Evening Prayer Friday, 18 June 2021
Good evening, everyone. Welcome to Friday evening’s prayers.
Let us pray:
Thank you, loving God, for making us the people we are,
and helping us to understand that we are precious in your sight.
With thankful hearts, we ask you to help us appreciate all that we experience in our daily lives –
the people we meet and the places we go and everything in our locality which enriches our lives.
We thank you too for communications which keep us in touch with the rest of your family worldwide,
for a sense of community and a sense of belonging
which highlights our responsibility as members of that family.
For some of us this sense of community has been missing over these last months,
especially while our building was closed.
We thank you that we have been able to hold services in the building again recently,
but we are conscious that many members of our congregation may not feel able to join us yet.
So we thank you for the technology which has kept us in touch over the last few months
and that arrangements are still in place for services on line.
We have seen the pattern of life changing around us –
for those who have been confined to home,
for those who have some fears about taking up previous activities,
and for those who have soldiered on in jobs which are essential for the rest of us,
taking risks from which most of us have been able to protect ourselves.
Whatever our personal situation, we pray that, during this period of beautiful, fine weather,
which shows us the beauty of nature in all its splendour,
we may open our eyes, take deep breaths
and offer thanks and praise for the wonder of your gifts to us.
And so we pray now for all whose opportunity to appreciate the beauty of nature
is restricted in some way.
We think of those who are suffering from illnesses and conditions
which limit their lives in some way.
We think of those whose work–life balance restricts their free time
and limits the choices they can make.
We think of those who take care of others.
We pray that they may have support themselves,
so that they don’t become weighed down by their responsibilities.
Lord, in your mercy,
hear our prayer.
We pray for people throughout the world who are still suffering
from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
It is so easy to become focused on the way our own lives have been affected,
that we sometimes need to make a special effort to look outside our own borders.
We pray for people whose lives will be affected by the reduction
in the British Overseas Aid budget.
We thank you that the World Health Organisation has drawn attention
to the shocking waste of life-saving drugs, which may have to be needlessly destroyed.
We urgently pray that a way may be found to avoid this waste and to maintain the support which had been promised.
Lord, in your mercy,
hear our prayer.
We pray for all leaders and decision makers
that they may avoid those actions which fuel bitterness and hatred,
and have the insight and integrity to seek creative solutions which lead to peace.
Lord, in your mercy,
hear our prayer.
We pray for all who have been bereaved,
all whose lives have been turned upside down by contracting the virus,
all whose operations have been cancelled,
leaving them with on-going pain which they were hoping to overcome.
We commend them all to your care
and ask that they may sense that they are not alone in their suffering.
Lord, in your mercy,
hear our prayer.
And now a hymn written by John Bell and Graham Maule of the Iona Community:
And now, as we close our time together:
Give us open eyes which see the hurt in your world, Lord.
Give us open ears to hear those who cry.
Give us hearts which can stay alongside that pain.
Give us the words to say, to share your love.
Show us how to bring joy, love, peace and hope into your suffering world.
Calm troubled minds and hearts.
Share our joys, our sorrows and our anxieties.
Give us peace, hope and confidence to face the coming week.
We bring all our prayers to you in the name of Jesus, our Lord and Saviour.
Amen
Rosemary Kearsey
