Evening Prayer Friday, 30 July 2021
Good evening, everyone. Welcome to Friday evening’s prayers.
Let us pray:
God, our Maker, Support and Guide, we thank you for this opportunity to reflect on your generosity to us and your constant care.
Thank you that we have the confidence to know that we do not have to earn your love, but that it is given freely.
Help us to return this love by remaining close to you and by sharing your love with others.
This evening we begin by bringing to you our personal anxieties, sorrows and concerns, and lay them at your feet.
Thank you for listening, supporting and being alongside us.
Refresh us with your Spirit to enable us to share the gift of your Spirit with others.
And so, we cast our vision wider and think of the needs of others, close to home and throughout the world.
We ask for the energy, vision and compassion of your Spirit
to underpin all that takes place in the world of politics and international affairs.
That all who hold office and exercise power throughout the world may hold a clear vision of what is just
and may work in co-operation with others to find lasting, fair solutions to the world’s problems,
those caused by the thoughtless or aggressive actions of governments or individuals
and those over which governments and individuals lack control, like natural disasters and the spread of disease.
May your Spirit inspire loving and caring attitudes, which lead to cooperation and recovery.
Lord. In your mercy
Hear our prayer.
We ask for the hope and comfort of your Spirit for those whose lives are overshadowed by illness or pain,
both those with on-going conditions which make it difficult for them to participate in activities they might otherwise enjoy
and those who have a life-threatening condition.
We thank you for the skill and dedication of all who work in palliative care,
for those who support anxious families and friends,
and those who use their medical and scientific skills to research new ways to ease pain and suffering.
We pray that the hope and comfort of your Spirit may reach into the lives of all who suffer and bring them peace.
Lord. In your mercy
Hear our prayer.
We ask for the peace of your Spirit to rest on all who are anxious.
Those who feel helpless because they are too far from family and friends who might appreciate their support.
Those who are waiting for a medical diagnosis or for news of the prognosis for someone they love.
May they feel your presence with them and know the peace of your Spirit in their heart.
Lord. In your mercy
Hear our prayer.
We thank you too for the ways in which ordinary people can influence the lives of others.
We ask for the energy, vision and compassion of your Spirit to blossom in our own lives,
so that we too, both individually, and as a church may take opportunities to get alongside people and support them in times of need.
Lord. In your mercy
Hear our prayer.
We ask for peace and joy of your Spirit for all who feel anxious, guilty or lonely or who feel cut off from you.
We pray for all who seek employment, all who struggle to make ends meet
and all who are cut off from the support of friends and family.
Lord. In your mercy
Hear our prayer.
We ask for the guidance and strength of your Spirit for your Church throughout the world.
May all your people walk closely with you, so that your Church may shine as a beacon of light in the darkest places of the world.
We pray for our own Church of Christ the Cornerstone.
We ask you to strengthen our community here, so that our vision of an Oasis of Hope may come to fruition.
May we each reflect on what contribution we might make to bringing your light and hope to the people of Milton Keynes.
We pray for our clergy and church leaders, that they may act with insight and integrity;
that all church members may offer support to them and to one another,
so that your church may grow into a strong community, able to look outside its own walls,
following Jesus’s example by caring for, working for and welcoming all people of any faith and none.
Lord. In your mercy
Hear our prayer.
Loving God,
We ask for the assurance of your Spirit
to know your presence with us in our daily lives:
- in our relationships;
- in our work and service;
- in our worship;
- in our times of joy and times of pain.
May we grow closer to you, better able to give the gift of your love to those around us.
We bring all our prayers in the name of Jesus.
Amen
Rosemary Kearsey
