Prayers of the People/Intercession on Prisoners

We ask you, God, to help and defend us. Deliver the oppressed, pity the insignificant, raise the fallen, show yourself to the needy, heal the sick, bring back those of your people who have gone astray, feed the hungry, lift up the weak, take off the prisoners’ chains. May every nation come to know that you alone are God, that Jesus Christ is your child, that we are your people, the sheep that you pasture. Amen.                            

Clement of Rome

O God, early in the morning I cry to you.

Help me to pray

And to concentrate my thoughts on you:

I  cannot do this alone.

In me there is darkness.

But with you there is light;

I am lonely, but you do not leave me;

I am feeble in heart, but with you there is help;

I am restless, but with you there is peace.

In me there is bitterness, but with you there is patience;

I do not understand your ways

But you know the way for me. . . .

Restore me to liberty,

And enable me so to live now

That I may answer before you and before me.

Lord, whatever this day may bring.

Your name be praised.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Written in Prison

Episcopalian Prayers of the People, Form I

Deacon or other leader

With all our heart and with all our mind, let us pray to the
Lord, saying “Lord, have mercy.”

For the peace from above, for the loving-kindness of God,
and for the salvation of our souls, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.

For the peace of the world, for the welfare of the Holy Church
of God, and for the unity of all peoples, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.

For our Bishop, and for all the clergy and people, let us pray
to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.

For our President, for the leaders of the nations, and for all in
authority, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.

For this city (town, village,                            ), for every city and
community, and for those who live in them, let us pray to
the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.

For seasonable weather, and for an abundance of the fruits of
the earth, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.

For the good earth which God has given us, and for the
wisdom and will to conserve it, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.

For those who travel on land, on water, or in the air [or
through outer space], let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.

For the aged and infirm, for the widowed and orphans, and
for the sick and the suffering, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.

For                            , let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.

For the poor and the oppressed, for the unemployed and the
destitute, for prisoners and captives, and for all who
remember and care for them, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.

For all who have died in the hope of the resurrection, and for
all the departed, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.

For deliverance from all danger, violence, oppression, and
degradation, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.

For the absolution and remission of our sins and offenses, let us
pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.

That we may end our lives in faith and hope, without
suffering and without reproach, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.

Defend us, deliver us, and in thy compassion protect us, O
Lord, by thy grace.
Lord, have mercy.

In the communion of [                       and of all the] saints, let
us commend ourselves, and one another, and all our life, to
Christ our God.
To thee, O Lord our God.

Silence.

The Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church (1979)

Episcopalian Prayer of the People, Form II

In the course of the silence after each bidding, the People offer their own prayers, either silently or aloud.

I ask your prayers for God’s people throughout the world;
for our Bishop(s)                      ; for this gathering; and for all
ministers and people.
Pray for the Church.

Silence

I ask your prayers for peace; for goodwill among nations;
and for the well-being of all people.
Pray for justice and peace.

Silence

I ask your prayers for the poor, the sick, the hungry, the
oppressed, and those in prison.
Pray for those in any need or trouble.

Silence

I ask your prayers for all who seek God, or a deeper
knowledge of him.
Pray that they may find and be found by him.

Silence

I ask your prayers for the departed [especially                    ].
Pray for those who have died.

Silence

Members of the congregation may ask the prayers or the thanksgivings of those present.

I ask your prayers for                             .

I ask your thanksgiving for                             .

  Silence

Praise God for those in every generation in whom Christ has been honored
[especially                               whom we remember today].
Pray that we may have grace to glorify Christ in our own day.

Silence

The Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church (1979)

Prayer for Prisons and Correctional Institutions

Lord Jesus, for our sake you were condemned as a criminal: Visit our jails and prisons with your pity and judgment. Remember all prisoners, and bring the guilty to repentance and amendment of life according to your will, and give them hope for their future. When any are held unjustly, bring them release; forgive us, and teach us to improve our justice. Remember those who work in these institutions; keep them humane and compassionate; and save them from becoming brutal or callous. And since what we do for those in prison, O Lord, we do for you, constrain us to improve their lot. All this we ask for your mercy’s sake. Amen.

The Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church (1979)