Category: Prayer items

Gathering prayer/Call to worship

From Psalm 8

O Lord, our Sovereign,
how majestic is Your name in all the earth!
You have set Your glory above the heavens.

When I look at Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
the moon and the stars that You have established;
what are human beings that You are mindful of them,
mortals that You care for them?

O Lord, our Sovereign,
how majestic is Your name in all the earth!

Confession/Repentance

Glorious God,
it is the aim of our lives to worship You,
the crown and glory of our souls to adore You,
heavenly pleasure to approach You.
Give me power by Your Spirit to help us worship now,
so that we may forget the world,
be brought into fullness of life,
be refreshed, comforted, and blessed.

Give us knowledge of Your goodness
that we might not be overawed by Your greatness;

Let us draw near with holy boldness, given to us through us Jesus.
Let us approach in the power of the Holy Spirit,
who is our Mediator, Comforter, Interpreter.

Let us live wholly to our Saviour,
free from distractions,
from being hindered by the pursuit of what does not matter.

Remind us, we pray, that we are pardoned through the work of Jesus –
give us a new sense of it,
may we come every day,
that we may worship You always
in spirit and in truth.

For these things we ask in Jesus’ name
Amen

Psalm 8

¹ O Lord, our Sovereign,
   how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory above the heavens.
²   Out of the mouths of babes and infants
you have founded a bulwark because of your foes,
   to silence the enemy and the avenger.

³ When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
   the moon and the stars that you have established;
⁴ what are human beings that you are mindful of them,
   mortals that you care for them?

⁵ Yet you have made them a little lower than God,
   and crowned them with glory and honour.
⁶ You have given them dominion over the works of your hands;
   you have put all things under their feet,
⁷ all sheep and oxen,
   and also the beasts of the field,
⁸ the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea,
   whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

⁹ O Lord, our Sovereign,
   how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Thanksgiving/Gratitude

O Lord God,
we praise You that in all things
we can know the guiding and comfort of Your Holy Spirit.
Give us, we pray, not our own weak desires
but the power of Your presence,
for this is the surest way to live in the truth.

Save us from all that hinders,
from being content with too little of Your Spirit,
from thinking that You will not give us more.
When we feel our lack of You, light up life and faith,
for when we lose sight of You,
we cannot truly see.
Teach us then what to do,
depending only upon, and waiting always for,
Your light.
Teach us to find and know fullness of Your Holy Spirit
only in Jesus.
Amen

Prayer for others/Intercession

Lord God,
we lift before You those who carry heavy burdens,
those who find each day a challenge,
those who struggle to see hope for the future.
Lord, we thank You that You are the ultimate source of all hope,
and we ask that You would use Your people, Your Church
to bring hope, healing and light into the darkness today.

Lord, we lift before You those who carry heavy burdens of responsibility –
for our leaders: local, national and around the world,
for those whose decisions will affect the lives of many,
give wisdom and compassion we pray.

Lord, we give You thinks for those who carry burdens of responsibility in our Church –
locally, nationally and globally.
May the spirit of truth and wisdom guide and protect all who serve,
in whatever capacity,
that You might be glorified in all our world.
For we ask this in the name of Your Son, Jesus Christ
Amen

Pentecost Sunday is one of the high points in the Church year, and Easter is a season that lasts 50 days, spanning Easter Sunday to Pentecost Sunday.

GATHERING PRAYER

God, at Pentecost, You spoke through flame and fire
As we gather, through the power of Your Spirit,
may we follow Your call.

God, at Pentecost, Your Advocate spoke truth in our world
As we gather, through the power of Your Spirit,
may we hear and obey.

God, at Pentecost, You celebrated the gifts of diversity in cultures
As we gather, through the power of your Spirit,
may You hear our heart languages of prayer and praise.

God, at Pentecost, Your Helper offered peace to every troubled heart
As we gather, through the power of Your Spirit,
may You calm every anxious heart.

Amen

Confession

This prayer brings the Spirit as helper and Spirit as truth, both in John 14:16, into conversation with the themes of Genesis 11:1-9. The words from John 14:27 are used as part of the assurance of forgiveness.

God, You are our truth-teller,
sifter of human hearts, strainer of human motives.

God, in Your truth, You reveal us as like Babel,
we build our towers,
to be known and recognised,
to gather to ourselves our human achievements.

God, In Your truth, You reveal our
love for the law of similar,
the comfort we find in the familiar,
the cultures and people we know.

God, You reveal
our struggles with difference,
our rigidity in the face of diversity.

We pause in confession, making space for the Spirit of truth,
sifter of human hearts, strainer of human motives.

