Prayers
Sarah led our prayers on Sunday morning during our Communion service. They’re worth sharing again!
Father, we thank you, not only for being our Creator, Sustainer and Saviour, but also that through Christ’s life, death, resurrection and ascension you have declared him to be Lord. We meet you in worship and prayer, in the fellowship of your people and through your word.
Lord, hear us. Lord, graciously hear us.
Father, we thank you for those who lead us in our worship and in our ministry at St George and St Mary’s. We ask you to bless our Bishops, church leaders, readers, wardens and PCC and all who share in the ministry here in Gresley. We especially pray this morning for Rev Mike Firbank, Kathryn and their family and we ask you to bless them and we pray that their move to Gresley will be an easy one and we welcome them wholly into our fellowship. We ask your Holy Spirit to give our leaders the wisdom to teach; for courage to serve Christ and the strength to love each other; for commitment to share our faith and God’s love with our neighbour.
Lord, hear us. Lord, graciously hear us.
Father, we pray for our world. We pray for those who are hungry, starving in need of food, for those in refugee camps with no control and no power as the conditions they face mean they are unable to grow their own food. For those who are hungry because of drought, human foolishness or human greed. May the truth of Christ change the world. We pray especially for the people of Sudan, Syria and Afghanistan as they move towards the release of our armed forces.
Father, we pray for oppressive and cruel governments around the world; for those who show little care or compassion to their people, for those whose corruption is robbing their people of the resources that would change their lives and for those who are unmoved by those who are suffering for their faith in you.
We thank you, Lord, for charities like Christian Aid, Tearfund, Save the Children, Oxfam and many more who work so hard and tirelessly to give those who have nothing something more.
Lord, please give our world leaders wisdom and strength to deal with the issues in our fallen world today.
Lord, hear us. Lord, graciously hear us.
Lord, we pray that you bless our community, our schools and our caring services to those who are vulnerable or unable to care for themselves. We thank you for our local food banks which serve our community.
We pray for those who are unemployed or have been made redundant and are tempted to feel that they do not matter anymore, for those with young families and families who care for those with disabilities. We pray for those who care for the elderly, that they have time and patience to sit and spend time with them. We pray for your strength and patience, Lord, to deal with all the circumstances they may come up against.
We thank you, Lord, for our pastoral team and Messy Church which reaches out to those in need and families and Lord we pray that you continue to bless the iMake group which is bringing members of the community together. We pray for Sue in her leadership of this.
We are so blessed, Lord, at Gresley with a multitude of gifts and talents and we thank you for that.
Lord, hear us. Lord, graciously hear us.
Lord, we pray this morning for anyone we know who is suffering with illness, We pray especially for Bob, Tony, Linda and David Perrett. We pray for healing and strength and also guidance for those caring for them, their families and hospital staff and carers. We pray for those who suffer from depression, the invisible illness. Lord it is so hard sometimes for others to understand what depression really is and how hard it is to live everyday life, how damaging it is for relationships. Lord, I pray for a renewal of mind, that your word will be above all and that your light will shine through the darkness for all those who are suffering.
We are so fortunate Lord that we have you in our times of trouble and we thank you with words that cannot be expressed.
Lord, hear us. Lord, graciously hear us.
Finally Lord, we pray for ourselves. Lord, I pray that you feed us with your word, that you keep our eyes fixed on you. Lord, I pray that as we come into this new era at St George and St Mary’s you fill us with your spirit and sustain us. Help us to show your love to those around us and to those who don’t know you; that you fill us with integrity that what we are on the outside is the same as the inside. We are all a different part of the jigsaw puzzle that ends in a very large picture of your family. How wonderful to be part of the picture. Guide us, Lord, and strengthen us, as we go into our community over the next week.
This week, Lord, whatever we face we do not face it alone. Wherever we go, we do not journey alone, however we suffer we do not bear it alone. Whoever we are and wherever we go and however we journey, we go in peace, in hope and in faith for we go with Christ, who always goes with us.
Merciful Father, accept these prayers, for the sake of your Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.