We begin our prayers this evening with the Lenten prayer that forms part of our Lent study materials
and that we are using as the Prayer of the Week in our Sunday morning services throughout Lent:

Lenten Prayer

God who calls us on our journey, as we remember Jesus’ time in the wilderness,
help us to cast aside those things that get in the way of hearing your word.
Help us to seek you in the places of bounteous beauty and of barren bleakness.
Help us to seek you in the faces of friends and in the smiles of strangers.
Help our devotion to be made real in the actions of our lives.
When we have looked deep into our own hearts and struggled with who we are,
send angels to minister to us and draw us out from our own wilderness
to fulfil our calling to serve you.
In Christ’s name.

Amen

A reading from the prophet Isaiah

¹⁵ This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says:

‘In repentance and rest is your salvation,
in quietness and trust is your strength,
but you would have none of it.
¹⁶ You said, “No, we will flee on horses.”
Therefore you will flee!
You said, “We will ride off on swift horses.”
Therefore your pursuers will be swift!
¹⁷ A thousand will flee
at the threat of one;
at the threat of five
you will all flee away,
till you are left
like a flagstaff on a mountaintop,
like a banner on a hill.’

¹⁸ Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you;
therefore he will rise up to show you compassion.
For the Lord is a God of justice.
Blessed are all who wait for him!

Isaiah 30: 15–18 NIV®

Holy Lord, through prayer and honest self-evaluation in this season of Lent,
may our repentance be sincere, so that we may rest in your salvation,
peacefully putting our trust in you.
Help us to face up to our own wrongdoings, and not to deny them or run away.
Strengthen our faith, so that we may recognise the working of your purpose in our lives,
and prepare ourselves to follow wherever you may lead us.
As we prepare ourselves for a night of rest, we place at your feet all the unresolved issues of today,
and prepare ourselves to be ready in the morning to tackle the tasks you offer us.

As followers of Jesus Christ may we be prepared to be hands to do his work
and feet to run his errands for the good of our neighbours near and far.
We pray for all those whom we wish to care but are unable to visit.

We pray for children returning to school who may find it difficult to adjust to their new routine.

As the Church of Christ the Cornerstone, may we plan our future worship
as the restrictions on meeting together are eased
so that we do not exclude any of our community who are still unable to attend in person.
We thank you most heartily for the new communication technologies
that have allowed us to hold our church community together during lockdown,
and we pray that we may continue to learn how to exploit them to improve our discipleship.

Finally, we pray for ourselves and our families.
Grant us those gifts that will enable us to fulfil your mission in our daily lives.

Amen

So, we close our time of prayer by saying the Grace to one another,
whether we be together or far apart:

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the love of God
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit
be with us all, evermore.

Amen