United Reformed Church Northern Synod

September Prayers

Prayers of Thanksgiving

Creator God, who divided the waters – creating continents and islands, containing seas and oceans within the hidden grasp of planets and their magnetic forces, we thank you and praise you for the inventiveness of the human mind and our thirst for information, for software and web-site designers, computer engineers and chip manufacturers. For the wonder and creativity of your work,
Creator God we thank you.

Life giving God, who shaped the earth, breathed life into dust, creating human kind with water, cells and organs and the complex controls of brain and conscience, we thank you for the skill of mind and hand, for those who seek to bring well-being to our communities, by caring for the health of those within them and all those whose work demands love and self-giving.  For the wonder and creativity of your work,
Living God we thank you.

Inspirational God who set aside men and women, creating people and tribes and nations, sharing creativity, knowledge and potential within power-packed genes of natural talents and nurtured abilities, we thank you for those who plan and serve in our communities, for chief executives, line managers, team leaders and supervisors; company secretaries, project managers and site managers, For the wonder and creativity of your work,
Inspirational God we thank you.

Challenging God who calls us to a new and Spirit filled life – lived out in faithfulness and just living, we thank you for people whose work helps us to work, who inspire, surprise and change us. Though you are everywhere, be in the world this week through me. May my actions be a demonstration of your love; my words the vehicle of your counsel; my attitude an expression of your nature; my concerns a reflection of your heart. And help me Lord not to pray that I may be kept from hostile places but rather that in their darkness your light may shine through me. For the wonder and creativity of your work,
Challenging God we thank you.

…………….the Lords Prayer.

 

Prayers of Confession

For the times when have failed to affirm the goodness in our world and to give praise to you the God of all creation, from whom all goodness flows:
Lord have mercy
For the times when we have been too frightened to meet you in the realities of our daily lives and to take the risks that your love demands:
Lord have mercy
For the times when failed to see your divine handiwork within the mundane and ordinary of the everyday, and when we have not recognised the value of our human work:
Lord have mercy
For the times when we have destroyed the joy you wish for us in your creation and been blind to your purposes and will:
Lord have mercy
Loving God have mercy on us and pardon our sins, open our eyes to see you at the heart of all life, and teach us to live abundantly, in your world and in your time. Amen

Prayers of Intercession

Loving God may your grace and peace fill the places where we live and work. Teach us to love one another as you love us.

We give thanks for those with whom we work, for our interdependence on each other and the differing gifts and talents which we bring together to give glory to you. May we serve on another in a spirit of mutual respect and loving service. Help us to support one another so that we may all find dignity and fulfilment in our work. You call us as partners in building your kingdom in our schools and factories, in our shops and offices, in our hospitals and prisons
Through our lives and by our prayers, your kingdom come.

Loving God may we know your power to protect and strengthen us in all we do for good. We pray for all those whose work is physically dangerous, mind-numbing or soul-destroying. For all those who have been injured or distressed through their work, for those who have no capacity to work and for those who have no work. You call us to have strength and courage in our work
Through our lives and by our prayers, your kingdom come.

Loving God be with us in the ambiguities of daily life and work and help us to seek your wisdom and will in all we do. We pray for those whose work is difficult to reconcile with their human dignity, those who suffer abuse at work, those who have to face injustice and distortion of truth. We pray for all who have to face complex moral and ethical decisions in their work for which there is no easy answer. You call us to struggle with uncertainty yet to be wise in our work
Through our lives and by our prayers, your kingdom come.

Loving God be with us when our work is a delight and a joy. We give thanks for the joy that we can experience in our work, in all that we create and the potential for good that is still waiting to be released. We pray for the differing gifts that you have given to each of us and for the calling to serve you in the world as members of the body of Christ. We offer you our lives and all that we are. Stir up the gift of faith and help us to grow to be the person you know us to be.
Through our lives and by our prayers, your kingdom come.

O God who set before us the great hope that your Kingdom shall come on earth and taught us to pray for its coming give us grace to discern the signs of its dawning and to work for the perfect day when the whole world shall reflect your glory through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

Benediction:

 May the light of your soul guide you.  May the light of your soul bless the work that you do with the secret love and warmth of your heart. May you see in what you do the beauty of your own soul. May the sacredness of your work bring healing, light and renewal to those who work with you and to those who see and receive your work. May the God of the everyday, give us the strength and wisdom to turn your Word and our prayers into action in the world, and the blessing of God almighty, The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit be among you and remain with you always. Amen.

