Opening Prayers/Prayers of Adoration on Silence

Father, we come to you now in silence, yet shouting for joy.

We come in silence

overawed by the thought of your love for us.

You rule supreme over time and space,

yet you loved us so much that you gave your only Son

to suffer and die for us.

To think that you love us like that

takes our breath away.

We are struck dumb.

There is nothing we can say.

(A silence)

And yet, we cannot stay silent

when we think of your love for us.

You gave us new birth into a living hope

when you brought Jesus back from death;

so that we could make a new start in life

free from the guilt and shame of the past, 

confident that nothing in death or life can separate us from your love.

To think that you love us like that

makes us long to break our silence

– to shout for joy and to sing your praise.

Father, accept our worship and praise

both silent and spoken

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Caryl Micklem, Ed., Contemporary Prayers for Public Worship, Erdmans Publishing Co, 1973.

O God, our Guide and Guardian, you have led us apart from the busy world into the quiet of your house. Grant us grace to worship you in Spirit and in truth, to the comfort of our souls and the upbuilding of every good purpose and holy desire. Enable us to do more perfectly the work to which you have called us, that we may not fear the coming of night, when we shall resign into your hands the tasks which you have committed to us. So may we worship you not with our lips at this hour, but in word and deed all the days of our lives; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen. 

The Book of Worship, 1965