Evening Prayers Sunday, 24 May 2020
This evening, I suggest that we each call to mind those events which have made an impact on us in the news this week. With these people and places in mind, I would like to use the Lord’s Prayer as a framework for our intercessions. Please click on the link below, for ‘The Lord’s Prayer’ from David Fanshawe’s ‘African Sanctus’, to begin our prayer time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlW0FRKi7WY
Our Father in Heaven – hallowed be your name
Your name, Loving God, is holy.
You have created our world and are greater and more powerful than we can imagine.
Teach us to stop, to hear, to see and to feel your greatness and your power.
Open our eyes and our hearts, to be touched by the beauty of your world and by your love, which we see in others.
Take away our fear.
Help us to trust you and to accept your love.
You love us like a parent.
We know that and offer our love in return.
We pray that all may know your love.
At this time, we bring before you all those who are sad,
or lonely or bereaved
and ask that they may feel close to you
and know that you are always there for them.
Your Kingdom come
This is your world, Loving God.
Your world, which we take for granted,
and do not always treat with the respect that it deserves.
Remind us to be careful of the earth’s resources,
entrusted to us for us to use,
to cherish,
and to pass on,
but not to waste.
This is your world, loving God,
Your world, which is torn apart by war and hatred, by obstinacy and conceit.
We pray especially this evening for people in war-torn counties
like Afghanistan and Syria
who are also suffering from the virus,
in more difficult circumstances than we are.
We pray, for peace where there is no peace;
for reconciliation where hard hearts and closed minds cannot see your will.
We pray that those who use their imagination to find new ways to build bridges,
will continue to be strengthened as they seek to do your work and to show your love in action.
May your kingdom come, your will be done
Thank you for the gift and responsibility of free will.
Our lives are rich because we have choices to make
and the chance to make decisions which affect us and affect those around us.
But sometimes we make easy choices, not wise ones.
Help us to use the restrictions of the lockdown
to notice and be thankful for the freedom we usually experience.
Sometimes we feel powerless to influence decisions which seem to go against your will.
Guide all those in positions of authority and influence
and teach us how we can play our part so that your will be done.
Give us today, our daily bread
Bread for today – bread for the world.
Your strength for today – your daily presence with us.
We thank you for our material possessions.
We thank you that we do not need to wonder where our next meal will come from.
We bring before you now all who are hungry today,
all who do not know what or when they will eat next,
or who will still be hungry when they have eaten.
We pray for those who watch their children starve
and can do nothing but watch.
We pray for all aid agencies and workers
who seek to bring relief in areas of drought and famine.
We thank you for the work of the Milton Keynes Food Bank,
which continues to offer support to hungry local people in this time of crisis.
We pray for all those throughout the country who need to use the food banks
in order both to feed their family and to pay their bills.
Remind us constantly that all people are our brothers and sisters
and show us how to play our part in helping them to lead fulfilling lives.
Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us
Never let us forget that these two phrases run together.
We have your forgiveness, because you have shown us how to forgive.
Bitterness, hatred and the desire for vengeance are so strong in the world today.
Help us to raise our voices with your message of forgiveness for all those who repent.
Help us to show others that it is through forgiveness and acceptance that lives can be transformed.
Give us compassion for those who suffer.
May all those who feel guilty,
come to know that your forgiveness and peace
is available to all who truly repent.
Lead us not into temptation
It’s very easy when we watch the news to be critical of other people.
We are sometimes shocked by the deeds we hear reported.
But we know that we are tempted too,
and in many ways, our lives fall short of the example Jesus gave us.
We pray that we may keep that example before us
and make choices which he would make.
Lead us not into temptation and deliver us from evil.
The Kingdom, the power and the glory are yours, Lord.
Now and for ever.
We bring all our prayers to you now, in the name of Jesus.
Amen