And we hear Your words of forgiveness,
‘Peace I leave with you’, God’s peace given to us.
In You, God, our hearts are no longer troubled,
and for this, we gratefully say, Amen.

Thanksgiving

This prayer works with Acts 2, giving thanks for what a Spirit empowered church might look like. The refrain is drawn from Acts 2:19 in The Message, “I’ll set your wonders in the sky above and signs on the earth below.” What if the signs on earth below include humans, empowered by Spirit?

Spirit of God, we rejoice in Your empowering
The graces You give to each of us, the graces You give to this church
The chatter of our young and the wisdom of our old
The texts of our teenagers and the words of our elders
We celebrate these signs from Your Spirit in our midst

Spirit of God, we rejoice in Your diversity
The gifts and graces You give to the global church
Those who sing Your song in the high-rises of Manila
Those who serve Your mission in the slums of Brazil
We celebrate these signs from Your Spirit in our midst

Spirit of God, we rejoice in Your liberation
The liberation You bring to all those enslaved
The freedom You offer the addicted
The justice You seek for the trafficked
We celebrate these signs from Your Spirit in our midst

Spirit of God, we rejoice in Your gifts
The challenge of prophets, the hope of our dreamers
The insights of everyone one of us, men and women
We celebrate these signs from Your Spirit in our midst

Spirit of God, we rejoice in Your scattering
Your work across the world
The partnerships we share with agencies and workers for justice
And churches in countries near and far
We celebrate these signs from Your Spirit in our midst

Prayers for others

When we look at our world,
we see war and conflict,
hatred between people of different languages.
With God’s Spirit we pray, “Only love can conquer hate”

When we look at our country,
we see egos and deals,
building projects and business towers.
With God’s Spirit we pray, “Only love can conquer hate”

When we look at our church,
we see tribalisms and insecurity
denominations that seem fractured.
With God’s Spirit we pray, “Only love can conquer hate”

When we look at ourselves,
we see suspicion of others,
mistrust and indifference toward those not like us.
With God’s Spirit we pray, “Only love can conquer hate”

And so, empowered and renewed by Your Spirit,
we pray with God’s church around the world,

Our Father…

FOR THE QUEEN

God’s steadfast love endures for ever.
God’s mercies, they never cease; they are new every morning.
and great is God’s faithfulness.

We give thanks for these festive days,
and for the long and happy reign of our beloved Queen.
Grant to her joy and happiness throughout this Platinum Jubilee.

God bless this food to our use,
God bless our lives in service to others,
God bless all whom we hold dear.
God bless The Queen.
Amen.

Blessing

Go in the name of the God who scatters
May the wind of the Spirit enfold you into God’s mission
May the warmth of the Spirit rest on your work
May the words of the Spirit fill your mouth for witness
May the sounds of the Spirit guide your walk

AMEN

Gathering prayer

The light is spreading.
It started off one Easter
when tombstones rolled and graves were found empty,
Jesus was alive.
The news spread from disciple to apostle,
from followers to strangers.
It spread like a fire among us, this news of new life.
It spreads still today, among us
who dare believe that life and death is not all there is.
In this place new light is streaming,
the Good News still has power to unfold and renew.

We come to re-weave the unravelling fabric of community.
To re-connect once more with the larger human family.
To find once more that place of calm.
To remind ourselves that we belong.
And to remember what it is we belong to.
We are many, as the stars that fill the night,
as the cluster of the grapes upon the vine,
as a flock of birds in flight,
as the branches of a tree,
as the waves upon the ocean.
We are also one body, and the work of Christ is done
when we learn to live in true community.
We come –
To centre ourselves,
to open ourselves,
to remember ourselves.
And to celebrate the life we share together.

We enter into this time and this place to join our hearts and minds together.
To remember what is most important in life.
To be challenged to live more truly, more deeply,
to live with integrity and kindness and with hope and love,
to feel the company of those who seek a common path,
to be renewed in our faith in the promise of this life,
to be strengthened and to find the courage
to continue to do what we must do,
day after day,
world without end. Amen

Prayer of concern (i)

May we hang around for people,
may we linger with intent… to care,
may we breach the peace… with justice.
May we not just look for a new thing, but follow it through,
not just have an idea but make it happen,
not complain about this and that, but do something about it.

In all our joys and in all our concerns, may we be ever mindful
Of the presence of God among us

May we turn our words into acts,
our thoughts into reality,
our intent into a way of life.
May we move beyond the word,
becoming the word
and move with the word,
becoming flesh.
May we walk the talk,
speak of good things,
and find ourselves living them as well.

