Prayer of Praise  

(from Psalm 27 and 63) 

Almighty God, you are the light of our lives, the One who provides clarity in times of our uncertainty, the One who shows to us what is good and right when we earnestly seek direction, the One who reveals the true nature of the World around us and who makes us aware of its snares for the unwary. 

  Almighty God, it is to you that we come seeking refuge in our times of distress.  It is upon your strength that we depend, to provide relief from the stress and the concerns of our life.  Though we may feel besieged by our worries, though we are afraid lest we stumble and fall because of our anxieties, we know, with confidence, that your love for us is constant, that you are holding us, and that you will keep us secure all the days of our life.  Of what, then, can we ever fear?  Of what can people do to us that we can ever dread?

  Almighty God, in a ‘dry and weary’ World, it is you who provides the ‘life-giving water’ for our thirsty souls, it is you who provides the nourishment of our spirits that no-one and nothing else can give to us, it is you who provides the help in our times of trouble, it is you who makes us feel safe, as if we are being covered by your wings over us.  We know that your love is better than life itself, we know that we can cling to you and be upheld by you.

  We know that you are our salvation, we acknowledge with everlasting thanks that you are the One who forgives and forgets, the One who purifies, the One who provided the sacrifice so that our sins can be removed, and our souls cleansed in your sight.

  Almighty God, we look upon you and see your power and glory.  We look at the World around us and see your control and authority over all things.  In response we humble ourselves before your greatness, we sing your praises to Heaven and Earth, we offer to you our adoration, and we dedicate ourselves to your worship and service, now and always.  Amen.

Prayer of Confession 

(from Psalm 27 and 63) 

Merciful God, we come before you remorseful and repentant.

We come before you knowing that we have often neglected the standards by which you seek for us to live our lives, we come before you knowing that we have often deliberately disobeyed your call to follow.

Your light shines into the darkest corners of our hearts to reveal our hidden faults, and to reveal those parts of our being which we have sought to hide from you.

Merciful God, in our anger we have not mirrored your compassion for others, in our prejudice, we have turned away those whom you have called us to serve.  Forgive us for our neglect.

Merciful God, in our greed and desire for what the World offers to us, we seek satisfaction and happiness from owning and doing things.

In our seeking ease and excuses from responsibilities, we have forsaken your calling for us to be a light for others, your calling for us to be a clear voice of witness to your mercy and grace.  Forgive us for our neglect.

Merciful God, in our anxiousness, we have looked within us, we have looked only at ourselves.

We forget to look outwardly to you, we forget to see that you are always looking at us, holding your hand out to us, ever ready to pull us up and close.  Forgive us for our neglect.

  Merciful God, in our pride we boast of what we have achieved all by ourselves, we seek to draw attention to our abilities and our capabilities, we rest assured on our strengths. 

Yet, in so doing, we fail to acknowledge that it is you who have walked beside us all of our lives, that it is you who have carried us in our times of need, that it is through your provision for us that we find real satisfaction and deliverance.  Forgive us for our neglect.

Merciful God, forgive our sins, and take away from us all that is not true and good, all that is not pure and holy.

Teach us your way, O God, and lead us in your straight path, so that we may follow faithfully and take courage in our trust and obedience.  To your glory we pray.  Amen.

Assurance of Forgiveness 

(from Genesis 15: 6) 

Abram believed God and put his trust in God’s promise to bless his descendants and to grant them a rich inheritance, and God called him righteous.  We, too, have put our trust in God’s promise to listen to our cries of repentance and to forgive our sins.  Let us be assured then that God has seen our faithfulness, that He has listened to our prayers, and that He has answered them by cleansing us of all that is unworthy and shameful.

Thanks be to God

Prayers for Others

Let us come before God with our cares and our concerns.

Prayer from the Moderator

Loving God, be with those who have lost much and feel hopeless and helpless, be with those who stretch out their hands to offer your hope, your peace and your love; for when we do so we offer our lives in service to you. Amen.

Rev Andrew Gunton

Uniting News – 8 March 2022

Almighty God, we pray for the Church, that we may listen with both our minds and hearts to your beloved Son and be transformed by his words.

We pray for a spirit of gratitude, that we may look beyond our daily routines and, like Abraham, see your blessings that are as numerous as the stars of the sky.

We pray for a deeper understanding of our baptism, that we may grow in our covenant relationship with you and our understanding of our identity as your daughters and sons.

We pray for courage, that we may join Jesus in journeying toward Jerusalem as we live our vocations and use our resources to continue the mission of Jesus.

We pray for a deepening of hope, that even though negative and doubting messages abound in our society, we may be confident that you will never abandon us.

We pray for all who are on a journey, whether physical or spiritual, that they may know your presence each step along the way and rely upon your light and truth to guide their steps.

We pray for all who live in the Holy Land, that all who draw faith from the witness of Abraham may work to bring forth new cooperation and a season of justice and harmony.

We pray for members of our levels of government, that you will give them insight and courage to explore new ways to work together to effectively address the needs of all people.

We pray for all who are searching for meaning, particularly young adults, that you will lead them to a new awareness of their gifts and of the needs that exist around them.

We pray for all who are sick, that your healing love will restore those recovering from Covid, cancer, or surgery, give good sleep to those who are anxious, and strength to those who are experiencing the weaknesses of advancing age.

We pray for all who are grieving, that you will wipe away their tears and give them courage and hope for tomorrow.

We pray for refugees from Ukraine, that you will guide them to places of safety, help them to find welcome and new homes, and open the hearts of many to provide the resources that they need.

We pray for peace, that you will bring an end to the violence in Ukraine, protect the innocent from harm, open channels for food and medicine, and help peace negotiations to begin and to succeed in ending the conflict and opening a time for healing and rebuilding.

