INTRODUCTORY PRAYER: –

We pray together:

Loving God,
we gather in this place assured of your love.
You know our failures, fickleness and faithlessness,
yet you still welcome us into your presence.
Help us to do the same,
welcoming all in your name. Amen.

So let us draw near one and all.
For no one is excluded.
Let us enjoy the loving welcome of God’s warm embrace.

Amen

PRAYER OF PRAISE

Let us pray

Awesome, Father God of endless love and wide-open arms,
we come in adoration.
Your embrace encompasses all.
You exchange our filthy rags for the finest robes,
the pig trough for the banquet table.
Awesome, Father God of endless love and wide-open arms,

we come in adoration.

PRAYER OF CONFESSION

We come seeking your forgiveness, Father God:

for our bad attitude toward you and others;
for the times we feel hard done by and wronged;
for wanting to go our own way, in the opposite direction to you;
for shunning those who don’t conform to our expectations;
for judging people on their appearance, speech or wealth.

We come seeking your forgiveness, Father God.

Help us to change as individuals and as a church.
Help us to be more welcoming,
making no distinction between the homeless and the high-flyers.
Help us to care for others as you care for us.
Help us to listen and trust in you.

We come seeking your forgiveness and renewal, Father God.

 ASSURANCE OF FORGIVENESS

God gifted us his Son Jesus Christ.
Through his blood, we are cleansed.
Like the prodigal son, we are forgiven and restored to God.
Amen.

PRAYERS FOR OTHERS

In the shadow of your wings, we sing for joy.
O Lord, restore us and make us new.

God of love,
for the softening of our hearts and the opening of our arms;
for generosity that welcomes the lost;
for our need of your tenderness to restore our failures;
for our churches to be renewed in loving and giving;
for the courage to lay down our lives for one another;
for the strength to answer your call to serve others;
for a new start:
we cry to you.
Bring healing and hope.

God of love,
for simple pleasures in the midst of challenge and hardship;
for lengthening hours of daylight;
for people who lift our burdens,
wipe away our tears,
share our lives and our dreams
and call out our best selves;
for your faithful presence with us
through darkness and light,
and for a deeper experience of your love
which shapes us, calls us, rescues us
and will bring us home:
we cry to you.
Bring healing and hope.

In the shadow of your wings, we sing for joy.
O Lord, restore us and make us new. Amen.

OTHER PRAYERS (Not included in the service in the Church)

Almighty God, we pray for the Church, that we may be ambassadors of Christ, bringing your message of compassion, mercy, and salvation to all who are wounded or alienated.

We pray for the grace of freedom, that we may be bound by neither our sins nor our self-righteousness but be free to receive and celebrate your goodness each day.

We pray for a spirit of conversion, that the Holy Spirit will guide us in surrendering our weaknesses to you, help us to turn more fully toward you, and to follow the path of the Gospel every day.

We pray for new understanding, that we may recognize that your love for us is not based on our deeds or achievements but on your free and generous choice.

We pray for freedom from our resentments, that we may surrender our resentments to you who frees us from hurts and teaches us to love.

We pray for all who have left or become alienated from their community of faith, that you will touch their hearts and help us to reach out and welcome them into our faith community.

We pray for young people who have run away from their families, that you will protect them from harm and give them the courage to make contact again.

We pray for healing within families, that you will heal the wounds of words and actions so that families may work together and support one another.

We pray for all who are ill, that your renewing love will strengthen and comfort all who are facing surgery or who have been hospitalized.

We pray for Refugees, that you will guide them safely to find new homes and help them enrich their new communities with their gifts and talents.

We pray for Government leaders, that you will give them the wisdom to understand the needs of those they serve and inspire within them fresh ideas to advance the common good.

We pray for Peace and an end to warfare, that you will change hearts of those advancing violence, help them to recognize the value and dignity of each person, and open new opportunities for dialogue.

(Copyright © 2022. Joe Milner. All rights reserved. Permission is hereby granted to reproduce for personal or parish use. – https://liturgy.slu.edu/4LentC033025/ideas_other.html)

Almighty God, we pray for the peoples of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

We are thankful for the preservation of the distinct cultural practices, literature, music and natural resources in these countries,  for the faithful witness of Christians during times of persecution and for those who survived times of occupation,  for how these countries peacefully became independent after 1918 and 1991, and for new-found freedoms that the people here have experienced, that they might be used for the good of all.

We pray for peaceful relations with Russia and among all the ethnic groups in these lands,  for the healing of old wounds remaining from 20th century struggles, for just economic development that benefits all citizens in these countries, and for those who live and work abroad, and for governmental leaders and all people, that they might together strive for justice, peace and the well-being of all.

Prayers

Crumble the walls

God, we pray:
crumble the walls that still separate Christians,
and create a unity, according to your heart and will.
Accept us as we are, but mould us as you want us to be,
and help us become the leaven of unity and love
in our country and around the world.

