Category: Prayer items

Week of Prayer- Day 1

by Bellshill Central, posted in Prayer items

Help us, Lord, to have a life turned towards you

Commentary

“What must I do to inherit eternal life?” This crucial question asked of Jesus by a lawyer challenges every believer in God. It affects the meaning of our life on earth and for eternity. Elsewhere in the Bible, Jesus gives us the ultimate definition of eternal life: “… that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent” (Jn 17:3). Knowing God means discovering and doing the will of God in our lives. God’s dream for us (cf. Jn 10:10) finds powerful expression in the words of Saint Irenaeus: “The glory of God is a human being fully alive”. Violence, greed and exploitation distance us from one another and from Jesus as “the Way” that leads us to the Father, our ultimate destiny. Speaking from a society that has been torn apart and traumatised by violence and identity-based conflict for the last eight years, the churches of Burkina Faso offer us a message of hope in the promise of Christ’s all-embracing love.

Reflection

The reality of life in Burkina Faso may be very different from our own, but we can identify significant parallels in the challenges facing Christians in each context. Consider the following reflection offered by Church leaders in Ireland: “In our approach to the past we have a moral responsibility to acknowledge the corrosive impact of violence and words that can lead to violence, and a duty of care to those still living with the trauma of its aftermath… Christ’s teaching, ministry and sacrifice were offered in the context of a society that was politically divided, wounded by conflict and injustice… In these encounters, as exemplified in the meeting with the Woman of Samaria (Jn 4:1-42), we see that Christ does not seek to minimise differences, but rather to establish connection through gracious listening, replacing exclusion and shame with the hope of new beginnings.” (Church Leaders’ Ireland Group, In Christ We Journey Together, 17 March 2021)

Prayer

God of life, You have created us to have life, and life in all its fullness. Help your wounded Church to be a source of hope and healing. As we follow Jesus’ way with determination, may we lead others to you. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Prayer For Our Pastor

by Bellshill Central, posted in Prayer items

Our minister, Revd Kevin de Beer, has been on leave now all of February and March. As we continue to pray for him and the entire Manse family, we invite you all to join in this prayer for Kevin, Cheryl, and the kids. Thank you all so much.


Dear Lord, Thank you for our pastor. I pray that Your Holy Spirit would lead and guide him in all the duties that he is called upon to do. Lord, keep him ever open to hear Your voice and give him a heart that seeks to draw ever closer to Your heart of love, day by day.

May he rest in You and draw all His strength from You. Give him a passion to lift up the Lord Jesus in every aspect of his ministry. Prevent him from the ‘busyness’ of his pastoral duties, and may he learn to rest in You and to wait on Your leading, and Lord, keep him close to You in thought, word and deed I pray, so that he may remain pure in motive and attitude as well.

Guard and guide his home life, his wife, and his children and keep each of them united in their love for You and for each other. Prevent any resentment from developing when duty calls, but rather may his home and family become a place of encouragement and refreshment for his soul. May it also be a place where You remain as the central figure.

Keep our pastor and his family from the assaults of the enemy and from the criticism that follows a man who seeks to be Christ-focussed. Guard and guide them from being tempted toward the lust of the world and the lust of the flesh or from developing any prideful attitudes.

Lord, give our pastor integrity and grace in all his duties, and may he delight himself in the Lord so that his life and example is a wonderful witness to others, so that You may be glorified through his ministry. In Jesus’ name, I pray,

Amen.


Should Christians observe Lent?

by Bellshill Central, posted in Other News, Prayer items, Weekly Church News

Protestant Christians tend to be suspicious of church traditions that are not rooted in scripture. Lent falls into this category because it is not prescribed anywhere in the Bible. So why do believers from across the theological spectrum, including many Protestant denominations, observe this season?

The name itself is an Old English word for spring, which is indeed the time of year when Lent occurs – between the post-Christmas season of Epiphany and Easter. Hereon in Lent’s biblical credentials mount up. Its forty day duration (not including Sundays, which are counted as rest days) reflects the forty days which Jesus spent in the desert, preparing for his ministry. And the fact that he was fasting explains why self-denial is another significant feature of the Lenten tradition, though nowadays we are as likely to be encouraged to see Lent as an opportunity to adopt better habits than relinquish cherished or harmful ones.

So does this amount to a “gospel of works”? Only if we turn an opportunity into a rule and no more than obeying the fourth commandment (Keep the Sabbath holy) can be regarded as “legalism”. More positively, we can thank God for providing opportunities to integrate the great truths of the Bible into our daily lives in ways which recall the rhythms of Jesus’ life and rehearse the milestones of our faith.

During the first lockdown, Bellshill Central Parish Church began a series of Lenten prayer groups via Zoom. We wanted to observe Lent as a season of prayer, fellowship and mission, through these informal but at the same time structured groups.

These prayer groups didn’t stop after Lent. They continue to this day. We still meet via Zoom and we now record our sessions so others can take part later on.

We have reintroduced our Prayer Book at Church, where we invite names and situations to be remembered in prayer during church, Zoom prayers and individual private prayer.

If you have never attended church, never thought about prayer, or want to consider joining our Zoom prayers, or never observed Lent, why not take a leap of faith?

It won’t do you any harm and it could change your life – for the better…

Evening prayers at 7pm

by Bellshill Central, posted in Prayer items

Gathering prayer for the Season of Epiphany

May Your star pause over us,
illuminating Your truth and justice.
Confront us anew with Your call
to look for power in lowly places
and to bring our gifts to worship.
You, who are long gone from the stable,
but present in every place and time –
God with us.

Reflective prayer

Come and see – 
the curiosity of a seeker

Come and see – 
the invitation of one smitten

Come and see – 
the catalyst
that set in motion
a whole world
of adventure and intrigue,
of excitement and trepidation,
of unanticipated joy
and heart-wrenching sorrow.

Come and see.

O that we, today,
were as spontaneous,
as inviting,
as inclusive,
as willing to risk,
as those first disciples.

To follow a summons
and recruit others
to venture out with us.

Come and see…

Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil, for the kingdom the power and the glory are yours, for ever, Amen.

Psalm 40

Thanksgiving for Deliverance and Prayer for Help

To the leader. Of David. A Psalm.
1 I waited patiently for the Lord;
   he inclined to me and heard my cry.
2 He drew me up from the desolate pit,
   out of the miry bog,
and set my feet upon a rock,
   making my steps secure.
3 He put a new song in my mouth,
   a song of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear,
   and put their trust in the Lord.


4 Happy are those who make
   the Lord their trust,
who do not turn to the proud,
   to those who go astray after false gods.
5 You have multiplied, O Lord my God,
   your wondrous deeds and your thoughts towards us;
   none can compare with you.
Were I to proclaim and tell of them,
   they would be more than can be counted.


6 Sacrifice and offering you do not desire,
   but you have given me an open ear.
Burnt-offering and sin-offering
   you have not required.
7 Then I said, ‘Here I am;
   in the scroll of the book it is written of me.
8 I delight to do your will, O my God;
   your law is within my heart.’


9 I have told the glad news of deliverance
   in the great congregation;
see, I have not restrained my lips,
   as you know, O Lord.
10 I have not hidden your saving help within my heart,
   I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation;
I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness
   from the great congregation.


11 Do not, O Lord, withhold
   your mercy from me;
let your steadfast love and your faithfulness
   keep me safe for ever.

Sending prayer for the Season of Epiphany

May we follow Your light into all the darkness of the world,
overthrowing the old and tired ways,
fighting for justice,
forging paths to peace,
loving those it’s hard to love,
knowing You go before us and call us to follow. Amen.