Category: Prayer items

Call to worship

Come before the God of love.
Come as you are, no pretence, no judgment,
come with your thoughts and your feeling, in the highs and lows of life,
come with your successes and failures,
come knowing that you are loved unconditionally.
Come before the Lord your God,
in the quiet spaces and the busy places,
in worship, praise and thanksgiving,
for all we have and all we are is a gift from God.

Approach to God

Eternal and everlasting God,
You came to our world in Christ.
You shared in our humanity, You walked with us.
You still come to us through the presence of Your spirit,
sharing in our experiences each and every day,
sharing in our worship whatever our number,
for where two or three are gathered, You are there.
Be with us now as we come to You to share in worship,
online in our homes,
for we know nothing can separate us from Your love,
and whether we are together or apart, we are still part of the body of Christ.
So, as we come before You in worship, to read Your word and listen for Your voice,
open our eyes to Your presence in our lives
and open our lives to Your grace and power.
Amen

Intercession

Loving God,
You have called us to be a living community.
A people bound together as the body of Christ,
and a family united in love.
Yet Lord, in our broken world so many are suffering, so many are hurting.
Hear our prayers Lord
For those whose lives are ruled by hate and vengeance, rather than love and justice.
For those whose homes are not places of love or safety, but places of fear and violence.
For those who have no home to speak of and have become invisible on our streets.
For those who are stigmatised because of status, ill-health, ethnicity, religion.
Lord, You asked us to love our neighbours, all of them, not just the ones we choose.
Enable us and equip us to carry out Your command
and to make a positive difference in the lives of those who are our neighbours and are struggling.
Hear our prayers Lord
For all those in our congregations and communities who are ill at home or in hospital – bring Your healing hands and soothing balm upon them.
For all who are anxiously awaiting treatment, results, or appointments
due to the impact of COVID-19 and our overwhelmed health service.
For anxious relatives and carers who are exhausted and there is no rest, and no end in sight
while the much-needed care packages are few and far between.
Lord equip us, Your servants and disciples, to assist them in their time of need.
Enable us to be beacons of light in another dark day.
Hear our prayers Lord
For all our medical, public health, nursing and ancillary staff
and the difficulties they face and over-stretched work environments.
For the vaccinations to sustain us through Covid and for the variants in the virus to subside.
May we also play our part, Lord, in protecting others.
Lord, You tasked us to do good to those who hate You,
which can seem difficult and to some unfair.
It’s hard to love those who belittle, who shun, who exclude and who racially abuse.
When we feel we should get our own back, You ask us to turn the other cheek.
Inspire us to be willing advocates for truth, justice and reconciliation.
Hate does not lay a healthy soil that enables love to grow and flourish,
but walking in faith in the footsteps of Jesus,
You call us all to make a positive difference and to heal Your broken world of its hurt and its divisions.

We pray this evening to You, Lord God, for the continuing tension and situation in the Ukraine. Military might and political jostling and posturing does nothing before Your throne of grace and mercy. We pray that You will send your peace and concord to both countries, their peoples, leaders and faith leaders.

As we learn today that our Queen, HM Elizabeth II, has tested positive for Covid19 we include her in these prayers. We pray for Strength, Health, Love and Healing. We give thanks for her unstinting commitment to the Realms of the Commonwealth, her People and her determination to serve.

For we can all make a positive difference in Jesus’ name and for His sake.
Amen

Blessing

Go now and share God’s love with all you meet.
Go now and share the joy of Jesus.
Go now and share the inspiring breeze of the Spirit.
Go in peace assured of God’s love.
Amen

Welcome to this year’s Racial Justice Sunday (RJS) worship, which has the theme: ‘Racial Justice Sunday: What’s it got to do with me?’

This is very much a call for all Christians to engage in the righteous struggle for racial justice because racial justice is everyone’s business. As we shall see in this resource, the Bible has a lot to say about justice because as God’s Word, it reflects God’s heart for justice. It can be argued that we should love justice because God does! Racism and racial discrimination are justice issues because they deny basic justice and human dignity to women and men who are made in the image of God. Equally, they are sinful because, among other issues, they assume all are not equal before God and are not part of God’s family.

The murder of George Floyd in May 2020 has been described as a Kairos moment for the Church, and it led to much soul-searching and a desire on behalf of many to see change. However, some in the Church were left befuddled and struggled to engage with the conversations that emerged from that tragic event, as well as protests and the clamour for real change.

the three ‘R’s of ‘Remembering’, ‘Reflecting’ and ‘Responding’:

• ‘Remembering’ the importance of racial justice
• ‘Reflecting’ on human diversity and thanking God for it
• ‘Responding’ by working to end injustice, racism and ignorance through prayer and action

Prayer for Justice

Mighty, and everlasting God.
As Your people come into your presence,
We are thankful for your graciousness, your mercy, and your love.
We continue to remember all those adversely affected by the COVID pandemic,
We pray that your Holy Spirit will be present with them,
To comfort and to heal; to sustain and be reconciled, one with another.

On this special day, we remember the family of George Floyd,
We remember all those who are hurting, disadvantaged,
and impacted by racial prejudice.
We also remember all those have suffered at the hands of injustice,
May your Holy Spirit be present with them,
To comfort and to heal; to bring justice and reconciliation,
one with another.

Faithful God, we commit this service into your hands,
We pray for every participant and every listener,
That you will empower them with your strength,
That they might be courageous to say and do what is right and just,
and that your good and glorious, magnificent, and righteous name might be praised,
We pray in the name of your selfless son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Amen! Amen! And Amen!

A Responsive Prayer

In the stillness we pray…
Creator God, hear our prayer

Creator God, when the disciples got into their boat, it was dark and Jesus had yet to come to them.

