Category: Prayer of the Week

Loving God, as we begin this new week, we seek shelter in your presence,
just as the psalmist found refuge under your wings.
You are our fortress and our God, in whom we place our complete trust.
Like Jesus in the wilderness, we face times of testing in our daily lives.
When we encounter temptations to doubt your goodness, to seek power on our own terms,
or to test your faithfulness, grant us the wisdom and strength that your Son showed.
Help us to stand firm in your Word,
knowing that you alone are our true sustenance in Jesus’ Mighty Name.
Amen

Holy and transforming God, like Moses on Sinai and Jesus on the mountain,
draw us into your radiant presence.
Though we cannot bear to look upon your full glory, let your light shine through us,
making holy what is ordinary, transforming what is earthly into divine.
Speak to us from within and open our ears to hear Jesus’ voice, our eyes to glimpse your glory.
Give us courage to follow where Christ leads, down from the mountain and into the valley of service,
not by our own power, but by your grace working within us.
Amen

Merciful Father, whose Son taught us to love our enemies
and to extend grace even to those who wrong us, plant in our hearts such boundless compassion
that we might bless those who curse us and pray for those who mistreat us;
that by your Spirit we may measure out mercy as generously as we hope to receive it,
in Jesus, Mighty Name.
Amen

God of our past, present, and future, you created each one of us in your image and likeness,
help us to recognise you in each person.
As we pray for an end to suffering caused by racism, lead us this day to walk with one another,
pray with one another and work together, so that we create a future based on justice and healing,
where all can fulfil the hope, you have for all peoples.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen

Blessings abound when you call us, Lord:
when we encounter you in expected and unexpected places,
when you speak to our need, are balm to our woes, are a guide in our confusion,
an anchor in our uncertainty, a challenge in our complacency and love beyond measure.
How can we not live in awe of all you are, have been and will be?
Amen

Faithful God, give us courage to hear hard truths and wisdom to face them.
When your word challenges us, help us not turn away in anger or pride.
Like Jeremiah, make us bold to speak truth, even when it causes discomfort.
And like Jesus in Nazareth, grant us strength when those closest to us misunderstand our calling.
Remind us that true repentance means returning to you with our whole hearts, not just empty words.
Strip away our pretences.
Plant in us the humility to recognize where we resist your transforming work in our lives.
May we be a people who welcome your prophetic voice,
even when it disrupts our comfortable assumptions.
Amen

Lord, as your Church, we gather together to worship you, in person and online.
You are the source of all being, the one who gives love and unites us, the one who gives all for our sake.
Amen

Almighty God, in Christ you make all things new;
transform the poverty of our nature by the riches of your grace,
and in the renewal of our lives make known your heavenly glory;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
Amen

Eternal God we are listening for your gracious word, made flesh for us in Jesus Christ.
Call us to come and see where he leads, and teach us to believe in his name.
Help us to follow his teaching so that our lives might be signs of his glory.
We pray this in Jesus’ name.
Amen

Gracious God, we thank you for blessing us with every spiritual blessing in Christ.
Just as you spoke light into darkness through your Word,
speak your truth into our hearts in the coming months.
Open our eyes to see the inheritance you have prepared for us
and help us grasp the depth of your love.
Like John who came bearing testimony to the Light,
may our lives reflect your glory and truth in all we do,
through him who came to redeem us.
Amen

God of all time, Christmas is over but our journey has just begun.
We have offered our carols but have songs yet to be sung.
We have wisdom to learn, and truths to discern so much learning and growing to do!
As we gather today to worship and pray, we rejoice that our teacher is you.
Amen

Holy God,
Give us the courage to be ourselves, as we prepare for Christ’s second coming,
so that, like the Magi, we can take a different path, seek help from unlikely places,
and, like all of the people who have followed the star, own and love our part in Christ’s story.
Help us to be ourselves, as we prepare.
Amen

Father God, thank you for your presence here today.
Thank you that you speak to us through our worship.
Thank you that you speak to us through your Word.
Thank you that you speak to us through each other.
Help us to listen to your voice as we worship.
Help us to listen to your voice as Scripture is read.
Help us to listen to your voice as we seek your truth.
Amen

God of all seasons, as we journey through this second week of Advent,
we reflect on the words of the prophet Isaiah as spoken by John the Baptist:
Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.
In a world filled with darkness and inequality, we yearn for the light of your presence
and the levelling of the rough places in our lives and in the lives of those around us.
Help us to be like John, a voice crying out in the wilderness, calling others to repentance and baptism.
Give us the courage to stand up against injustice
and to point others to the hope that is to come in Jesus Christ
Amen

Loving God, as we enter this season of Advent, our hearts are conflicted:
Yes, we are joyful in the anticipation of celebrating the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ,
yet we cannot help but feel the weight of the turmoil and uncertainty
that surrounds us in our world today.
In the midst of chaos and fear, we turn to you, our Rock and our Redeemer.
We find comfort in your Word, which reminds us that you are our only true source
of hope and peace in the current darkness.
As we light the first candle of hope, we pray that you would ignite a flame of hope in our hearts.
May we be reminded that our hope is not in the stability of our circumstances,
but in the unchanging nature of your character and the promises you have made to us.
Amen