Category: Prayer of the Week

As we gather, make us mindful of the wonderful variety of people and experiences
in our church community, in our local community, in our nation and in the wider world –
so much more accessible to us now than it was a hundred years ago.
May we be truly thankful for all these riches.
Amen

Lord Jesus, thank you for everyone who looks after children,
especially mothers on this Mothering Sunday.
Thank you,
for our families – for dads and brothers and sisters,
for grandmas and granddads and uncles and aunties, for foster carers and step parents.
Thank you,
for special friends and neighbours, childminders, nursery workers and school staff
who all share in caring for children.
Thank you,
that you love and care for us even before we are born
and that we can discover your love through the people around us.
Amen

Amazing God, you are our God, and we are your people, your children.
Help us to learn your ways, that we may love you more dearly, and learn to live more truly,
enjoying and sharing your abundant life with the whole planet.
Amen

Heavenly Father, you anointed your Son Jesus Christ with the Holy Spirit
and with power to bring to us the blessings of your kingdom.
Anoint your Church with the same Holy Spirit,
that we who share in his suffering and victory may bear witness to the gospel of salvation;
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

God of All Newness and Creation, even deep in the wilderness of Lent,
we are nevertheless new creations in your sight.
Even when we are deep within trials and tribulations,
even there we are held within your loving embrace.
In Christ, God is reconciling the world to himself.
Come, Holy Spirit, that we might be trustworthy messengers of that spirit of reconciliation.
Amen

Holy and loving God – whose nature and ways are far beyond our understanding,
we thank you for the gift of your Son Jesus – who lets us see your face in his:
who shows us your love in his actions and your grace in his manner of being.
In him too, O God, we see ourselves as you would have us be and as your power is able to make us.
Make us more like him now, we pray.
Amen

Loving God, we praise and thank you that through the saving work of your Son Jesus,
healing and life have been given to us.
Jesus’ life transforms ours, revealing hidden depths and strengths
where we only see doubt and limitations.
Thank you for the purpose that living with Jesus brings to our lives.
We know we haven’t earned what we now enjoy; it is a free gift by your Grace.
As we realise more and more fully how much Jesus means to us,
may we, like the Apostle Paul, be able to spend our lives showing others the difference Jesus makes.
Help us make ourselves all things to all people for the sake of the Good News.
Amen

Creator God, 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.
May the gift of your Holy Spirit enable our eyes, ears, and minds to receive
the unconditional love with which you love us.
Purify our hearts that we may always be ready to love our neighbour, however different, as ourselves.
Through the self-giving life of Christ our Lord.
Amen

Gracious God, you listen attentively to the cry of holocaust, yet also encourage us to sing the song of hope.
With sorrow we remember before you the tangled tale of our bonds with the Jewish people.
We repent of the centuries of hostility and hatred.
May we continue to foster a new spirit of mutual understanding,
building deeper relationships which honour the heritage of faith that we hold in common,
so that together we may bear witness to the generosity of God’s compassion and steadfast love,
which seeks to bring heaven in ordinary here on earth.
Amen

Creator God, giver of light and life, by your word you bring everything into being:
the far-flung galaxies and the tiniest atomic particle.
You have given us a world to enjoy and to care for.
Give us compassion in the use of its resources,
wisdom in our stewardship of your gifts, and reverence for all that you have made, for Jesus’ sake.
Amen

Abba Father, God of all power and wisdom, your glory shines in all creation.
You knew and loved us long before we came to be, and your love surrounds us now.
We bow before you in joyous exultation.
Jesus, Son of the Most High and King of kings, you were born into a lowly cradle;
love’s heart personified from cradle to cross and beyond to your kingdom throne.
We bow before you in joyous exultation.
Holy Spirit, moving upon the earth communicating and revealing God’s wisdom, love, and power,
you open hearts to receive and transform lives.
Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we bow before you in joyous exultation.
Amen

Jesus, the Light of the World, as we celebrate your birth,
may we begin to see the world in the light of the understanding you give us.
As you chose the lowly, the outcasts, and the poor
to receive the greatest news the world had ever known,
so may we worship you in meekness of heart.
May we also remember our brothers and sisters
less fortunate than ourselves in this season of giving.
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, we thank you for your persistence with us, never giving up on us;
and for the persistence of those who prayed for us that we might come into the kingdom.
You knew the right time for us.
You knew what lay around the corner for us then, and you know what lies ahead now.
Thank you for the excitement you fill us with.
Thank you for your Son Jesus Christ, the Messiah.
Thank you for the peace knowing him gives us.
Thank you for your Holy Spirit, the One who stirs up, who opens up your Word,
and helps us to put the pieces together that we might see the bigger picture
of Jesus and all that he came to be and do.
Thank you that there is always more to discover.
Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we give you thanks and praise.
Amen

Eternal God, throughout countless generations
you have diligently prepared a path for the arrival of your Son.
And even now, by the power of your Spirit,
you continue to shed light upon our lives, guiding us along our journey.
We humbly ask that you renew our faith and restore our hope,
so that we may warmly embrace the reign of Christ within our hearts and minds
and express our deepest affection towards him.
To him we give eternal glory and honour.
Amen