Prayers for the week commencing Sunday 3rd October 2021

Prayer of Praise

(from Uniting in Worship p572 to 574 nos. 23 to 29)

Lord God almighty, your greatness and majesty are there for all to see in the Heavens and the Earth. All that you have created is yours to control and to direct. You have authority over Time and Space, over History and over Nations. You are beyond our sight, above our thoughts, infinite and eternal.

We exalt you for the works of your hands and the wonders you perform.

Most blessed God, your graciousness is revealed in your goodness to all peoples. Your mercy is revealed in the life and witness of your Son, Jesus Christ, who preached good news to a despondent people seeking relief from their trials, who proclaimed to a despairing people their release from a bondage of sin and death, who befriended the outcast and the diseased who were rejected and cast aside, who denounced the oppressor and the hypocrite who lived off the lives of others. Your great work of salvation achieved by the raising Jesus from death, which was the pinnacle of your work to reconcile a sinful humanity to yourself.

We exalt you for the works of your hands and the wonders you perform.

Holy Lord, you have guided and preserved us in all our ways. You have shown us the path to take and have sustained us on life’s journey. You have held us up in our times of trouble and have comforted us in our times of grief. You have blessed us with family and friends, you have provided for our needs, those things we asked for and those that we did not know we needed.

We exalt you for the works of your hands and the wonders you perform. In reference and awe we come before you, to offer our worship and praise. May all we do and say bring glory to your name and bear witness to your everlasting love for all people. Amen.

Prayer of Confession

Merciful God, you alone can judge our innermost thoughts. You alone can see whether we trust and obey you from the desire of our heart or only keep do so outwardly.

We confess that often we have failed to be an obedient Church. Often, we have not done your will and have rebelled against your love. We seek your forgiveness.

Merciful God, you alone can see whether we are driven by our Worldly desires or by our desire to love you. You alone can see what motivates our actions.

We confess that often we do not act with patience or gentleness. Often, we have not loved our neighbour, nor have we heard the cry of the needy. We seek your forgiveness.

Merciful God, you alone know whether we truly seek to be reconciled to you and to live at peace with those who live around us.

We confess to a stubborn heart that refuses to accept that we make mistakes and that we cause sorrow for you and be a cause of discomfort for others. We seek your forgiveness.

Merciful God, we want to experience the new life that the Spirit breathes into us so that we can have the peace of mind and soul that you have promised.

Break through our resistance and our fear O God with your perfect and all-reaching love, so that we may hear and respond to your call in our lives.

Merciful God, forgive our lack of trust in you; help us when we hesitate, and strengthen us where we are weak, so that we have the courage to follow Jesus wherever he leads us.

Forgive us, we pray, cleanse us from all of our sin, and thereby make our worship acceptable to you. Guide us and strengthen us by your Spirit so that we may give ourselves to your service, and live this day and every day in love to one another, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Assurance of Forgiveness

(from Hebrews 2: 11)

The writer of Hebrews proclaims that Jesus Christ purifies people from their sins. Having confessed our sins before God, let us hold onto this assurance and know with confidence that God has listened to our pleas and that God has forgiven us.

Thanks be to God.

Prayers for Others

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

Almighty God, we pray for the Church, that we may be a sign of communion between you and Humanity and a means of reconciliation amongst all people.

We pray that we may grow in our awareness of our need for you and others as we face our challenges and grow toward wholeness.

We pray for healing of the tension and conflicts between women and men in our society, that you will lead us to a new appreciation of each other and help us to give witness to your plan of women and men complimenting one another as we work together.

We pray for all children, that they may be warmly welcomed into families and supported as they grow and develop into the persons you call them to be.

We pray for the grace to receive your Kingdom as a little child, that the Spirit will open our hearts to receive your love and your gift of new life.

We pray for greater respect for Human life, that all Human life, from conception to natural death, will be respected as your gift and a blessing to Humanity.

We pray for all who are struggling with troubled minds and souls, that the Holy Spirit will calm their hearts, help them know that they are loved, and help them to reach out to someone.

We pray for the work of the United Nations, that their conversations will promote peace and cooperation, develop shared understandings of the challenges that exist, and give them the courage to confront the evils that plague the Human family.

We pray for all who are suffering, that you will heal the sick, free those caught in addiction, restore those who have experienced abuse, comfort the grieving, and send relief to those entrapped by poverty.

We pray for all healthcare workers, that you will renew their strength and restore their energy that they may continue to care for the sick and be signs of hope for them.

We pray for leaders of all levels of Government, that you will give them wisdom and courage to address the crucial issues of society and to work together to address the common good.

We pray for Kylie Conomos, the Chaplain at Bald hills State School, that she will be renewed in energy and enthusiasm as she commences a new School term.

We pray for those whom we have not seen for some time. May they know that our thoughts are with them. Please keep them in good health.

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