Evening Prayers Sunday, 3 May 2020

by Robin.Kyd · 3 May 2020

Evening Prayers on this ‘Good Shepherd’ Sunday are prompted by verses from this morning’s Gospel reading from John chapter 10.

Then said Jesus: ‘In very truth I tell you, I am the door of the sheepfold.’

John 10: 7

Thank you, Father, that Jesus is our Good Shepherd
and through him we are brought into fellowship with you.
Give us understanding that we may come to know you better –
that we may see you more clearly,
love you more dearly,
and follow you more nearly,
day by day.

Lord, in your mercy:
Hear our prayer.

I am the door. Anyone who comes into the fold through me will be safe. He will go in and out and find pasture.

John 10: 9

Loving Father, when we are anxious or worried,
you gather us into your loving arms
and lead me into your heavenly sheep-fold.
Continue to guard us and guide us;
keep and protect us from all the perils and dangers of this life –
for we trust your word and praise you for your loving kindness and gracious mercy.

Lord in your mercy:
Hear our prayer.

A thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy, I have come that they may have life, and may have it in all it’s fullness. I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

John 10: 10–11

Heavenly Father, we thank you for Jesus the Good Shepherd,
who laid down his life for us that we might live with you for ever.
We rejoice this Eastertide that Christ is risen from the dead
so that now we can live in newness of life in Him.

Lord in your mercy:
Hear our prayer.

I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.

John 10: 14–15

Heavenly Father, we thank you for the gift of your precious son Jesus
who through his life and example gives us a supreme template for daily living,
and shows us the ways of kindness, compassion, tolerance and peace.

Lord in your mercy:
Hear our prayer.

I give them eternal life and they will never perish; no one can snatch them from my care.

John 10: 29

Heavenly Father, thank you for this glorious truth
that Christ in his humanity demonstrated how we may live,
as you intended all your children to live.
Help us to live in joyful obedience to your will and purpose,
until, like the apostle Paul, we may say,

The life I now live is not my life, but the life which Christ lives in me. This is the purpose of God for us all, now disclosed to his people – Christ in you, the hope of glory!

Galatians 2: 9–21

Lord in your mercy:
Hear our prayer.

To conclude our prayers on this ‘Good Shepherd Sunday’, a simple setting of Psalm 23 by Harrison Oxley, former Organist of St Edmundsbury Cathedral:

My Shepherd is Lord, I have all I need,
giving me rest in green and pleasant fields,
reviving my soul by finding fresh water,
guiding my ways with a shepherd’s care.

Though I should walk in death’s dark valley,
I fear no evil with you by my side,
your shepherd’s staff to comfort me.

You spread my table in sight of my foes,
anoint my head, my cup runs over,
you tend me with love always loyal
I dwell with the Lord as long as I live.