 

Thanksgiving

Gracious God we thank you for the summer season now gradually coming to an end, for swallows gathering in twittering flocks on telephone wires soon to migrate to South Africa, for yellowing lime tree leaves, lazy wasps on jammy knives, bees feeding on heather, ploughed fields, hawthorn bushes laden with crimson berries, clusters of elderberries and on brambles ripening blackberries. For the beauty and bounty of the world we thank you and give you our praise and thanksgiving.

Thank you for our families, our children, grandchildren and godchildren. For the joy and richness of family life, holidays and sizzling BBQs, for reunions, the proms,  summer sports, Test match success and the start of the football season. Thank you for our beautiful region, its historic buildings, national parks, and visitor attractions, Hadrian’s Wall, the Alnwick Gardens, windswept beaches, open moors and woodland walks.

Thank you for those who care for us in our homes and in the community, the friendly smile, the smiling face, for our doctors and nurses, teachers, shop assistants, computer technicians, for our emergency services and those who have worked through the night to keep us safe and well.

But above all we thank you for our Risen Saviour, Jesus Christ, your son and our friend, for his life and death, his witness to your unfailing love, a constant companion on our journey and pilgrimage, walking with us with providing peace and hope for the future.

Come now Risen Saviour and bathe our worship this morning in the light of your resurrected presence, for we are assured that where two or three are gathered in your name you are surely here with us.

 

Intercessions

Father we make our prayers this morning for the United Reformed Church, for this church, its elders and the work of mission, for Rowena our synod moderator, our ecumenical friends here in this city, for John our assembly moderator, Roberta our General Secretary, for friends recently ordained and inducted into local churches, for rededicated church buildings, and the recently baptised and those preparing for marriage. In our synod cycle of prayer we pray for....

We pray for our world, its environment,  people and leaders, a world of global warming, rising food and fuel costs, where significant shortages are driving millions toward famine. We remember people suffering from oppression of dictatorships in Africa and Asia, and for the nation of Iran and Afghanistan we pray.  For the hungry and poor of the world we also pray, for the peoples of Mozambique, Bangkok, Tibet and Zimbabwe, and for our own armed services, their families and friends serving in Iraq and Afghanistan we remember them, their service and duty, particularly those mourning the loss of loved ones recently killed this week in action. 

We pray for those who live and work in this city, business partners, elected members, microbiologists, shopkeepers, doctors, hairdressers, and town planners. We pray particularly today for all employed in the world of finance, and governments who are trying to resolve the world’s present financial problems. We also pray this morning for children and teachers returning to schools next  week - God of truth and love, we remember before you those who train the minds of our children, for the new knowledge and skills they impart, experiences, pleasures and insights. We pray for children and students who are vulnerable, sad and lonely. 

Heavenly Father we commend to your love and care those who suffer in body, mind and spirit and especially those known to us, the incapacitated, the handicapped, the elderly, the infirm, the mentally ill, victims of addiction, violence and knife crime, drugs and drink, those who suffer for the sake of conscience and all prisoners, for ministers discriminated against because of their sexual orientation. We hold up these people to you in silence now. In your mercy and goodness grant them health of body, soundness of mind and peace of heart.

We pray for those who have died recently, those who have died in the night, for those who mourn, and those whom we remember with love and affection, family, friends and partners whom we no longer see yet who now stand in a greater light and on a distant shore in heaven with all the saints. I pray for particularly for the McPartland family in their loss and bereavement and for Mike who was laid to rest last this week. We continue to pray for the McCann family and for their missing daughter, Madeline and all lost children. Out of sorrow, pain and loss bring comfort and the sweetness of the knowledge of Jesus Christ and his resurrection promises, and out of darkness the light of true faith in him, their Saviour and Friend.

And finally we pray for ourselves…………….as we go into this new week we offer you our lives and all that we are. May God give us the strength and wisdom to turn your Word and our prayers and all that we have said and though about here today into positive action in your world. Stir up then the gift of faith in us and help us to use the gifts you have given to us to help us grow to be the persons you want us to be.

Ray Anglesea

 

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