Evening Prayer Friday, 18 September 2020
Have you been enjoying the sunshine this week?
I find that it lifts my spirits, even when I feel a bit down.
Getting outside for a breath of fresh air and feeling the warmth of the sun on my back brings everything to life.
When the sun shines, I see everything in more detail – this is special.
I thought I’d share with you a few of the flowers and vegetables John has grown in our garden:
– and we have an abundance of apples too. For the last few weeks, we’ve hardly bought any fruit or vegetables.
God is good. With a little help from us he provides us with food to eat and beautiful surroundings.
At about this time of year, many churches usually celebrate the harvest,
or take this harvest season to focus on all that God has given to us.
I’d like to use our prayer time this evening to reflect on God’s generosity,
both in what he provides for us day by day and for his willingness to forgive us over and over again,
whenever we stray from the way we know he would want us to behave.
A reading from the Psalms:
1 Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name;
make known among the nations what he has done.
2 Sing to him, sing praise to him;
tell of all his wonderful acts.
3 Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
4 Look to the Lord and his strength;
seek his face always.
5 Remember the wonders he has done,
his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced,
37 He brought out Israel, laden with silver and gold,
and from among their tribes no one faltered.
39 He spread out a cloud as a covering,
and a fire to give light at night.
40 They asked, and he brought them quail;
he fed them well with the bread of heaven.
41 He opened the rock, and water gushed out;
it flowed like a river in the desert.
42 For he remembered his holy promise
given to his servant Abraham.
43 He brought out his people with rejoicing,
his chosen ones with shouts of joy;
44 he gave them the lands of the nations,
and they fell heir to what others had toiled for –
45 that they might keep his precepts
and observe his laws.
Praise the Lord.
Psalm 105: 1–5, 37 & 39–45 NIV®
Let us pray:
Generous God
Thank you for all your gifts to us. You have given us so much, and yet we often take so much for granted:
our friends and family;
our health and strength;
our talents and creativity;
We thank you that most of us do not have to struggle from day to day to find our food or feed our families.
We pray for those in this country and overseas who do not know where the next meal may come from,
for parents who go without, in order to feed their children,
for aid workers who see people die despite their best efforts to bring them food.
Show us the best way to support those in need.
Generous God, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
Ever-present, loving God
We thank you that you are always with us.
We know that we can turn to you and that you support us when we find life hard.
And so, when we see others suffering and can do nothing but witness their distress,
we place them into your loving hands.
We look in bewilderment, horror and concern at the many places in the world
where people suffer from the impact of natural disasters,
but we know that people’s behaviour can be the cause of much suffering in the world.
We pray for all those whose homes have been destroyed or who have been displaced by the wildfires in the USA.
Whether these have been caused by careless actions or by lightning strikes,
the outcome must be terrifying for those who live in the midst of this area.
We pray that support will be forthcoming for all who have been injured, bereaved, or lost their homes.
Ever-present, loving God, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
Compassionate God
We thank you that when we are ashamed of our actions, you forgive us
if we recognise what we have done wrong and do our best to put things right.
Give us courage to speak out when we are ashamed of things which are done in our name.
We pray for all those who suffer and are powerless to affect their circumstances.
At this time, we remember especially those who will become unemployed when the furlough scheme ends.
We also pray for vulnerable children, many of whom were at particular risk during lockdown.
We pray that they may find security in their return to school
and that appropriate support will be given to them and their families.
Compassionate God, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
Caring God
We thank you that you have given us free will,
and we are sorry that we do not always follow Christ’s example in the ways we behave.
When we look at our country and around the world, we are troubled by much of what we see.
We despair when we see how many people and places continue to be affected
by deliberate acts of war and aggression or from the effects of corrupt administration.
Give courage and strength to those who suffer
and grant patience and insight to all those who are working for justice, peace and reconciliation.
We pray especially for the people of Syria and Libya who have suffered so many years of conflict.
We remember children who have never known what it is to live in peace.
We remember, too, those in places which have dropped out of the headlines,
who are still affected by the impact of hurricane, earthquake, of terrorism and war.
Help us to see how we may support and help those who are in distress, wherever they may be.
Caring God, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
Healing God
We thank you that we can always trust you and rely on your support.
We ask you to bring peace and calm into the lives of all who are troubled:
those who are sick in body, mind or spirit.
those who are anxious, lonely or bereaved;
those whose relationships are broken or are under stress;
and those who live or work in stressful environments.
We pray that they will find appropriate help to support them in their distress.
May they feel you close and begin to see some light in their darkness.
Healing God, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
Patient God
Thank you for not giving up on us.
Despite the example of Jesus’s life, despite our best intentions, we often let you down.
Forgive us when we fail you through thoughtless words and careless actions.
Forgive us for those things we did not do because we were too busy with our own concerns
to see or listen to the needs of others.
Patient God, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
Listening God, we bring all our prayers in the name of Jesus Christ.
Amen
We conclude our prayer this evening by saying the Grace together:
May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
and the love of God
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all,
now and for ever.
Amen
Rosemary Kearsey
