Prayers of the People/Intercession on Easter
Our God, as we stand before the empty tomb, like Mary and the disciples we find it hard to believe that Christ rose from the dead. Forgive our unbelief. Take from our minds the shadows of doubt and help us to find in the midst of this world the Spirit of the living Christ. Amen.
A Manual for Worship, Ed. John E. Skoglund, Judson Press, 1993.
The Lord calls us to examine the wounds of the Risen One and to see there the depth of his love for us. Let us therefore approach the throne of God in confidence as we pray for the people of God in Christ Jesus, and for all people according to their needs.
O LORD our Lord–how majestic is Your name in all the earth. Jesus: as You entered a locked room to show Your disciples the beginning of a new world, so enter our hearts and move us to faith inYou, the Risen One.
Convince us of the reality and significance of the resurrection, and free us from all that binds us and tries to hold us captive—our fears and our addictions; our past and our pain; what we remember and what we’ve forgotten.
Lord: make us courageous in the face of death, and show us how to enter a new resurrected life as Your followers.
Be with Your church throughout the world. In Your mercy, don’t abandon us to our own devices. Instead, empower the preaching of Your Word and enable in us acts of love as they testify to the resurrection.
Wherever Your church is faithless and lacking courage—come, Lord Jesus. Come. Come. Revive, restore and refresh us with Your Spirit. Pour out Your Spirit on pastors and teachers, enabling each and all to listen well to Your voice, and then speak Your truth with the authority of Christ.
Wherever nations are at war and people are divided, visit and bring true reconciliation. Especially protect all Christian people in these nations, and help them to inspire their fellow-citizens to live and work for the good of all. Give national leaders godly wisdom and righteous hearts as they lead in the right paths.
Where homes are disrupted by anger and bitterness, where relationships are distorted and dulled: Come, Lord Jesus. Bring peace and harmony. Enable understanding and love.
Wherever young people gather in your name, visit and guide them with your holy word and wisdom; and care for little ones, the children—that they may know Your love.
Jesus—our Great Physician and Healer: Comfort and heal the sick and suffering. Restore and strengthen weak bodies, as well as anxious and troubled minds. Supportall with your great love and mercy, and give special strength to caregivers; Draw near to mend broken and sick bodies, minds and spirits.
As our Risen and Reigning Lord–Jesus, please comfort those who mourn today, whether their grief is fresh or lingering. We especially pray for peace and consolation for the families and friends who have recently suffered loss. And we pray that You will bring each who has died to the place You have prepared for them. These prayers and those still unspoken we overthrow the name of the Risen One, even our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ. AMEN
Father: You shape and form us so each is unique yet all are in Your image, when You breathe into us the breath of life. We praise You! Jesus, God the Son–Resurrection and Life: You chose to die and rise from the dead to free us from sin and death, and give us eternal life.
We praise You! Living Spirit, who sustains our life by Your presence: You give us strength, when we are weak; direction, when we are lost; and love at all times. We praise You! We praise you for hope that’s ours because of Jesus’ resurrection: Hope to face life with courage and meet death in peace; Hope to sustain us in dark times, for we know our life’s light comes with the rising Son.
Therefore, we can pray with expectant hope …For those who need healing in spirit, soul, mind and body; For those who need comfort in grief and guidance when confused; For those who celebrate new life, but who also face the call to parent; For those who are without necessities of life; For those who have no gospel witness in their own tongue and culture. This we pray, in the name that is above every naGod–Father, Son and Holy Spirit: We praise you at the opening of this day of days! me–even the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. AMEN
Lord of Hope and God of all that’s new—Father, Son and Holy Spirit: We’re filled with wonder, gratitude, and joy inspired by the gifts of new life You freely give us. There’s the joy and wonder of every new day, that calls to mind Your resurrection with each rising sun. There’s the joy and wonder of the new beginnings that come with marriage.
There’s the joy and wonder of the living miracle of birth. And we’re moved by the wonder and joy of mature love seen in decades of marriage—the kind of love that echoes Your ever-faithful love for us: so we thank You for your steadfast love and faithfulness.
We pray for newly married couples and for every married couple here, that you provide grace—for hard times that will come; mutual forgiveness, understanding, patience, and the willingness to change ourselves and not our partners as we grow and mature in our love. We pray for all of us who are parents and grandparents, new and old, asking for you to give us patience with ourselves as well as our children; and wisdom to know when to speak and what to say, as well as to know when not to speak but just listen.
Sovereign Lord: we pray for our world, Your world—that peace would displace war, health replace sickness, contentment replace hunger and thirst, understanding replace suspicion, compassion replace apathy, hope replace despair, and that Your Good News would be heard, known, and understood in every community, bringing hope and salvation in Jesus Christ.
For Your church—pressed on every side to conform to the pattern of this world rather than the shape of Your Kingdom, and to abandon Your Word’s clear teaching rather than stay faithful to the Truth: we pray that Your Spirit’s power would strengthen us for living the Gospel, equip us to declare the Good News, unite us to demonstrate the Truth and enable us, as Your followers, to be more like You, Jesus, since we are your Body on earth. These are our prayers, offered in the name of Jesus our Lord. AMEN