Copyright © 2022. Joe Milner. All rights reserved.<br> Permission is hereby granted to reproduce for personal or parish use.  https://liturgy.slu.edu/

We pray that those who follow their selfish ways or who seek after false gods, will come to a knowledge of your truth and your way.  Free us from anxieties about the future, and grant us the peace of mind and spirit for which we all seek.  Have mercy on those who are persecuted for their witness to the truth.  Turn the hearts of those who treat them unjustly, such that they cease their actions and work towards understanding and reconciliation.

  (Raymond Chapman in Leading Intercessions p97 & 98) 

We pray that you will grant a zeal and perseverance to your Church to extend your Kingdom so that people everywhere, by worshipping the one true God, may be united by their shared love of Jesus into one body of believers.  Unite all Nations in a search for peace with justice and a desire to end oppression and strife.

Mend the body broken by accident, the spirit broken by sorrow, and the mind that is disturbed.  Strengthen the faith of those with chronic illness, and endurance to those whose disease has no known cure.  Give insight to those who work towards finding cures for illnesses and effective treatments for diseases.

  (David Hostetter in Prayers for the Seasons of God’s People Year C p68) 

We pray for the grade 7 students from Austin Cove Baptist College in Western Australia, as they build friendships and experience God in word and nature at Scripture Union’s Camp Geo.  We pray for the Scripture Union forum in north Queensland in this coming week, that the leaders and teams involved will find the time meaningful and rewarding.  We pray for the success of Scripture Union Western Australia camping programs in this term, that those involved will develop close relationship and a deeper faith.  We pray for safety and meaningful conversations among those participating in Scripture Union Tasmania’s bushwalking camp taking place at Cradle Mountain this weekend.

  (suqld.org.au) 

We pray for your divine protection to ensure the safety and security of The Leprosy Mission staff and partners Worldwide, as they reach out to serve those most in need.  We pray for an effective provision of funds and technical expertise within The Leprosy Mission to ensure effective implementation of high-quality programmes that enable the treatment of leprosy and the provision of disability services.

  (Leprosy Mission Prayer diary 2022) 

We pray for the peoples of Ireland, England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.

We give thanks for the many distinct cultures in these islands and how literature, music, dance, and other traditions rooted here, have enriched people around the world.  We give thanks for the economic and other aid that consistently have come from this area to those in the World who are most in need.  We give thanks for the many who have emigrated to other parts of the World, and in turn, the immigrants from these lands who are now turning the United Kingdom and Ireland into increasingly multi-ethnic, multireligious societies.  We give thanks for the positive contributions Great Britain has made in world history and that church leaders have played in the ecumenical and interfaith movements.

We pray for the healing of scars and memories that linger after times of colonization, the overcoming of barriers so that all might experience welcome as these countries become more genuinely multi-ethnic and multi-faith, for the resolving of differences and political tensions over how Great Britain should relate to the rest of Europe, and for courage and insight to deal with the challenges of increasing secularism and the emergence of new ways of expressing religion and spirituality.

God of passion and power, insistent, immediate,
challenging, compelling us with your story’s breathless beginning.
Walk us into the wilderness to hear your voice where silence reigns.
Give us insight, the vision beyond all seeing,
so we may look upon heavens torn open
and know that the time of good news for all creation is always now.

(© Claire Amos)

O God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, our only Saviour, the Prince of Peace,
give us grace seriously to lay to heart the great dangers we are in by our unhappy divisions.
Take away all hatred and prejudice, and whatsoever else may hinder us from Godly union and concord: that, as there is but one Body, and one Spirit, and one hope of our calling, one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism, one God and Father of us all, so we may henceforth be all of one heart, and of one soul, united in one holy bond of truth and peace, of faith and charity, and may with one mind and one mouth glorify thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

  (The Church of Ireland, the Book of Common Prayer 2004)
https://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-worship/worship/book-of-common-prayer/accession-services.aspx 

God, how good it is to raise our voices
and to welcome your presence among us,
a stream in the desert, a rose in the wilderness!

Make straight the way for the Lord!

From our slumbers we rise to praise you.
All that demeans and belittles us we shrug off,
as we stand strong and confident before you.

Make straight the way for the Lord!

From all we do to keep you from us, from all the evil that is in us,
from the gloom that would overwhelm us
and from all that would harm us, set us free!

Make straight the way for the Lord!

We share our hope together, that you will come to us as prophets tell,
bringing peace and justice to a tired and twisted world.

Make straight the way for the Lord!

God, come to us in Jesus and save us!
Let the waste places of the world be made new again!
Let the wicked be routed and the righteous shout with joy!

  (In: For the love of God, Prayer Handbook 1996, Michael and Susan Durber) 

Ireland; United Kingdom: England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales | World Council of Churches (oikoumene.org)

We pray for Ian and the other leaders of Religious Education classes at Bald Hills State School, that they will be enthused and inspired as they present the Gospel message to the children.  May the Holy Spirit work in the minds and the hearts of the children in the classes that the hope of the salvation that you offer will become real to them.

We pray for Kylie Conomos, that you will equip and encourage her as she seeks to address the physical and spiritual needs of the children the families and the teachers associated with the Bald Hills State School.

We pray for those whom we have not seen for some time, that they will know your presence with them each day, and that they are always in our thoughts and prayers.

We pray for constructive progress in the consultations that Church Council is conducting with the Presbytery Office to move forward in the steps to guide the Congregation into the future and with the appointment of a replacement Minister of the Word.

Loving God, we bring these prayers to you, trusting in your compassion and care.  To your glory we pray.

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.