Prayers of the People/Intercession on Invitation
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 God–You invite us to come as a child to his/her daddy. You invite us to open our souls to You. You invite us to lay our desires before You. You are fond of us, Your children–so we come to You humbly, lovingly, yet confidently. We pray for your world–which You created and called “good”. Now we see it so riddled by war and hatred, infected with hopelessness and despair, confused, having lost its way, and refusing to walk in Yours.
Shine Your light in the dark corners of the earth: Ignite your followers as lamps to show the Way. Encourage disheartened missionaries. We pray for our world and nation. Heal our land! Let Your justice roll down like a mighty river, to cleanse away injustice. Replace suspicion of neighbor with trust. Guide our leaders in Your ways, and give us all the courage to follow Your paths. Grant your wisdom and strength to our President, Vice President, Legislators and judges. Lord, Revive Your church in America! Make us all salt in a dying and tasteless culture.
Make us light in places where night has fallen. And, pour out Your Spirit on this church–Empowering the ministry You’ve already given us and lead us in new avenues of reaching this community, and the World, with the good News of Your Son Jesus Christ. We ask Your comfort for friends and loved ones who mourn.
Walk with them through the valley of the shadow. Give them Your peace which passes all understanding. We pray especially for … We pray for Your healing for those who are ill, injured, recuperating from or anticipating surgery: Heal them in body, soul and spirit. Protect them from anxiety; buoy them with hope. We ask Your healing grace especially for ….All this, and more, we confidently ask You to hear and grant, to the glory of Your Son, our Savior–Jesus–Amen.
Gracious God–who opens Your arms wide to welcome us just as we are but who’s too loving leave us that way: in response to Your invitation we come humbly and boldly with our broken hearts and weak hands to ask You to do what we can’t.
For those ill or injured, and those recovering from surgery or anticipating it–we ask you to intervene and heal them. Heal afflicted bodies, troubled minds and discouraged spirits. Please heal them, Lord. On behalf of those who mourn, we ask You to comfort them in the hope of the resurrection and the peace that passeth all understanding.
Lord, we pray for families in crisis: give hope to those who feel hopeless; restore trust that’s been broken; rekindle love that’s grown cold or stale; renew communication that’s been damaged. Find a way, Lord, for Your love to prevail–change patterns that destroy and replace them with habits that nurture mutual caring and grace.
We pray, also, for our broken world–shattered by prejudice, suspicion, injustice and hatred; confused by lies, hidden agendas and “spin;” and marred by sins of greed, lust, pride and anger. Come, Lord, as Lord of all–may Your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. For our nation–we ask You to guide our leaders.
When they’re wrong, give them humility to admit it and lead us in the right ways, in Your ways. When they’re right, give them a humility that makes them gracious with those who disagree and a courage to walk in Your ways and to lead us in Your path. We pray, also, for other nations–may You also bless them as they seek to live out Your kingdom’s life-giving values, truth and virtues.
Where there’s war–bring peace; where there’s drought–rain; where there’s famine–food; where there are hostages–freedom; where there are storms–shelter and protection. We also pray for Your church and this congregation: that You’ll protect us from what obscures the truth and grace of the gospel of Jesus, from what mutes our witness and mars our work for Your Kingdom. This we pray in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus. AMEN