Prayers of the People/Intercession on Pentecost
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
Father: today we celebrate your gift. At creation you gave us the gift of life; through the life, death and resurrection of your Son, Jesus, you gave us new life; at his ascension, we gained a mediator who prays for us every day.
But today we celebrate another gift: the gift of your presence with us all the time and everywhere ;the gift of your life living in us and through us; the gift of Yourself in the Holy Spirit come to us–to enable us to live the way you call us to live, to equip us to serve you as you call us to serve, and shape us more and more into the image of Jesus.
THANK YOU for the gift of you. And may others know the same gift of your Spirit. So, grateful and confidently we pray …For those who are ill or injured: may your Spirit bring healing. Lift them in body and in soul. For those finishing up another year of college or graduate school–enable them to reconnect with family, to find summer work that is meaningful as well as profitable, and grow and strengthen them in spirit and soul this summer.
For a world that feels like it’s coming apart at the seams at times, pour out a spirit or wisdom and truth, of conviction and courage, of holiness and faithfulness. Pour out your spirit on this land–on its people and on our leaders, that we might be forgiven and cleansed of our sins, and become a nation that reflects your truth and grace to the world. And for us–for each of us in this place today, send a shower … no, a flood and downpour … of your Spirit. Wash us clean. Refresh our tired souls.
Brighten our dull eyes and loosen our timid tongues that we might praise you with both our lips and our lives lived for you. Restore our strained or broken relationships. Renew our love–for one another, and most of all, for you! And may we see You in glory. All this we ask, and more–grateful for the gift of your Spirit. 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