - Romans 15:7
Have you ever been invited into Christian community? It is so refreshing to feel accepted and welcomed. When people go out of their way to say hi, introduce themselves, and connect, it means a lot. It can be easy over time when we become comfortable in our current community and neglect to see others who are nearby as well. We can become routine in our church circles and forget the calling as Christians to love and welcome new people. It is easy to do, and we all have to ask the Holy Spirit to check our hearts and reveal sin in our lives. He will convict and gently lead us to love others around us better.
I love how Romans 15:7 tells us to welcome others as Christ has welcomed us. Jesus is always our example and role model. We were sinners who He could have ignored but He chose to love us. We welcome others for the glory of God. It honors the Lord when we take the time to get to know others and love them well. We should take special thought as well to those who are different from us. James 2 teaches us to show no partiality. We are called to show kindness to others, and our friendship should extend to a variety of people.
Matthew 22:36-39 says, “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
Loving God and loving people are the greatest commandments. When we welcome others, we love them. The best part is that we can often end up making wonderful new friends who teach us more about God. We were created to pray for each other, encourage each other, and share our hardships with each other. This has to start somewhere.
Let's pray:
Dear Jesus,
Thank You for the gift of community. Thank you for helping us by Your Spirit to get to know new faces and people around us we do not know. Help us to be motivated to seek out relationships with others in our church communities. We pray against the sinful decisions to isolate and ignore. We pray for confidence to reach out and love others with our words and actions. We confess where we have been cliquey and selfish. Forgive us for making “our” churches and neglecting Your church. Help us to reach out and see You at work. Enable us to have open hearts. Please help us not to show partiality or favoritism. Help us remember that we are all one in Christ Jesus. Thank you, Jesus, for welcoming us and helping us to live out of gratitude for Your hospitality. Open our hearts to have the willingness to get to know others as brothers and sisters. Open the door to new friendships that are founded on you and prayer.
Lord, thank you for the people who have welcomed us into community. We celebrate Your goodness in providing friendships in our lives. Thank you for that one person who was kind enough to say hello. Empower us to meet one new person at church this week and even every week from here on out. Help us go the extra mile and get numbers or meet for coffee. Lead us into creative ways to have community. Lord, You say that everyone is not a hand and that being the body means there is value in different parts. Help us to see that when we get to know others we get to be a better picture of what You intended for us to be. We were not meant to be alone; we were made for this. Help us to fight the enemy and our flesh that would tell us otherwise and choose to welcome others around us. Help this not to be an individual effort, but a church-wide movement to multiply and grow. In Your name, Jesus, Amen.
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