Category: Prayer items

Good day friends,

Our prayers which we ask you to begin at 7pm this evening focus on Climate Justice, and have been taken from Church of Scotland Worship Resources, available online

CALL TO WORSHIP

Glorious God,
The whole of creation proclaims your marvellous work:
Increase in us a capacity to wonder and delight in it,
That heaven’s praise may echo in our hearts
And our lives be spent as good stewards of the earth,
Through Jesus Christ our Lord

Approach to God

Eternal and wonderful God

We come together in Your presence now,
bringing to You our united praise and adoration.
You are a great God beyond all measure
and we bow in awe before the dazzling brightness of Your being and glory.
We join our heart and voice with the seraphs
in Your presence who call to one another,
‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory.’

We worship You, God of creation
and stand in awe before the myriad ways
in which the vast universe and the world of nature around us
display the wonder of Your wisdom and love, generosity and beauty.
Open our eyes to the signs of Your presence everywhere.
Fill us with delight and gratitude as we remember how in love
You gave to each of us our being
and the ways You have enriched our lives from our earliest years.

King of salvation,
we praise You that You have not kept at a distance from our human predicament,
but in Jesus You have come into our fallen, broken world fully
to share our humanity and to bring us redemption.
We marvel again at Jesus’ willingness in love to identify in this way with us,
to share our sorrows and to walk the long and painful road
to a new exodus in the achievement of the cross,
gaining for us freedom from sin and pain and death.

A prayer for climate justice

We open ourselves to You
Recognising the light of Your power within every living thing.
We open ourselves to You
Thanking You for the beauty and love woven into our lives.

It is all too easy to look away
To not see:
The connections that bind us together
The devastation that humanity is wreaking
The suffering of living creatures.

It is all too easy to look away
To refuse to acknowledge:
That we benefit from imbalances of power
That little choices can contribute to great harm
That not calling our leaders to account makes us culpable.

We call on You to grant us the ability to see with clear eyes
To know the truth, to feel the truth.
Please grant us the ability to call for justice,
Even when it may take from us
Some measure of our own comfort.

Please grant us the ability to recognise every person in this world
As a member of our family,
Please grant us the strength to hear Your call to act
To protect this precious planet
Full of divine glory.
Amen

Intercession

Lord Jesus Christ,
as we think of the testing to which You were subjected in the wilderness
and throughout Your ministry to its very end,
we bring to You all who today are struggling with life’s trials and pressures.
We remember those who are facing tough choices and hard situations;
those enduring physical or mental pain;
those striving to come to terms with painful loss – of a loved one, of employment, of cherished hopes;
those facing challenges for which they feel hopelessly inadequate.
Hold them in Your love and let them know Your peace
and the sufficient strength of Your grace
which is able to turn even calamity into a blessing.

We pray for all who find themselves wrestling with powerful temptation:
those who struggle with things that are destructive,
those tempted to give up on God in light of life’s harsh realities;
those who wonder whether life is worth living at all in face of the bleakness of their prospects.

Lord Jesus Christ,
You are familiar with the wilderness of life.
Through that wilderness, in all its desolation,
You have made a way and You are leading Your people by a new exodus to a new creation, a perfect world of peace, justice and love.
Help all who today are worn down by the trials and temptations of life
to turn their face to Jesus, the suffering servant.
Let us all find in Jesus the joy of liberation,
the assurance of unfailing companionship on the journey home from exile
and the sure hope of a new heavens and a new earth, in a future more glorious than we can begin to imagine.

We offer these our prayers in Jesus’ name. Amen

Call to worship

Turn towards the Father
who runs out to meet us
even if we feel far off.

Turn towards the Son
who reconciles us to God
making us all a new creation.

Turn towards the Spirit
who meets with us here
filling us with hope and peace.

Father, Son and Spirit,
we turn towards You
with expectant minds
and hopeful hearts.
Transform us anew.
Amen

Psalm 32

The Joy of Forgiveness

¹ Happy are those whose transgression is forgiven,
   whose sin is covered.
² Happy are those to whom the Lord imputes no iniquity,
   and in whose spirit there is no deceit.

³ While I kept silence, my body wasted away
   through my groaning all day long.
⁴ For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
   my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.
          Selah

⁵ Then I acknowledged my sin to you,
   and I did not hide my iniquity;
I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord’,
   and you forgave the guilt of my sin.
          Selah

⁶ Therefore let all who are faithful
   offer prayer to you;
at a time of distress, the rush of mighty waters
   shall not reach them.
⁷ You are a hiding-place for me;
   you preserve me from trouble;
   you surround me with glad cries of deliverance.
          Selah

⁸ I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go;
   I will counsel you with my eye upon you.
⁹ Do not be like a horse or a mule, without understanding,
   whose temper must be curbed with bit and bridle,
   else it will not stay near you.

¹⁰ Many are the torments of the wicked,
   but steadfast love surrounds those who trust in the Lord.
¹¹ Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, O righteous,
   and shout for joy, all you upright in heart.

Confession

Liberating God,
Thank You for the joy that comes with forgiveness,
for the freedom of being released from shame,
for rolling away the stone of guilt from our lives.

