Daily Prayer Wednesday, 3 August 2022

Good morning, Cornerstone Friends.

I am preparing these prayers a bit in advance because, all being well, I shall be on Orkney today staying with my sister-in-law and her husband. I have now visited Orkney a number of times and I really love it. For me it has a really special feel – beautiful scenery, lively seascapes and a very spiritual and otherworldly feeling. The skyline of Kirkwall, the capital, is dominated by St Magnus Cathedral an impressive red sandstone building.

Let us start today with a song offering every part of us to the service of God.

Humbly in your sight we come together, Lord:
grant us now the blessing of your presence here.

These, our hearts, are yours; we give them to you, Lord:
purify our love to make it like your own.

These, our eyes, are yours; we give them to you, Lord:
may we always see your world as with your sight.

These, our hands, are yours; we give them to you, Lord:
give them strength and skill to do our work for you.

These, our feet, are yours; we give them to you, Lord:
may we walk along the path of life with you.

These, our tongues, are yours; we give them to you, Lord:
may we speak your healing words of life and truth.

These, our ears, are yours; we give them to you, Lord:
open them to hear your words of guidance, Lord.

Our whole selves are yours; we give them to you, Lord:
take us now and keep us yours for evermore.
(Iona)

Now our prayers of confession.

O God, you are always true to us in love and we are left wanting to say sorry for our faithlessness to you and to one another, for our forgetting of the poor and the broken, for our failure to cherish creation.
Give us life, o God, to change and enable us to change, that we may live.

O God, gladly we live and move and have our being in you.
Yet always in the midst of this creation-glory, we see sin’s shadow and feel death’s darkness:
around us in the earth, sea and sky, the abuse of matter; beside us in the broken, the hungry and the poor, the betrayal of one another; and often, deep within us, a striving against your Spirit.

O Trinity of love, forgive us that we may forgive one another, heal us that we may be people of healing, and renew us that we also may be makers of peace.
Amen.  (Iona)

Our reading for today is Colossians chapter 1 verses 15 to 20.

He is the image of the invisible God; his is the primacy over all creation. In him everything in heaven and on earth was created, not only things visible but also the invisible orders of thrones, sovereignties, authorities and powers: the whole universe has been created through him and for him. He exists before all things, and all things are held together in him. He is the head of the body, the church. He is its origin, the first to return from the dead, to become in all things supreme. For in him God in all his fullness chose to dwell, and through him to reconcile all things to himself, making peace through the shedding of his blood on the cross-all things whether on earth or in heaven.

Prayers of concern

O Christ, your cross speaks both to us and our world. In your dying for us you accepted the pain and hurt of the whole of creation. The arms of your cross stretch out across the broken world in reconciliation. You have made peace with us. Help us to make peace with you by sharing in your reconciling work. May we recognise your spirit disturbing and challenging us to care for creation and for the poor who most feel the effects of its abuse. O Christ, the whole of creation groans. Set us free and make us whole.
Amen. (Iona)

Now we pray for rest and refreshment in this holiday month.

Heavenly Father, some of us are able to get away on holiday and some of us are spending the summer at home. Wherever we may be, we pray that we shall manage to have a time of relaxation, a time to feel closer to you and a time to put the past behind us and plan for a better future. Help us to open ourselves to you that you may be able to clarify our forward paths and enable us better to do your will.
Amen

Have a blessed day and a blessed August, Cornerstone Friends.

Rosemary Goldie