Prayers of the People/Intercession on Community
God, our Creative Father, Living Lord, and Holy Spirit:
You call us by name and make us Your own–but you don’t leave us alone. You put us in relationships, families, and churches for our encouragement and support, and to advance Your Kingdom in our world. So, as one people, we pray.
We pray for the ill or injured, the recovering and recuperating. Heal them, Lord, and restore them by Your saving power. We pray for those who mourn: comfort them, especially…[enter names here]
We pray for parents and grandparents, for step-parents and single parents: Give them the necessary strength, patience, wisdom and love to shape lives entrusted to their care after Your image and in Your truth. And we pray for children to value them as mentors, guides, and protectors.
We pray for our nation: Guide us in good and right ways; lead us to reflect your kingdom’s values in all we are and do. And we pray for our world, with all its difficulties: May poverty be overcome by generosity; Hunger by compassion; Disease by caring; and War by peace. We pray for your church: to be a colony of heaven on earth, that brings You honor and not shame by what we do and say. All this, and more, we pray in the precious name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. AMEN
We thank You, God our Father, for Your grace, mercy and love, expressed today through Your Word and Sacrament; and we ask You to help us to pray and to know what to pray. You give us all good gifts: You give us Your Son, the true bread of heaven, the food of eternal life. You give us Your Spirit, to live within us as living water welling up into new life and hope.
You give us Your Word—to reveal Your love, character, and purposes, and to guide and direct us on our life’s journey. You give us Your Church—fellow-believers, companions with us in the way, as friends when we are lonely and encouragers when we are discouraged. You give us healing when we’re injured or ill physically, spiritual, emotionally or mentally.
So we ask: please restore all who need your healing touch; and strengthen those who give care and aid. You give comfort when we mourn, peace when we are in distress, hope when we feel disheartened, strength when we feel weak, and You give Your Son for our salvation.
We thank You and praise You! So now, we ask you to strengthen us in Your service by the spiritual nourishment we will receive today in Your Word and sacrament, in the fellowship of Your people, and through the commission of Your Son so that our daily living before a watching world, may show our thanks to You, draw people to You and Your kingdom, and that You may gain all the glory. This we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord. AMEN