Evening Prayer Friday, 10 July 2020
Good evening, everyone.
As we draw towards the close of the day,
I’d like us to begin our prayer time by listening to an evening hymn.
Please click on the link below to join in with or listen to
the congregation of Durham Road Baptist Church, Gateshead
as they sing, ‘The Day Thou Gavest, Lord, is ended.’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCuvVPycy2Q
Whenever I sing this hymn, I am reminded that it is included every year in the World Day of Prayer service each March. The rest of that service varies considerably year by year, because it is prepared by women from different countries, but the service traditionally concludes with this hymn, because it reflects the nature of the occasion – throughout the 24 hours of the Day of Prayer, people across the world meet together to pray. Today, let it remind us that, while we sleep, people all round the world are praying for us, just as at other times, we pray for them.
Over the last few months, since we have been unable to meet together, I have found it very reassuring to know that, twice each day, we have been brought together through these prayer times. I hope that you too have been conscious of a developing sense of community, among those who pray together, day by day.
This evening, I am going to begin our prayer time with a reading from the Psalms:
1 May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face shine on us—
2 so that your ways may be known on earth,
your salvation among all nations.
3 May the peoples praise you, God;
may all the peoples praise you.
4 May the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for you rule the peoples with equity
and guide the nations of the earth.
5 May the peoples praise you, God;
may all the peoples praise you.
6 The land yields its harvest;
God, our God, blesses us.
7 May God bless us still,
so that all the ends of the earth will fear him.
Psalm 67 NIV®
And so we pray this evening:
Thank you, God our Father, for you have blessed us.
We thank you for the wonder of your creation –
created for us to enjoy, with our needs in mind.
We thank you that some of us,
whose lives have been restricted during the lockdown,
have had more leisure to enjoy the beauty of your world close to our homes.
Open our eyes to see the variety and richness of your creation.
Teach us to use all our senses to appreciate fully how special this is.
Hear our prayer, Lord,
and bless us with your Spirit.
Loving God, we thank you for all the gifts you have given us;
gifts which enrich our lives and our relationships;
gifts and talents we try to use in service to others;
unexpected gifts which delight us
and challenges which we may not always recognise as gifts,
but which have developed our understanding of ourselves
and opened our eyes to new possibilities.
We pray that you will show us how to use these gifts wisely and effectively in your service.
Hear our prayer, Lord,
and bless us with your Spirit.
We ask you to forgive us that, to satisfy our short-term desires,
we sometimes abuse and allow others to abuse your gifts.
Forgive us if, in the usual rush and busyness of our daily life,
we take for granted or ignore the beauty of the world around us.
In your creation, Father, you took care of every detail
Help us to remember:
each of us matters to you
you hurt when we hurt
you rejoice when we feel happy and fulfilled
you are saddened when we neglect you and neglect others
What reassurance to know this love and care!
Thank you, Father. Help us to follow your example by showing your love to one another.
Hear our prayer, Lord,
and bless us with your Spirit.
We pray for all those people who are important to us:
family members who have nurtured us,
or whom we have had the privilege of caring for;
friends we can rely on for support and who share our joys and sorrows;
those whose word we trust, who we look to for guidance and wisdom.
Help us to appreciate how much they contribute to the richness of our lives,
to show them that we value them
and not to take what they offer us for granted.
Hear our prayer, Lord,
and bless us with your Spirit.
We pray for our church community, scattered at present
and longing to be able to meet again when it is safe to do so.
Give us unity of spirit and purpose,
so that we may have the chance to serve you again
before too long in the community of Milton Keynes.
We pray for all those who are unwell or restricted in what they can do.
We pray for Revd George, that this period of time away from work
will enable him to rest and recover his health and strength.
Give him peace of mind and spirit and surround him with your love.
Hear our prayer, Lord,
and bless us with your Spirit.
We pray for all families who have been seriously affected by the impact of the coronavirus:
Those who have lost loved ones,
and who may not have had the chance to mourn
or to celebrate their life as they would have hoped to.
Those who have been separated from people they love and care about
and have missed the chance to spend time with them.
Those who have missed other opportunities
because of restricted travel and restricted contact with others.
Help us all to see the positive benefits we have received, as well as our losses.
Grant us patience as we wait for life to return to ‘normal’.
Hear our prayer, Lord,
and bless us with your Spirit.
We pray for the worldwide church,
linked with us through our common faith and knowledge and love of you.
We think of those whose countries are even more devastated by
the impact of coronavirus than we are –
especially those in Brazil, India and USA.
We pray that they may be sustained through this difficult time by their faith in you.
Thank you, Loving God, that you make the sun rise and fall each day of our lives.
We trust in your goodness, just as we trust that the sun will rise again in the morning.
So, as the sun falls beyond the horizon,
let us remember that you are the light of the world.
Let us be assured that the sun will come up tomorrow
and drive away all darkness.
We ask all our prayers in and through the name of Jesus.
Amen
