Pastor Gary C. Lilly - Prayer for Weirton's 75th Birthday

PRAYER FOR WEIRTON’S 75TH BIRTHDAY

May 5, 2022 

 Our Most Gracious, Compassionate, and Loving Heavenly Father – we have gathered here on the steps of our Community Center, in this city which has been singularly blessed of You, from its roots in Holidays Cove in the mid 1700’s, to this very day of new challenges and new hopes.  It is all together significant and appropriate that we pray this prayer on our 75th birthday celebration - from these steps – because we truly are a community that can say with grateful hearts: “YOU OH LORD have had Your hand on us from our humble beginnings – and YOU have never let us down.”

 It is our collective prayer that the same providential grace, favor, protection, and prosperity that You have lovingly poured forth on our beloved city for generations, would continue to flow upon us as evidence of Your great love  -  and we further ask with humble hearts, that You would stir within each of us a renewed hunger; not just for Your blessings, but for your presence among us by way of a revival, and an awakening as you call us back to Church, back to the altar of repentance, back to the reading and obeying of Your Precious and powerful Word, and back to homes that serve You, back to parents that honor you, back to children that memorize Bible verses and sing to the top of their voices “Jesus Loves Me This I Know, For The Bible Tells Me So.”  Back to heads bowed in prayer around tables filled with lovingly prepared food and words of love.  

 As we face uncertain times, and challenges new and frightening - may we remember the steel workers of past days, who would remove their hard-hat long enough to pray and ask the Lord to get them safely through another day.

 May we humbly acknowledge that it was not a successful steel industry that made Weirton strong and noteworthy ---it was YOU LORD Who made men and women strong enough, and capable enough to put this city on the map, to pave our roads, build our schools and houses, keep the blast- furnace going, the trains running, the trucks hauling, and families growing strong. 

And so Lord – we do now with heads bowed and hearts tender before You ask the following:

 Sweep over our city with a revival that turns our hearts all the way back to YOU.

Let Biblical morality and virtue flow from the city building, to schools, businesses, to hospitals, and to playgrounds filled with playing children who need a moral compass and parents who love them with the pure and true love of God.

 May we, as a city of humble and grateful believers – remove the rags of sorrow and fear   -  and put on the garment of praise.  And may we thank You - and praise You – and honor You by looking to Your Word and by obeying Your Word.  And as we honor YOU LORD, let the church bells ring, the people sing, and families come together as never before.

 And may we unashamedly proclaim and faithfully live according to the GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST – FOR IT, AND IT ALONE IS THE POWER OF GOD UNTO SALVATION - FOR OUR CITY AND EVERY CITIZEN IN IT!!

 AND WE ASK ALL OF THESE THINGS IN THE MATCHLESS, MIGHTY, SAVING NAME OF JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD!   AMEN