Morning Prayer Thursday, 4 November 2021

A reading from Psalm 127

¹ Unless the Lord builds the house,
the builders labour in vain.
Unless the Lord watches over the city,
the guards stand watch in vain.
²In vain you rise early
and stay up late,
toiling for food to eat –
for he grants sleep to those he loves.

³ Children are a heritage from the Lord,
offspring a reward from him.
⁴ Like arrows in the hands of a warrior
are children born in one’s youth.

Psalm 127: 1–4 NIV®

Dear Lord, without you we can work as hard as possible, but achieve nothing.
But if we wholly put our faith in you and work together with you and with our fellow believers,
we can achieve everything that you require of us.

We thank you that you watch over us and all your people, guiding us in the right path.
We thank you for another night of rest, and we look to you to direct our day ahead.
May we strive to achieve the goals you set us on a daily basis.
We thank you for all the good gifts that you provide for us and all your people.

Our family and friends are gifts from you, for whom we give you thanks.
May we ever appreciate the help, comfort and companionship that they provide,
and may we offer them all the love and support that they may need.
Help us to be sensitive to the needs of those about us,
and may we do our best to meet their needs according to your will.

We pray that you will bless the COP26 conference in Glasgow and that the leaders there
will not only make commitments to reduce global warming,
but will take decisive and timely action to achieve these goals.
We pray that the rich nations of the world, including our own,
recognise that they must provide much more assistance to the poorer nations,
who are suffering disproportionately from the effects of climate change.

We pray for your Church of Christ the Cornerstone, here in the centre of our city.
May we play our part in watching over the city with you,
and may your church here become indeed an oasis of hope,
bringing the life-giving spiritual water of your word to all the community.

We end our prayers this morning by saying together the prayer that Jesus taught us:

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours
now and for ever.

Amen