In all our joys and in all our concerns, may we be ever mindful
Of the presence of God among us

So may we dare to speak of setting people free
and find ourselves working towards a freedom
bound up in each other.
May we dare to speak of justice
and find ourselves proclaiming that justice here,
in everyday acts of compassion.
May we dare to speak of welcome towards the stranger
and find ourselves among strangers here,
and loving them into community.

In all our joys and in all our concerns, may we be ever mindful
Of the presence of God among us

May we pay Christ more than lip-service
but serve Him with our whole lives. Amen

Psalm 97

The Lord is king! Let the earth rejoice;
   let the many coastlands be glad!
² Clouds and thick darkness are all around him;
   righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
³ Fire goes before him,
   and consumes his adversaries on every side.
⁴ His lightnings light up the world;
   the earth sees and trembles.
⁵ The mountains melt like wax before the Lord,
   before the Lord of all the earth.

⁶ The heavens proclaim his righteousness;
   and all the peoples behold his glory.
⁷ All worshippers of images are put to shame,
   those who make their boast in worthless idols;
   all gods bow down before him.
⁸ Zion hears and is glad,
   and the towns of Judah rejoice,
   because of your judgements, O God.
⁹ For you, O Lord, are most high over all the earth;
   you are exalted far above all gods.

¹⁰ The Lord loves those who hate evil;
   he guards the lives of his faithful;
   he rescues them from the hand of the wicked.
¹¹ Light dawns for the righteous,
   and joy for the upright in heart.
¹² Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous,
   and give thanks to his holy name!

Psalm 97 confesses God as the sovereign who rescues the faithful. The Psalmist affirms that God’s throne, a symbol of power, is founded on justice. Such foundations will stand, in contrast to the unjust foundations of power shaken by the earthquake in Acts

Prayer of concern (ii)

Make in us a captive conscience, quick to hear, to act, to plead;
make us truly sisters, brothers of whatever race or creed –
Teach us to be fully human, open to each other’s need.

May God bless us with a restless discomfort about easy answers,
half-truths and superficial relationships,
so that we may seek truth boldly
and love deep within our hearts.

May God bless us with holy anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people,
so that we may tirelessly work for justice, freedom,
and peace among all people.

May God bless us with the gift of tears
to shed with those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation,
or the loss of all that they cherish,
so that we may reach out our hands to comfort them and transform their pain into joy.

May God bless us with enough foolishness
to believe that we really CAN make a difference in this world,
so that we are able, with God’s grace,
to do what others claim cannot be done. Amen

Blessing

We go now for the Spirit of God is alive in the land.
We go in the power of love,
with the blessing of God upon us. Amen

Call to worship

The Peace of Christ be with us all
Let us Worship God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit

Prayer of approach

We humble ourselves in Your living presence,
holy, merciful all-knowing Father.

We rest in Your presence
gracious Jesus, Saviour, Lord and Creator of all that is.

We seek Your wisdom, guidance, presence and hope,
Holy Spirit, Keeper of the Church.

Three but One, perfect in all things,
we approach You in the mystery of Your being,
seeking to offer You our worship, thanksgiving and praise.

Come, through Your Spirit to heal, inspire and renew us.
In the name of Christ Jesus. Amen

Prayer of confession

In Your perfect love You lay down Your life for us
Forgive us our sins and have mercy on us

We have sinned in our thoughts and imaginations
Forgive us our sins and have mercy on us

We have allowed our emotions to lead us astray
Forgive us our sins and have mercy on us

We have permitted our actions to be living contradictions of Your will
Forgive us our sins and have mercy on us

Receive our penitence and transform it into repentance.

Amen.

Prayer of intercession

We continue, as we have just sung, for our needy selves and our needy world.
Where there is discord in our nation and beyond, help us to be light and healing.

As Jesus was bold and confident in reaching out to others in their need,
help Your Church to shine, to be healing hands and voices.

For those who hurt and grieve,
help us to bring comfort and hope, friendship and peace.

For those suffering in poverty whether in this land or beyond,
open our hearts to everything in our power to make a difference.

Where there is division within the Church and between Churches,
humble us so that we might seek reconciliation and peace.
For all present in this place, who need a touch of grace from Jesus,
draw us to Him in confidence.

For those situations in the world today – take a moment in silence to name the situations and people known to us
where only You can make a difference,
act in powerful ways.

And all this and the unspoken words of our hearts and minds,
we offer in faith and expectation,
in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. Amen

Benediction

May the mind of the Father inspire and renew us.
May the Word of Life invigorate us with new faith and hope.
May the Spirit breathe fresh vision into expectant hearts.
And, may the grace and the mercy, the peace and the love
of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit be with and within us,
this day and evermore.

AMEN.