Prayers of the People/Intercession on Holy Spirit
Spirit of the Living God—Fall afresh on us this day. Spirit of God present and powerful, Spirit of God fruitful and faithful, Spirit of God filling and fulfilling us as children of the Father and followers of Jesus: Hear our prayers: Come, move, create, redeem and restore …… please. Joyful Spirit—we celebrate Your grace evident in new ministries begun, in lives changed, in babies born, in relationships reconciled, in needs met and in salvation embraced.
Healing Spirit—we ask You to please restore those who are ill or injured, physically, emotionally and mentally.
Comforting Spirit—we ask you to please console and encourage the grieving, to rescue the depressed and burned out. Peaceful Spirit—we ask You to please replace fear with faith in these days of anxiety and uncertainty.
Enable us to trust the Father’s Sovereign power and grace more than our portfolios and bank accounts. Help us to be able lean into Your goodness and power, and lean into the wind to hear the voice of Jesus the Son coming across the crashing waves of the storm—“Do not be afraid. It’s me. I’m with you always.”
Reconciling Spirit—we ask you to please bridge the divides in our world and in our nation: divides between people of different ethnicity, economic status, race, party affiliation, education, language and geography.
The bridge over our troubled waters is Jesus—take us to him and bring us together in Him. Living Spirit—where there’s death: the death of hope, the death of love, the death of grace, the death of a marriage, a relationship, a career, a dream …please bring life out of death, just as You raised Jesus from the dead. Find a way. … Make a way, for we ask it in Jesus’s name. AMEN
Holy Spirit, Come Again
Plain text is for one voice. Bold text is for all voices.
Holy Spirit, come again as cleansing fire,
Burn away all that is false and fruitless
Come, Holy Spirit
Holy Spirit, come again as guiding fire,
Light the way through our wilderness
Come, Holy Spirit
Holy Spirit, come again as refining fire,
Purifying our words, our ways, and our hearts
Come, Holy Spirit
Holy Spirit, come again as prophetic fire,
Rouse us to courage and action
Come, Holy Spirit
Holy Spirit, come again as unifying fire,
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven
Come, Holy Spirit
Holy Spirit, come again as empowering fire,
Dance on your people, no matter the label
Inspire your gifts in us
Send us to bless and change the world.
Come, Holy Spirit
The prayer can end here, or with the Lord’s prayer.
We ask all this in the name of Jesus,
the One who promised to send you, and who taught us to pray,
Our Father…
Holy Spirit, Come Again © 2011 Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia, www.revlisad.com
God–Father, Son and Holy Spirit–You know what it’s like to be many and one at the same time. In You, we too are many … yet one. You’ve made us one body—a single family unified for one purpose; with one baptism—giving us a single identity. You’ve given us one Spirit—Your Spirit; and one hope—in the same future. And, with one faith we trust You for our salvation, our one Lord, Jesus Christ.
So together, with one voice and a single heart, we hold varied anxieties and hope, concerns and commitments, and give them to You. For those we love who are ill or injured, anticipating surgery or recovering from it–we pray healing of body, peace of mind and trust in You.
For families who gather this week–we ask safety in travel, joy in shared times; and where reconciliation is needed to bring a marriage and family together, we ask You to give grace, humility, forgiveness and growth in love and trust. For those who can’t be together this week–we ask peace.
May Your grace give reason for thanks in shared memories. For our nation–so blessed by You over the years, we offer thanks: for freedom, for abundance of resources, for the ability to worship You unafraid. Yet, we’ve also grown proud of our power, our wealth and our technologies. Forgive us for turning to other gods to lead and protect us; and for when we’ve trusted ourselves too much and You too little.
For our world, so splintered by national interest and suspicion, by prejudice and hatred: we pray for understanding and empathy, justice and compassion between peoples. Strengthen Your missionaries, keep them faithful in serving You as they declare and live Your gospel as lights throughout a dark world. For Your Church, for this church–we thank You. Thank You for Your people who love us as we are, who care for us when we hurt, who lift us up when we fall, who are there when we are in need. Thank You for a church that’s faithful to proclaim and demonstrate Your truth with grace and compassion. Thank You for ministries that quietly change lives, for leaders who faithfully serve and for all who sacrificially give of themselves. So, with thanksgiving in our hearts, we pray all this, in Jesus’ Name. AMEN
Triune and Loving God: on this Pentecost Sunday, we ask for the gift of Your Holy Spirit to help us pray as we ought today and always. Come, HolySpirit: Help Us.
We ask forYour Spirit’s energy and vision: for those who are tired in the battle against injustice and oppression; for those who’ve become weary in well-doing; for those exhausted by the struggle with poverty and hunger–their own and other’s. Come, HolySpirit: Help Us.
We ask for the hope and comfort ofYour Spirit: for those whose lives are overshadowed by illness or pain; for those whose lives are darkened by sorrow or bereavement. And we pray that the Comforter will come and hold in Your love and peace, those who grieve. Come, HolySpirit: Help Us.
We ask for the peace and joy of Your Spirit for those living in the shadow of war and violence; for those eaten up by guilt and anxiety and whose Christian life has become hard and dry. Come, HolySpirit: Help Us.
We ask for the guidance and strength of Your Spirit for those uncertain how to use their time, talents and gifts; for those tempted to do what is wrong. Come, HolySpirit: Help Us.
We ask for the love and courage ofYour Spirit for those reaching out to comfort the distressed; for those reaching out to others with the Good News of Christ. Come, HolySpirit: Help Us.
We ask for the anointing of Your Spirit for those proclaiming Your Word from a pulpit, for those hearing Your Word in a pew, for those opening Your Word in a group, for those meditating on Your Word in quiet. Come, HolySpirit: Help Us.
Loving God: We ask for the assurance of YourSpirit to know Your presence with us in our daily lives: in our relationships; in our work and service; in our worship; in our times of joy and pain. Come, HolySpirit: Help Us. In Jesus’ Name. AMEN
God, you call us to prayer. Throughout the Scriptures, we read about your people praying.
The Israelites cried out for you to rescue them from slavery. You sent them Moses.
Hannah wept, asking you to remember her. You gave her a son.
King Solomon asked for a discerning heart to govern your people. You gave him the gift of wisdom.
Esther declared a fast and prayed for favor with the king. You spared her people.
The disciples Peter and John prayed for boldness. You shook the ground and filled them with the Holy Spirit.
An unnamed woman poured out her brokenness at Christ’s feet. He forgave her sins.
Jesus himself prayed for us to be followers who are continually sent. You send us as you sent your Son.
O Lord, help us to be people of prayer, willing to cry out to you, humbly naming our needs, desiring to be filled with the Holy Spirit, and constantly praying for one another’s ability to serve you.
We take a moment now to reflect on:
where we need to give or receive forgiveness. (Pause for a moment of silence.)
The people we know who are in need of your grace and healing. (Pause for a moment of silence.)
Our community, our nation, and our world. (Pause for a moment of silence.)
Almighty, attentive God, Thank you for being a personal Lord whom we can approach with honesty, with frustration, and with hope.
We pray these things together, as your grateful people. Amen.
Ellen R. Dawson
Prayer for the Unity of the Church
O God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, our only Savior, the Prince of Peace: Give us grace seriously to lay to heart the great dangers we are in by our unhappy divisions; take away all hatred and prejudice, and whatever else may hinder us from godly union and concord; that, as there is but one Body and one Spirit, one hope of our calling, one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism, one God and Father of us all, so we may be all of one heart and of one soul, united in one holy bond of truth and peace, of faith and charity, and may with one mind and one mouth glorify thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
The Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church (1979)