Prayers of the People/Intercession on God’s Omniscience
Eternal God, to whom the hidden is as clearly known as the visible: before you your people bow their heads, to you they submit their hard hearts and unruly bodies. Send down blessing from your glorious dwelling on these men and women, lend them a ready ear and answer their prayers. Set them up firmly with your strong hand and protect them against all evil passions. Preserve their bodies and souls, increase their faith and fear and increase ours, through your only Son. Through him and with him and with the Spirit may glory and power be yours, now and always and forever. Amen.
Walter Mitchell, Trns, Early Christian Prayers, ed., A. Hamman, Longman Green, London, and Henry Regnery, Chicago, 1961.
Father–nothing escapes your notice, is beyond your care or too hard for you to take on, whether it concerns nations or individuals. You have a heart for all the world–not just our little piece of it. So we pray for your world: may your truth and justice, righteousness and compassion guide elections not only in our own country–but also in other parts of the world.
In places convulsed by conflict–bring a just and lasting peace. We pray for those who serve you as cross-cultural missionaries. Keep them faithful to your truth and your ways; enable them to effectively share the Good News of your Son Jesus. For all Christian churches, and for this church, we pray you will lead us.
And where you guide, provide resources to do your will and witness well to the new life you give in Jesus. Give our leaders a kingdom vision, godly wisdom, and risk-taking faith to lead where you call us to go. We ask you to comfort the grieving–whether the loss is recent or long ago. Console them with the assurance of eternal life and the hope of the resurrection.
In addition, we place in your strong hands, your compassionate hands, your healing hands, those who are sick or injured, recuperating from or anticipating surgery, and those in treatment or therapy–heal them, Lord. Heal bodies in pain, and minds that are disturbed. Free the addicted and restore the depressed. Heal broken emotions and broken bones. And especially, heal our loved ones. And, Lord, strengthen and encourage their caregivers. Thy will be done! This is our prayer, offered in the strong name of Jesus. AMEN
Lord—You’re the God who notices. You notice a desperate woman who touches Your garments in a crowd. You notice a lonely, little tax-collector in a tree. You notice a blind man on the roadside, a widow mourning her son in a small town funeral, and the fear in Your disciples eyes when caught in a storm.
And You notice us, too; we do not escape Your gracious and caring gaze. So, because You see and care even before we ask, we come to You confident You hear us when we pray. We pray for those who are sick or injured—asking You to please heal them, physically, emotionally, socially, mentally and spiritually.
Restore them by curing cancers and defeating infections, by repairing broken bones, mending hearts and minds, and by defeating pain. We pray for those who grieve today: that Your resurrection will give them hope, Your presence bring them peace, Your Word give them comfort, and Your people give them encouragement and help.
We pray also for Your world, our world. It’s so big. We overlook so much, noticing only what affects us directly, but You know and notice it all: the child in the slums of Khartoum, Sudan who went to bed hungry last night…again; the families in California sleeping in makeshift shelters wondering if they’ll have a home once the fires are over; communities in New Orleans cleaning up and rebuilding, just trying to make it through another week.
In grace—meet their needs, Lord. Empower Your people with love, courage and strength to reach out. Help us to notice, to see beyond ourselves, and to step-out in compassion, living the truth and speaking the truth…in love. This is our prayer—prayed in the name of Jesus,Your Son and our Savior. AMEN
Lord—You are coming in power someday—and You are already here, near at-hand. You know us entirely—you know our wants and needs, our dreams and hopes, our disappointments and griefs–and yet You are not ashamed to call us your own, to enter our world and walk the trash-strewn streets of our lives. You know the sick and injured—the anxiety, worry, and weakness that come with recuperation.
And You know the tireless efforts of caregivers, so we’re asking You to heal bodies, spirits, and attitudes of those we love, Lord. Please do it, for the sake of Your glory and their joy. You know what it’s like to grieve and mourn when a loved one dies: in your compassion, comfort those who grieve, give them hope and strength for each new day and companions in the grief journey. You know the violence of war in our world, the desperation that comes with natural disasters, the isolation that comes with fear and violence, and the anxiety that comes with financial insecurity.
You are our all-sufficient and gracious Savior—the Prince of Peace and Lord of Hope, our solid Rock and secure Fortress. We trust You in uncertain times, knowing that You are Lord of all! You know our halting steps and inconsistent affirmations—yet, You embrace us as Your own, as ones for whom You died and rose, and You value our discipleship as we try to follow in your footsteps and walk in your ways.