We pray for those who experience the absence of security because your peace has not yet come to them. We remember in our hearts and pray for those whose countries are in the midst of the war, famine, persecution.

In the stillness we pray…
Creator God, hear our prayer

Whilst the disciples were in their boat the sea became rough.

Creator God, we remember and pray for those who are in the midst of national and international storms, and for those in whose hands lie the way that makes justice and peace.

We also pray for those we know whose battle is against personal storms: difficulties, challenges, hurts, confusion and uncertainties which are overwhelming.

Forgive us for our apathy and compliancy. May we who profess to be followers of Christ, willingly do what we can to work towards justice and peace, for people both within and outside of our communities and the country in which we live.

May we too be willing to share in the joys and pains of those here who need us.

In the stillness we pray…
Creator God, hear our prayer

When the disciples saw Jesus walking on the sea, they were afraid. Jesus said, ‘It is I. do not be afraid.’

Creator God, we remember and pray for those who live in fear; in fear of abuse; in fear of loneliness; in fear of the future.
And for those of us who live with fear each day.
May we remember the words of Christ – ‘It is I, do not be afraid.’

As we begin another day may we keep our hearts and our minds fixed on you and rejoice in you.
In the name of Christ. Amen

“Ever present God,
you called us to be in relationship with one another
and promised to dwell wherever two or three are gathered.
In our community, we are many different people;
we come from many different places, have many different cultures.
Open our hearts that we may be bold
in finding the riches of inclusion and the treasures of diversity among us.
We pray in faith. Amen.”

Revd Dr Martin Luther King Jr

The Faith Impact Forum has been in touch with members of our partner church, the Reformed Church in Transcarpathia, Ukraine (Egyházkerület Kárpátaljai Református). Like all of us they are watching with concern as armed forces mass at the Russian border and the threat of conflict grows.

Lord Wallace, Moderator of the General Assembly, and Very Rev Dr Susan Brown, convener of the Faith Impact Forum are asking all of us to join them in praying for those who are frightened and at risk in Ukraine.

A prayer for Ukraine:

The news can be difficult to listen to and to read.
When that news relates to faces we know
And to voices familiar to us,
It becomes all the harder to hear.
Lord God,
We ask you to hold the people of Ukraine deep in your heart.
Protect them, we pray;
From violence,
From political gamesmanship,
from being used and abused.
Give, we pray,
the nations of the world the courage
and the wisdom
to stand up for justice
and the courage too,
to dare to care – generously.
Lord in your mercy,
Take from us all,
The tendencies in us
That seek to lord it over others:
Take from us those traits
that see us pursuing our own needs and wants
before those of others.
Teach us how to live in love
And dignity
And respect – following your example.
In your name and for your sake,
Amen

Ahead of some restrictions easing across Scotland this week, Christians across the country – and further afield – join together in prayer and reflection in response to the pandemic.

“We should always be mindful for the wisdom handed down to us from past generations; much of it learned the hard way, from mistakes made and consequences suffered,” Lord Wallace said.

“So, too, we are grateful for the richness that comes to us from living alongside people of other traditions. In our day and generation we must surely allow our minds and hearts to be open so that we can risk getting to know them and learning from them.

“In this pandemic, our responsibility is to come together and offer our prayers for all the many diverse expressions of our Christian faith that enrich life, as we have done for many months now.

“As we return to many restrictions being eased, we call to mind those for whom the restrictions of recent times have been profound and life-changing. We pray that those who are anxious and nervous about change will find reassurance. And in exercising our own personal choices, let us be mindful of the needs and concerns of our neighbours.

“A pattern has been set for us, lived out in Jesus Christ, made possible by the Spirit. May we follow in His way, and be guided by the one over-riding rule of love in all that we say and do.”

“Where do we find ourselves today? Does the light of the day still shine and does the way ahead seem clear and certain? Or, does darkness fall and the way ahead seem uncertain and hidden in the shadows? In whatever situation we find ourselves, the Psalms speak to us and the Psalms speak for us. They speak to us, and for us, in every situation of life.

“Perhaps there is nowhere that this is more evident than in the 23^rd Psalm. The resonance of the ancient, yet immediately present, words of the Psalmist can be sensed; such that even now we can hear those words speaking into the depths of who we are: ‘The Lord is my Shepherd… Even though I walk through the darkest valley… Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me.’ (Psalm 23)

“To read and to hear the words evokes a response in the very depths of our being. We are addressed by God and the Psalm offers to us words of response: ‘Even though I walk through the darkest valley… I fear no evil.’ ‘Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me… and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord.’ Wherever we find ourselves today, the Lord speaks to us and graciously offers us words of response.”

We pray:

Gracious Lord
And faithful Shepherd,
Lead us to the place of Your presence
And speak to us Your word that brings life.
Lord, in Your mercy,
Hear our prayer.

Gracious Lord
And faithful Shepherd,
Lead us to the place of still waters
And restore our troubled souls.
Lord, in Your mercy,
Hear our prayer.

Gracious Lord
And faithful Shepherd,
Lead us on the paths of righteousness
And deliver us from evil.
Lord, in Your mercy,
Hear our prayer.

Gracious Lord
And faithful Shepherd,
Lead us through the valley of shadows
And bring us to the place of safety.
Lord, in Your mercy,
Hear our prayer.

Gracious Lord
And faithful Shepherd,
Lead us to the place where the table is renewed
And the cup overflows for all.
Lord, in Your mercy,
Hear our prayer.

Gracious Lord
And faithful Shepherd,
Lead us to the place where goodness and mercy abide
And to the house of the Lord forever.
Lord, in Your mercy,
Hear our prayer.