Prayers of the Community
By Eleanor Jackson
February 8, 2004
O Holy One:
Gather us together within your
loving arms, listen to our beating hearts, bend close to our lips that
you might hear our silent words and bend closer yet that you might
know what is on our hearts.
Renew now our
vision
of who you created us to be,
and what you call us to do.
Hear our prayers of gratitude for
all that is ours: for all of your creation which surrounds us, and
enfolds us, of which we are an integral part. Our life is a gift from
You. All of life is a gift of You: you are both the gift and the
giver. Keep us mindful of all that is ours for we are among the
privileged: help us not to be blinded by our ingratitude: our
failure to see what we have on the way to getting more; our disregard
for what we step over on the way to somewhere else; our lack of
attention to those close to us on the way to someone else; our
dismissal of the good that we do on the way to something greater.
Renew now
our vision
of who you created us to be,
and what you call us to do.
Hear us as we pray for this
congregation , those with us this morning and those who are absent.
We pray for those who are ill, those who are grieving - for the loss
of a loved one, loss of a job, loss of opportunity. We pray for those
recovering from surgery - Janet Davis and her daughter, Susan, and for
Susan Longstreet. We pray for their healing and new life within that
healing. Hear our silent prayers now for those we each hold within
our hearts and concerns……We pray for those whose dreams are on hold
due to circumstances beyond their control: for those who have recently
been diagnosed with a life-threatening or chronic disease and for
their loved ones.
Renew now our
vision
of who you created us to be,
and what you call us to do.
We pray for those in leadership
roles in this church, in this city, and province and country. We pray
for their insight and wisdom as decisions are made and new policies
set. We ask your blessing on our new federal government and prime
minister. We pray for our U.S. neighbours as they cast their votes for
a possible presidential candidate and we pray for the men who have had
the courage to put their names forward for such an important position.
Renew now our
vision
of who you created us to be,
and what you call us to do.
We pray for Susan and her classmates as
they set out for Guatemala. Keep them in your care as they travel and
then live briefly among those of another culture and life style. Be
in their eyes and in their seeing; in their ears and in their
listening; in their mouths and in their speaking, in their
hearts and in their understanding. May they walk gently on what may be
Holy Ground. We pray for all those who live in war-torn
countries; for those who live in the aftermath of disaster of
earthquake, flood, snow or wind, bombing. And we pray for those who
believe so passionately in their cause that they are willing to give
up their own lives and the lives of so many others - mostly innocent
bystanders! Help us to remember that often new life comes out of what
appears to be destroyed and promise grows out of what appears to be
hopeless.
Renew now
our vision
of who you created us to be,
and what you call us to do.
Like Isaiah, and Peter and Paul, you
also call us into your service. Touch our lips with your fire and
give us the words you want us to speak; touch our hearts with your
passionate love that we might learn to love others as you love us. As
we leave this place fill us with your Spirit and
Renew now our
vision
of who you created us to be,
and what you call us to do.
Hear us as we pray the prayer
that Jesus taught us, as we pray all our prayers in His name:
Our loving God
Who are
in heaven
Hallowed be thy name
Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done
On Earth as it is in heaven. |