Thank you. And, please, Lord: continually equip us by your Spirit and Word for active service in Your kingdom, and prepare us for conflict with the sin in us and with the evil in the world. This is our prayer—offered in the name of Jesus our Lord. AMEN
Father God: You know our thoughts, before we speak them. You know our needs, without us saying them. So, You invite us into Your presence, with arms wide open, not to hear our laundry lists of wants and needs. You want us to know You, to love You and to be withYou. Forgive us for treating You more like a heavenly vending machine and less like our Heavenly Father who loves us.
We want to know You more–for who You are. We want to be more like You–as Your children. We want to follow You wherever You want to take us, for You know what’s good, right and best for us. Today, we give You all our worries and anxieties, which come from bearing burdens we’re never meant to carry; for You are God and we’re not.
We acknowledge only You can handle them; and we cannot. You’re the healer–and so we place loved ones and friends in Your healing hands. Do for them what only You can do–heal them. Restore bodies to health and wholeness. Calm troubled minds. Break chains of addiction. Overcome disease, and repair injury and wounds.
We pray today especially for…You’re the Resurrection and the Life–giving hope, peace and comfort to those who mourn loved ones. You’re Lord of the Church–so we thank you for blessings we’ve known as a congregation …the joy of mission, the wonder of learning new things from Your Word, the encouragement of friends who stand with us in tough times, the support of brothers and sisters.
May we be faithful in living and declaring your good News in our community, our nation and to the ends of the earth. Empower and protect those who are our voices, our hands and our feet in mission–on the West bank in Israel, on the US-Mexican border. This, and more, we pray in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.
Father–nothing escapes your notice, is beyond your care or too hard for you to take on, whether it concerns nations or individuals. You have a heart for all the world–not just our little piece of it. So we pray for your world: may your truth and justice, righteousness and compassion guide elections not only in our own country–but also in other parts of the world. In places convulsed by conflict–bring a just and lasting peace. We pray for those who serve you as cross-cultural missionaries. Keep them faithful to your truth and your ways; enable them to effectively share the Good News of your Son Jesus. For all Christian churches, and for this church, we pray you will lead us. And where you guide, provide resources to do your will and witness well to the new life you give in Jesus. Give our leaders a kingdom vision, godly wisdom, and risk-taking faith to lead where you call us to go. We ask you to comfort the grieving–whether the loss is recent or long ago. Console them with the assurance of eternal life and the hope of the resurrection. In addition, we place in your strong hands, your compassionate hands, your healing hands, those who are sick or injured, recuperating from or anticipating surgery, and those in treatment or therapy–heal them, Lord. Heal bodies in pain, and minds that are disturbed. Free the addicted and restore the depressed. Heal broken emotions and broken bones. And especially, heal our loved ones. And, Lord, strengthen and encourage their caregivers. Thy will be done! This is our prayer, offered in the strong name of Jesus. AMEN
God of wonder and grace: You knew us from even before we were born; You loved us from eternity. Then, when we needed to know you most, You called us by name and saved us. Nothing escapes Your notice and is beyond Your care.
We remember and thank You for those who’ve gone before us. Thank You for those who lived, fought and died for our freedom. Thank You for those who loved us enough to share the gospel with us.
We ask You to protect, support, and guide those who still defend this land—especially young men and women serving in harm’s way; and all who live in places where wars are waged, civilian and soldier alike. And, we ask You to empower, embolden and encourage those who declare Your gospel as missionaries in places as varied as college campuses to urban streets, from Kenya to Mexico, Japan to Egypt.
We pray for those who are ill or injured, anticipating surgery or recovering and rehabilitating: in Your love and by Your sacrifice heal them, restore them and strengthen them in the Spirit. For families in grief, we ask You to comfort them with Your hope and with confidence in Your resurrection.
May they not be afraid to remember, finding peace in Your presence now as then. Bless those who answer Your call today to serve You as elders, deacons and trustees of this congregation. Give them faith, love, wisdom and courage–may they lead us to follow You, not fearing to lead where we may be reluctant to go in order to keep us faithful to Your gospel and mission. Bless Your Word and the servant who declares it today. This is our prayer, prayed in Jesus’ name. Amen.