We come with confidence,
to confess our sins
in the hope of having a healthy
rather than a false humility.

We confess the things we have done,
and the things we have left undone,
that have hurt You, others and the planet.

[SILENT PRAYER]

Forgive the guilt of our sin,
be our hiding place and
preserve us from trouble.
Surround us with Your deliverance.

[SILENCE]

Lead into the Lord’s prayer.

Lament, confession and intercession

God of grace,
we see the damage inflicted on the world around us
and the resulting harm to our siblings
in climate-vulnerable places
and we mourn.

We lament the broken relationship
between humanity and the rest of creation.
Teach us the humility of the younger son,
so we can be honest with ourselves and one another
about our failure to care for the planet in the ways that we are called to.

In the silence now we call to mind those times
when we, not just as individuals but as a society,
have failed to tread lightly on Your earth,
and we ask for your forgiveness.

[SILENCE]

Lord, we thank You
that You are a God of forgiveness,
who, as the Father welcomed his lost son home
with open arms
wants to restore our relationship with one another
and with the earth.

Even as we acknowledge our role in the overuse of resources
and a failure to live sustainably,
may we not be burdened by guilt and shame,
instead, free to work for climate justice,
To hope for a better future.
Amen

Please join with us in praying…

Heavenly Father, hear our prayers for our brothers and sisters in Ukraine.

Lord we ask for peace for those who need peace, reconciliation for those who need reconciliation and comfort for all who don’t know what tomorrow will bring. Lord may your Kingdom come, and Your will be done. 

Lord God, we ask for you to be with all – especially children who are suffering as the crisis in Ukraine deteriorates. Lord for those who are anxious and fearful. For those who are bereaved, injured or who have lost their lives. And for those who have lost loved ones. Lord hear our prayers. 

Lord, we ask that decisions makers hear Your voice. Parents protecting their families – deciding whether to stay or leave. Church leaders as they support and comfort people. And Lord we ask for wise actions from global leaders – who have the power not only to start wars, but to stop them too.  

And Father God we cry out for an end to this crisis. For mercy, peace, and truth – because You are light, hope, power, and love. Amen. 

Blessing

Wellspring of all grace,
give us strength to grow together onto the fullness of Jesus and
to be signs and carriers of grace to each other,
in the communion of the Spirit,
in the fellowship of Your beloved Son,
in w

As we join in our time together lets draw together with God in a short call to prayer

Call to prayer

Come to the Lord whose love is better than life,
to the One who satisfies, sustains and supports.

Come to worship, to think, to spend these moments when,
together, we honour God, who is over all.

Approach to God

Looking, only because of the promise of finding,
calling out, only because we are sure we are heard,
we meet in one another’s company in person and online
so that we may meet with You,
God of love which is richer than life.

We look only because we were first sought out,
we tell You we are here only because You first came to us.

Help us, by Your Spirit, to seek you more,
even as we have been fully found.

Adoration

Everlasting, ever-gracious, ever-seeking and ever-calling God,
Yours is the offer of life
because the gift of life itself is Yours.

You call the universe into being and, through myriad interactions
space and time come to be,
stars and galaxies form,
their dust gives potential for life –
and we find ourselves here, alive, praising You.
We are awe-struck not only at the grandeur of Creation
but the miracle of incarnation.

You choose, in Jesus the Christ

to be born as one of us,
living among us, showing Your grace and telling Your love,

to be excluded from us, shunned and hated,
dying among us, still showing grace and declaring love,

to meet us risen,
inviting us to listen that we may live.

God of endless goodness, we praise You.
Amen

Psalm 63

Comfort and Assurance in God’s Presence

A Psalm of David, when he was in the Wilderness of Judah.
O God, you are my God, I seek you,
   my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
   as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
   beholding your power and glory.
Because your steadfast love is better than life,
   my lips will praise you.
So I will bless you as long as I live;
   I will lift up my hands and call on your name.

My soul is satisfied as with a rich feast,
   and my mouth praises you with joyful lips
when I think of you on my bed,
   and meditate on you in the watches of the night;
for you have been my help,
   and in the shadow of your wings I sing for joy.
My soul clings to you;
   your right hand upholds me.

Intercession

In a world of uncertainty we pray for those who deal with risk –

those in the insurance industry,
protecting individual loss through grouping contributions from many.

Those concerned for issues of health and safety,
anticipating and addressing issues to protect from harm.

Those working in healthcare settings,
diagnosing and treating while the risk of infection remains.

Those directing national life,
balancing many factors, may they add integrity to insight and they instruct.

In a world largely unknown we pray for those who are discovering.

Explorers and botanists, uncovering and describing a still unexplored, wonderful world,
researchers in life sciences, addressing illness and responding to ever-varying viruses,
engineers and technologists, developing sustainable sources of energy for all,
astronomers and physicists, looking back to time’s beginnings.
Inspire discoveries of more of Your wonderful Creation, Lord God.

