It’s been a long holiday period for me so today I’m getting back into the swing. Over the next few months I will be sharing worship with an assistant, so prayers may well not be as prolific in the past. I’m also changing the format of how the prayers appear so there will no longer be a separate entry for each prayer. Instead in a paragraph at the beginning of each entry there will be an indication of what there is below. As always, please find them free for use – I’m writing anyway so more than happy that others borrow ideas that may suit their own situations. I certainly don’t promise that all or any will be brilliant.
So below today you will find Call to Worship, Opening Prayer, Offertory Prayer and Prayers of the People.
Call to Worship
As the words of the Lord
unfold around us,
He brings light
to our understanding.
Shaping life
with command, promise and love
the Lord is merciful
in the direction offered.
In the times
when tears of frustration and failure flow,
the presence of the living God
enlightens the overwhelming darkness
to offer seeds of hope and expectation.
Let us worship the Lord
who has called us
into the presence
of the kingdom of Heaven.
Opening Prayer
Lord of the story,
from the beginning of time
You have loved and shaped this creation
with the presence of Your voice.
You spoke
and light and dark,
land and sea,
plant and animal,
day and night
all took their shape and place
at Your command.
In narrative, folktale,
drama, tragedy, comedy,
fable, myth and parable
the presence of the kingdom of heaven
within human life and experience
is related in the words of Scripture,
old and new.
It is an unfinished tale,
and in lives shaped by Your Holy Spirit,
the story of Your creative presence
continues
as Your words are voiced
in the following of Christ’s path.
It is our words,
spoken and unsaid,
that give voice
to hurt and harm.
Our stories
tell of the wounds we bear
and the sorrows we carry,
and as we listen for the soothing balm
that leads us to offer forgiveness,
we come seeking Your forgiveness
for the pain and anguish
we have caused in the lives of others.
Forgive us for keeping
the treasure of Your presence
to ourselves,
believing that in sharing
Your words
that their truth and value diminishes.
Silence
In Your mercy
You inspire us and renew us
in the story that will unfold through our lives.
Amen.
Offertory Prayer
God of heaven,
as Your story unfolds in our lives
hidden within each of us
the treasure of the kingdom of heaven
reveals itself
to those in need of Your presence.
In the gifts we make this day,
we give from the treasure we have been given,
so that Your life-giving word
may offer joy to others,
in Christ’s name.
Amen.
Prayers of the People
Presence of Heaven,
found in the ordinary of our existence,
we praise You
for Your tenacity of care for creation.
You who is the treasure
who brings strength to our weaknesses,
we bow our heads
shaped by the awe
of the moments of the revealing
of the kingdom of heaven
in the simplicity
of all that surrounds each day.
Remembering the times
when we have been laid low
by circumstance and expectation,
we thank You for Your presence
bursting through the boundaries
we have placed for protection,
that have given us new vision
and insight of the plans You have made.
Compassionate God,
in our prayers
we remember those
who seek Your treasure in their lives.
We pray for those
seeking to grow in faith,
or longing for a spiritual experience.
Lord, Your will be done,
YOUR KINGDOM COME IN US.
We pray for those
who are living in hardship of persecution,
for those who experience peril and danger.
We pray for the people of Gaza,
who find their life burdened by restrictions and barriers;
trapped in a cycle of movement and destruction.
And we pray for the people of Israel,
knowing that a people is more than a government or a state.
Strengthen those who seek Your kingdom
in the midst of separation and conflict,
that by striving for peace and freedom,
the light of Your love
may bring peace and hope to the situation.
Lord, Your will be done,
YOUR KINGDOM COME IN US.
We pray for those
who carry the burden of grief,
and remember those
for whom each day is a reminder
of all they have lost.
As the story of the loss of life from flight MH17
continues to unfold,
we pray for those who have lost loved ones,
and who are uncertain of what the future now holds.
As discussions continue about access to the crash site,
may there be respect for the life lost.
Uphold those who are seeking Your kingdom
in the midst of their anguish,
that they may find comfort.
Salve the angry voices of nations
to allow for sensitive discussion
that ensures respect for all life.
Lord, Your will be done,
YOUR KINGDOM COME IN US.
Remembering times, places, and people
in whom we have discovered something of the treasure
of the kingdom of heaven,
we praise You, loving Lord
for the richness of the faith we have met in others.
Lord, Your will be done,
YOUR KINGDOM COME IN US.
Amen.
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