Prayers of the People/Intercession on God’s Omnipresence
Lord, our hearts are not large enough,
our memory is not good enough,
our wills are not strong enough:
Take our hearts and enlarge them,
Take our memories and give them quicker recall,
Take our wills and make them strong
and give us greater awareness of you–
being ever present,
ever alongside us.
George Appleton, Adapted for Corporate Worship by Stuart Strachan Jr.
Risen Lord, Loving Father … and Ever-Present Spirit: Thank You for reaching into our doubts, giving us the faith we lack. Thank You for Your gracious condescension reaching from the glories of heaven into the everyday routines of our lives where things distract us in daytime and keep us awake at night.
Knowing You care: We offer prayers of thanks and rejoicing for new marriages, for births, for the beginnings of new pastoral ministries, for good news of college acceptances and job offers, for provision that came at just the right time and for a phone call or visit from a friend just when we needed it. Thank You, Lord.
Knowing You care: We pray for the injured or sick, hospitalized or homebound, who need Your healing touch. Lift them in body, soul and spirit. Restore them. Give them strength and hope in You. Knowing You care: We pray for those touched by grief and shaken to the core by loss–the loss of a loved one or friend, loss of a job, the loss of hope or of health, the loss of a relationship in disagreement or misunderstanding. Comfort those who mourn.
Give each one Your peace. Open a path in the wilderness. If it be your will, restore now what was lost that the latter times may be even greater than the former; or restore it in heaven forever. Knowing You care: We pray for the world.
Where there’s war–bring peace, not just cease-fire but new relationships of well-being and understanding. Where there’s poverty–give hope & provide a way out. Where there’s hunger–provide food, and sustain it. Where nations flounder–raise up godly and capable leaders; and so we pray for our own leaders, may they know Your ways and courageously lead us in them.
And where there’s no witness of the gospel of Jesus–send a light, raise up a witness, and bring missionary ambassadors of Your kingdom. All this we pray in your name, Jesus. Amen.
Lord–Father, Son and Holy Spirit: Thank You that there’s no place we can hide from Your Spirit, no place we can flee from Your presence. We can’t go beyond the reach of Your love, nor out-distance the strength of Your power.
Therefore, we feel safe coming to You with all that plagues us in the daytime and keeps us awake at night. In a world constantly plagued by wars and the rumors of war, where prejudice, hatred and suspicion pit peoples-against-peoples, and nation-against-nation: we dare to pray for peace–real peace, with understanding.
Hasten the day when swords will be beaten into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks, when we will study war no more, and, instead, desire to know You and live according to Your kingdom values & ways.
As a nation that plays at church when it’s convenient or expedient, and one that makes a religion of playing games, seeking pleasure and holding power–we need a revival! Pour out Your Spirit–Your Holy Spirit.
Make us ashamed of our sin and give us a hunger for what is good and right, just and true. May righteousness and holiness, compassion and justice, mark this land from the White House, capitol and courts, right down to our houses, town halls and courtrooms.
And make Your church–through local congregations like this one–to be like leaven to influence the moral and social climate of our communities, like light to bring lost and lonely people out of darkness and set them free with the gospel, and like salt to make people thirst for the pure, living water of Jesus and the Spirit.
And may Your church always look beyond its own walls–to care, love and minister Your gospel grace locally and globally. We pray as well for our friends and loved ones who are ill or injured, who are recovering from surgery or who are confronting mental illness–we ask You to heal them fully and completely.
Restore them that You would be glorified in them and through them. We ask You to comfort those who mourn, to reconcile those who are separated one from another either relationally, emotionally or physically; and to guide those who are lost or confused.
Give hope to the hopeless, courage to the fearful, companionship to the lonely and strength to the weak. Meet us all at the point of our deepest need with Your greatest resource–Your own presence! So, all this, and more that still lies deep within our hearts, we pray in Jesus’ precious name. AMEN
God of nations and Lord of all creation: You were there at the beginning of time and at our beginning, and You will be there at the ending and when we finally come home. There is no time You are not there, no place you are not present and nothing You cannot do.
It’s because You are strong and You are loving that we can turn over to You what drags us down. We ask that You heal our friends and loved ones who are ill or injured, recuperating or rehabilitating from surgery or sickness… whether physical, emotional or mental.
We also hold up to You those families who grieve, whether the loss is recent or lingering, encourage them, comfort them, sustain them and keep them from despair by the hope of eternal life that comes through faith in You.
For those with loved ones serving overseas in the military–guard their loved ones who serve, protect them from anxiety and despair, comfort those who have lost loved ones in war, and bring the remainder home safely.
Where there is unrest, division and war–bring peace and justice. Where there is poverty and despair–give food and water, clothing and shelter; and restore dignity and hope. Where children are abused, neglected and mistreated–watch over them, give them hope and give them kind adults who will show Your love. Set the addicted free of the bondage that will otherwise destroy them … and their families. For our nation, its leaders and legislators, judges and officials–we ask not just for Your blessing, but that You will guide them, showing them what is good and right to do, and then give them the strength and courage to lead us in your ways.
For Your church–make us a colony of heaven, a body of people who make Your love, Your joy, Your hope and Your peace visible. Enable us to be both loving and truthful, gracious and holy, in such a way that others are drawn to You. All this, and more that we have not spoken aloud, we pray … in the name of Jesus. AMEN