In a world of forced migration, persecution and distress we pray for those who suffer –
over forty million people who are in immediate danger of starvation,
through conflict, COVID-19 and climate change.
Lord Jesus, may the fruit of faith
lead to greater sharing of the harvest of the Earth.

Where more than six in ten of the total human population
has received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine,
but only one in ten of those in poorest countries has had one jab,
where infection results in unemployment, missed schooling,
poverty, risk of abuse and untreatable illness –
Lord Jesus, may the fruit of faith
bring the benefit of scientific progress to all.

More than 22 million people in Afghanistan suffer starvation now
as a result of poverty, conflict, pandemic and drought,
and are unable to flee and find little support where they are.
Lord Jesus, may the fruit of faith
bring food, warmth, shelter and work.

For Your Church in Your world at this time we pray,
may Your people be enthused to proclaim the Good News of the kingdom,
may new believers be welcomed, taught, baptised and nurtured,
may loving service be our ready response to human need,
may Your people work to transform unjust structures of society,
to challenge violence of every kind, to pursue peace and reconciliation,
may we, as Your children, strive to safeguard the integrity of creation,
and sustain and renew the life of the earth which You have entrusted to us.

AMEN

Blessing

As we have met, so we part –
yet the glory of God which we gathered to praise
does not cease,

and the grace of Christ we recognise among us
remains always,

and the Spirit’s leading we discern in our fellowship
continues to guide us.

So [we] go to live as the people of God,
and the blessing of God the Source, the Son and the Spirit
be with each of you/us
this day,
this season,
and always. Amen

Our prayers are for ourselves, our communities, but especially the Ukraine

Please join together in prayer reciting these prayers followed by 5 minutes of silent prayer. Then listen to the music at the end.

Almighty God

You are the Lord of all people and all nations.

We lift before you the current situation in Russia and Ukraine. We pray for Your will to be done on earth as it is in heaven, so we pray for peace to come.

We pray that in this horrible situation people will call on Your name and know Your salvation power.

We pray for each girl and boy, each woman and man living in fear of what today and tomorrow might bring. May they know Your loving hand of protection and blessing on them.

We pray for our friends and people we know who have connections with Russia and Ukraine. We pray that they will know Your peace, strength and comfort at this time.

We pray for soldiers on both sides. May they look to You and call upon Your name. May they know Your presence, protect them, guide them. Lead them to put down their weapons and turn from this war, standing up for peace.

Even during such violence and aggression may Your love and peace come through and have victory. May Your light shine and breakthrough this darkness so that all will see Your goodness and power.

We pray for Putin and all the Russian leaders. Change their hearts from violence and aggression and lead them with great wisdom towards peace. You God can change any person and we pray that You do a transformation in their lives.

We pray for all leaders, of all nations. May they cry out to You for wisdom and guidance. May You grant them wisdom to make godly decisions and to respond in ways that will lead to peace and Your will being accomplished in these days.

We also pray that You will raise up leaders that will lead in ways that will demonstrate Your unfailing love throughout the world.

Nothing is impossible for You God, so we pray for Your supernatural power to cause things to happen, and we thank You for stories how You have protected some people.

We pray that at this time people will be treated equally. We especially think of Russian people throughout the world. We pray that people will demonstrate love towards them and not treat them with prejudice.

Finally, we pray for ourselves. Help us to demonstrate Your love in these times. Help us to share our faith and stand up for what is right. Help us to do practical things for those in need and teach us to pray in this situation. Give us a heart for all those in need and stir us to pray for a transformation to take place.

We lift all our prayers to a God who loves us and is able to do more than we can ask or imagine. In the name of Christ our Saviour.

Amen.

A prayer for Ukraine  

God of all,
with alarm and concern we bring before you
the military intervention in Ukraine.

In a world you made for peace and flourishing,
we lament the use of armed force.

We mourn every casualty of this conflict,
every precious life extinguished by war.
We pray comfort for those who grieve
and those who are fearful.

Hear our longing that leaders and nations
will honour the worth of all people
by having the courage
to resolve conflict through dialogue.

May all our human failings be transformed
by your wonderful grace and goodness.

We ask this in the name of Christ,
the author of peace and sustainer of Creation.
Amen.

Prayer for Hope

God of all time,
God of this time,
these times are difficult, and we bring them to you.
There have been other times like this when countries have invaded others.
You show us countries seized a village or settlement at a time and countries facing full invasion.
You reveal, when we dare to look, how national boundaries have changed like waves on the sand.
We feel so powerless; it all is so human and so tragic.
We bring it all to you in our confusion and worry.
Remind us, as ever, that worry is not what we must carry.
Remind us that worry makes us smaller, makes our powerlessness real.
Fill the place that worry has taken in our hearts and replace it with hope.
Give us courage to read the news as we can, to listen, to watch, to understand.
As we face the reality of these times, we pray for your hope to carry and fill us.
Let hope be the insight which we gift to each other.
Fill us with your knowledge that hope is as real an act as giving our money and our welcome.
You will bring peace, as ever you do.
Give us courage to gift your hope to that process.

In the name of your incarnated Christ and in the power and presence of Holy Spirit,
Amen