Prayers of the People/Intercession on Communion/Lord’s Supper
Great God our Father, Savior and Holy Spirit: Our hearts are filled with gratitude for your grace and faithfulness. Thank you for caring about those who we care about–for those who are sick or injured, recovering or anticipating surgery: heal them, Lord, to their joy and your glory; and for those who grieve: comfort them with your presence and the hope of eternal life in Christ.
Thank you for caring about our world that is really your world–a world bent on rejecting You by turning instead to violence, power, wealth, pleasure, and self-interest to try and find meaning, hope and peace.
May your people truly be salt which flavors and preserves a tasteless, decaying world with the truth of the gospel lived and proclaimed. Thank you for caring about your church–not perfect, but yours nonetheless. Help us to see what you see in our families, our community, region, nation and world. May our hearts break over what breaks your heart.
May we laugh when you laugh and weep when you weep. Give us vision, and with it, the wisdom to understand your mission and the energy to faithfully carry it out, now and always. And thank you for your word of life–which we long for; and your table which spiritually sustains and encourages us as your family, called by your name: Christians.
Meet us at the table that we might know Jesus and follow Him as His disciples. This is our prayer–offered in Jesus name. AMEN
Holy and Gracious God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We give you thanks for the gift of life, for the gift of Jesus our Savior, for the gift of the Holy Spirit, and for the gift of this sacrament that nourishes our souls. Like a potter at the wheel you created us, shaping us in secret in the hidden depths.
You read our inmost thoughts and desires and you keep your hand upon us always, reshaping us as seems good to you whenever we allow ourselves to become misshapen, pressed into the world’s mold. Lord, lead us through the trials, the suffering and sorrow, the challenges and struggles, the tired times and dark places. And use those experiences to make us more like Jesus.
Ever present God: Be with those who weep, with those who can’t sleep, with those who have no peace, with those who seek release. And reassure them of Your love. Comfort them. Sustain them. Free them. Good Father, we pray for your hand of blessing to be upon all who need you. We ask you to bless those we now name before you in the silence of our hearts…Lead us, good Lord, with grace, with love, with peace.
Fill us, by your Spirit, with hope, with patience, with stamina; making us the people you want us to be; helping us to follow in the way of Christ each day in all that we say and do. Creating and Renewing God: Transform us in your image, in your Son, in your Name. Transform us that we can be made whole …. And in that wholeness may we actively be the hands and heart of Jesus the Christ – who saves us, loves us; and leads us. AMEN
Triune God–Father, Son and Holy Spirit: our Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer; you created, redeemed, and sustain all who call on Your name in any language, place and time. We come to you as Lord of all … and our Lord …with thanks for this sacrament that is the sign and seal of your grace toward us and all who live in this tumultuous world.
Where fear grips us—give us faith to overcome fear; and give us love—Your perfect love—to cast out fear. For those who are sick—give them Your best: healing, strength, good help, and hope.
For those who grieve—comfort them with your presence, and with the love of Your people, in the joyous expectation of resurrection life in You. For our nation: we ask you to raise up leaders who will bring out the best in us and who can further the cause of righteousness, justice and truth for all… not just for some.
And for Your church—for this church: We want to be compassionate toward the poor, as you are. We want to declare the Gospel, as you call us. We want to be bold and courageous in our living it, as your Spirit gifts and empowers us. Help us, Lord, to be more like You.
Lord: hear our prayers—those spoken and those left unspoken, for we offer them all in the name above every name, the name of Jesus. AMEN
We thank you, God our Father, that by your grace, mercy and love, expressed today in Word and Sacrament, You give us Your Son, the true bread from heaven and the fountain of living water. Strengthen us in Your service by the spiritual nourishment we receive each day, and by that which we’re about to receive, so that our daily living before a watching world may show our thanks to You, reveal your truth and love, and bring you all the glory.
As those constantly nourished by Your gifts, we pray for others in need of Your graces: For those in need of healing—heal, restore, give them hope: especially for those ravaged by diseases like AIDS, COVID, or cholera.
For those in need of comfort in their grief—give them Your peace. For the hungry, the homeless, and the helpless—meet their needs for food and water, for shelter and protection, for justice and a helping hand. For those who live in fear—fear of tomorrow, fear of personal economic crisis, fear of abandonment, fear of rejection or failure—replace fear with trust, anxiety with peace, and despair with hope.
For those devastated by violence in our world please protect them, intercede for them, and bring a just and sustainable peace to every corner of Your beloved world. For those who’ve never heard or understood or believed the Gospel—we pray for missionaries to cross cultural divides with the Good News, and that we’ll gladly live and share the Gospel with those we know through winsome grace, consistent love, and persistent action. This we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord, AMEN
Lord God–Father, Son and Holy Spirit: we hear your Word and sing your praises. We meet at the Table and partake of your Sacrament–the gospel made visible. You call us to yourself, and you send us out into the world, as lights into a dark place, and as salt into a flavorless one. Please hear our prayers…
For the sick, ill and injured–we ask you to heal them, body and spirit, mind and soul; and strengthen their care-givers.
For the grieving–we ask you to comfort them with your hope and peace, and by the Good News of Your resurrection and our new life in You.
For those celebrating new beginnings–a child’s birth, a new job, a new school, a new marriage–all are blessings, but all are change and change is hard. Lord: give each one guidance when they are confused, grace with others and with themselves, and assurance that they are not alone–that You are with them; so they don’t need to be afraid.
For the suffering–we ask you to provide food for those ravaged by famine, water for the drought-stricken, shelter for the homeless, justice for the oppressed, and protection for the weak.
We pray especially for children: for those affected by HIV/AIDs, for those orphaned by disease or war, for those who are mistreated and abused… we ask you to intervene with power and love, hope and peace.
And may your church welcome and bless the little children wherever they are in need. For our nation–we pray for its leaders to be guided by Your truth and justice, holiness and grace; may they lead well. And may we follow well: doing justice, loving mercy and walking humbly with our God. Protect those serving and living in dangerous places–soldier and civilian, ours and others.
For your church–we ask you to kindle passion for Your Gospel and a love of those who don’t know you. Inspire a deeper love for you and for others, with a revived faith that trusts you enough to go beyond our own natural limits and abilities ,to risk so that you get the glory. All this and more we pray in the name of Jesus, Your Son and our Lord. AMEN