Prayers 3

Almighty God, our Heavenly Father , we come today to give you our most grateful thanks for all your goodness and loving-kindness to us and to all men; We acknowledge that all good gifts around us are sent from Heaven above. We bless you for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life; but above all for thine inestimable love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ, for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory. And we ask you to give us that due sense of all your mercies, that our hearts may be unceasingly thankful, and that we live a life of praise, not only with our lips, but with our lives; by offering ourselves to thy service, and by walking before thee in holiness and righteousness all our days; Lead those who are still blinded by Satan into the light and liberty of the Good News of Jesus and then grant them the gift of the Holy Spirit so that being empowered by His indwelling they may thus be equipped to bring Glory to God. Deliver us from the snares of selfish, fleshy and worldly desire, and create in us the longings after Holiness, without which none can truly see God. We thank you especially for the greatest gift you ever gave , the person of your Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ, for his life and example, his love and devotion, his sacrifice and death, his substitution and intercession for all the saints, and his coming glory. Give us grace to love him more, and love him the best, and help us to learn how better we can reflect his beauty in our own lives. We bless you for the atoning blood that keeps on cleansing from all sin, and for the great grace which renders us righteous in your sight, and adopts us as your children. So bless us as we ponder Your love today, to the end that we may see Jesus in all his beauty and long to be like him, and we ask these things through his mighty and holy name AMEN

Prayer of Intercession

High and holy God, robed in majesty, Lord of heaven and earth,
we pray for an enlarged vision of our world that embodies the needs of all your creation, and especially of those who are hurting. We pray for your indwelling and enabling Holy Spirit to increase in us a more compassionate and caring nature, so that we may be concerned about the well-being of all your children, both here at home and those who live far from us across our troubled world. We pray today for all who are victims of war and civil unrest, and for those who have lost homes, livelihoods and family members. For those who have suffered from horrific injury and will carry scars for the rest of their lives, and for all who care for them. Give strength to bear pain, and courage to look to the future so that the hope might grow from the ashes of despair, and that faith may find a resting place in a loving God and Heavenly Father.
We pray too for all who have been pressurised into places not of their choosing, jobs and tasks not in their ability, and situations and circumstances not of their making. In all of life’s difficulties give your children strength to overcome, and love to conquer wrong. We remember all who are hungry and who face yet another week of starvation and loss. Those whose crops have failed, and those whose daily work is merely searching for that which can sustain them and their loved ones in the search for a better life. Give our world leaders, and our communities at large a more complete understanding and a more practical wisdom of how best to help a hungry world and alleviate the conditions that cause poverty and starvation for so many. Help us to put away greed and selfishness and to share all the blessings and benefits of this world with our brothers and sisters everywhere. Help us to see our shared humanity and our real value to one another in the plans and purposes of God. Create in us the compassion of Jesus, so that walking in his example we may go about doing good. We ask all these things in his precious name, who taught us when we pray to say, Our Father, ……AMEN