(Zbigņevs Stankevičs, the Archbishop Metropolitan of the Roman Catholic Church in Latvia, from: WCC NEWS)

Stay with us

Oh God, we don`t know what lies ahead.  Therefore stay with us, so that we may stay in you and confess your name to the end.  Amen.  (© Ove Sander, Estonia) 

Roll back the stones

Lord Jesus, you have always loved us from the beginning, and you have shown the depth of your love in dying for us on the cross and thereby sharing our sufferings and wounds.  At this moment, we lay all the obstacles that separate us from your love at the foot of your cross.  Roll back the stones which imprison us.  Awaken us to your resurrection morning.  There may we meet the brothers and sisters from whom we are separated.
Amen.

(Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2016, Latvia)

Almighty God, we pray for the ongoing development and successful completion of the remaining work on the ‘Easy-to-read’ Vietnamese Study Bible by the Bible Society of Vietnam.  We thank you for the distribution of the Study Bible’s Book of Romans to theology students, pastors, evangelists and dedicated church members in 2024.  We pray that all recipients will find the study Bible relevant and that it will bear fruit in the lives of many.

We praise you God for the Koorong store and cafe opening in Payneham, Adelaide last month.  We pray that this new store and the Pages cafe will be a beacon of faith, equipping many with resources to grow in Christ.  We pray for blessings over all staff, customers, and community, that your Word may be shared and lives transformed, that your presence fills this place and all Koorong stores.

We pray for Ceylon Bible Society’s Sign Language Team as they advance the Gospel Selections in Sri Lankan Sign Language project, that it may effectively share the life and teachings of Jesus with the Christian deaf community in Sri Lanka.  We pray for wisdom, clarity, and accuracy in translation, that this resource will bring many closer to Christ as they understand the Gospel story.

We pray for churches across Australia as they prepare for Easter and evangelism activities.  We ask that you bless their outreach efforts, that many will encounter Christ through services, events, and conversations.  We pray for wisdom, unity, and boldness among leaders and volunteers, that the message of the Gospel may transform lives.

We pray for the successful typesetting and publication of the Old Testament translation in the Ajië language in New Caledonia.  We give you praise God that the draft has been completed and that this project is currently in proofreading and checking stages.  We pray too for the other languages’ Bible translation work underway for the people of New Caledonia.

We give you praise God for the life of Pastor Than who received his copy of the Book of Romans from the progressing Vietnamese Study Bible project.  He shares, “The explanations are detailed and clear.  There were terms we didn’t understand, but through this book, we’ve gained clarity.  Many brothers and sisters have read and studied the book, feeling encouraged, and everyone praises God.”

We pray for the Bible Society Australia team as we welcome some new staff and implement plans for the year.  We ask for your wisdom, strength, and vision for the work in Opening The Bible to all people.  We pray for unity, creativity, and fruitfulness in our mission, that many will be reached and impacted by your Word.

(Bible Society of Australia March 2025 Prayer Letter.pdf)

  Almighty God, ‘Umoja’ means ‘unity’ in Swahili and so we pray for FEBC’s Partner, community radio station Umoja FM, serving as peacemakers in troubled North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo, that this station [Umoja FM] will bring emotional, physical and spiritual changes to the Democratic Republic of Congo.  We pray for an end to the conflict and violence in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo.

As the rains start at the end of March in Tana River, Kenya, we pray for you to restrain the waters so there is no reoccurrence of devastating floods.  We pray for the reach of Swahili broadcasts in Tana River, Kenya, crucially, that they address preventive and promotional measures for the community’s health and safety.  We pray for the team in Tana River, Kenya as they have undergone staffing changes and are working with new strategies to reach the community.

We pray for the unreached in Jenaama Bozo, population: 457,000, language: Jenaama Bozo, religion: Islam.

(FEBC Praise and Prayer Diary January to March 2025.pdf)

Almighty God, there are many great leaders within Organisations of Persons Affected by Leprosy.  We give thanks for their courage in speaking truth to power and their ability to inspire others to join them. 

In November 2024, The Leprosy Mission launched a new global strategy.  This strategy will define how we work in the years running up to 2030 and partnership with OPLs is one of the core themes of the strategy.  As they begin to implement their plans, we pray that their efforts to increase partnership with OPLs will be fruitful and well balanced.

Some OPLs are well-established and well-connected, but others are newer and still finding their way.  We pray for those newer organisations, that they will grow from strength to strength and that The Leprosy Mission can play a positive role in their growth.

Jesus so often listened to the marginalised voices and picked out the smallest voices in the crowd.  We give thanks that there has been movement in that direction across the World, as our cultures have become better at listening to those with lived experience of discrimination.  We give thanks also that this trend has found its way into the sector addressing Leprosy. 

We pray that, as our partners, OPL leaders will always feel they can be open with The Leprosy Mission’s teams and that TLM will take criticism with humility and an openness to change.

We pray for the influence that OPLs have within their communities, that they will have a positive influence and that other community leaders will not treat them with discrimination but with openness.  We pray for the new generation of leaders within OPLs. We pray they will find spaces to have their voices heard and that we will hear the voices of women, children, and the most marginalised break through.

  (The Leprosy Mission Prayer Diary 2025.pdf) 

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come,

your will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.

Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil,

For the Kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours,

now and forever.  Amen.