Prayers

A prayer for those in need:

Father God, source of all wonder and beauty in this world of ours, origin of all love and compassion, it is difficult for us to look at suffering and not ask the question 'Why?'
When family and friends fall ill, or we ourselves are stricken down, we turn to you and look for peace, comfort, reassurance but most of all for healing.
We rejoice when healing comes, and thank you for your loving concern for each of one of us,
But when illness progresses, and sometimes leads to pain and death we turn inward and begin to blame ourselves…….. the healing has not begun because our faith was incomplete.
Yet we know this cannot be so, because this concept is incompatible with the God of Love we serve.
And so the argument revolves and oft times fails to find an answer.
We know we all have needs, both spiritual and physical, and needs are met in various ways - not always obvious to our earthly eyes.
Help us to see that in the end, all will be revealed in the presence of your glory and our 'Why?' will turn to the nod of understanding. And that despite our fears, despite our lack of faith one thing remains secure and that is your loving concern for each one of us.

A prayer for Pentecost

Pentecost is indeed a time of celebration. A celebration that two thousand years of oppression have failed to extinguish the fire of the Spirit

God of Pentecost
Keep alight your fire in our hearts

It's a celebration that remembers the surprise on the faces of those gathered on that first Pentecost, when they heard Your word speaking to their hearts

God of Pentecost
Keep alight your fire in our hearts

It's a celebration that remembers the generations of disciples who have carried the torch of your flame to the furthest corners of this world in which we live

God of Pentecost
Keep alight your fire in our hearts

It's a celebration that remembers the warm feeling in our hearts when we first heard you speaking directly to us through your word and your messengers.

God of Pentecost
Keep alight your fire in our hearts

It's a celebration that not only looks back, but looks forward to all that you are going to do, as we take up the flame of your Spirit and hold it aloft to a world which chooses darkness rather than light

God of Pentecost
Keep alight your fire in our hearts

"AS I PRAYED" I said, "God, I hurt." And God said, I know."

I said, "God, I cry a lot." And God said, "That is why I gave you tears."

I said, "God, I am so depressed." And God said, "That is why I gave you Sunshine."

I said, "God, life is so hard." And God said, "That is why I gave you loved ones."

I said, "God, my loved one died." And God said, "So did mine."

I said, "God, it is such a loss." And God said, I saw mine nailed to a cross."

I said, "God, but your loved one lives." And God said, "So does yours."

I said, "God, where are they now?" And God said, "Mine is on My right and yours is in the Light."

I said, "God, I miss them." And God said, I know. "But worry not, for the second coming of MINE is close at hand.

"AMEN"

A prayer of blessing:

May you know the love of the heavenly Father deep in your heart
May you understand your significance in the centre of His family,
and the bonds that hold you and I so close as brother and sister
May you understand the lengths that He was prepared to go for you and I
and freely respond in the Today which he has given for us to cherish.

A prayer of thankfulness:

In the midst of darkness, this world, this country, this city, this street, this house in which I live, it is your light by which I see, all others too dim to break through the smog that conceals your glory to my neighbour
May your light so shine in our lives
That others might see you, and seeing you respond - hold out their hand to grasp the flame that cuts through the grime of lives spoiled and cloudy, to show the beauty of the person within.

A Blessing:

May God the Creator grant you the insight to see the beauty that exists both in city and in countryside, sometimes in hidden places.

May Jesus the Saviour grant you the courage to share your faith with others, and the wisdom to know when the time is right

May the Holy Spirit grant you the wisdom to see the good in others,

the knowledge that all love has its origins in the Godhead,

and the understanding that His love extends to all that He has created.

An intercession leading up to Easter:

Forty days alone, a wilderness of thoughts, tempting and inviting thoughts which could so easily have distracted you from your task, your mission, your vision.

Yet you emerged, stronger and more attuned to all that had to be done, despite a time constraint that to our eyes would have seemed hopeless.

We too live in stressful times. Demands are made of our time that leaves so little for the important things of life. We are so easily distracted in the wilderness of our lives, by every call to go this way or that, to turn stone to bread, leap from mountains and do all that would keep us from the truth.

We listen to the voices of this world and ignore the one who endured all this and so much more, and emerged triumphant that we might not have to suffer so.

Forgive us, Father when we get distracted from our task, our mission. Forgive us those times when we try to be all things to all men, and fail to be anything.

A Prayer for Spring

When you created this world and all that exists upon it, and breathed your life-giving breath upon those first organisms, did you get a thrill as that first flower bloomed?

Was it exactly as you had designed it?

We buy our seeds in packets, drawn by the promise of a photograph or drawing, aided by books and TV programs and yet still marvel when those first seeds germinate, grow and eventually burst into flower. You had no such help in planning your garden and yet achieved perfection.

I look at any wayside bank and see a herbaceous border balanced in size and color. I see the broad sweep of a hillside and the subtle shades of green transform through the season to give a breadth of color that any garden designer would be proud to have created.

Thank you for Springtime, Creator God, and for the inspiration it provides to me, a gardener.

A Prayer of Thanksgiving:

He came that we might have life

And have it abundantly

Thanks be to God

He came that we might know love

And knowing, might share

Thanks be to God

He emptied himself of life and love

That we might be filled with both

Prayers for Easter

Blest are you, Lord Jesus who came to us a little child, one of us, flesh and blood to share in our humanity

For God so loved the world