Prayers of the People/Intercession on Repentance
Prayer For God’s Help
O God, from whom to be turned is to fall,
to whom to be turned is to rise,
and with whom to stand is to abide for ever;
grant us in all our duties your help,
in all our perplexities your guidance,
in all our dangers your protection,
and in all our sorrows your peace, through Jesus Christ our Lord,
Amen.
Augustine of Hippo
Your Healing Hands
Jesus, Resurrected One
Light of New Life
Breaker of Chains
Bringer of Grace and Hope
You are moving, speaking, inviting
We hear your call to repentance
The turning will save us
We hear your Good News
The trusting will save us
We place every need into your healing hands
our loved ones, our enemies, ourselves
our work, our congregations, our denomination
our community, our nation, our world
our hopes, our security, our failures, our future
The congregation is invited to add their own petitions
We place every need into your healing hands
We will find rest and wholeness there
We will find life, in you and the prayer you’ve taught us
Conclude with the Lord’s Prayer
Your Healing Hands © 2019 Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia, www.revlisad.com
God of wonder and strength, compassion, grace and love–all of which we see revealed through the power of a storm and its aftermath: You’re so big–and we’re so small. Your might is unlimited–ours is finite. Your patience lasts–ours quickly fades. Your purposes can’t be frustrated–we are frustrated a lot.
Coming face-to-face with our limited wisdom, abilities and resources (as we have this week), we turn to You, for Whom there are no such limits, to ask: Lord, help us. For those battling sickness or amid a lengthy rehabilitation, recuperation or recovery, for all who need healing of body, soul and mind; we pray–Help them, Lord.
For those who grieve, whose lives are turned upside down and need the comfort and encouragement of Your presence and peace, for those whose names we know; we pray–Help them, Lord. For those fighting their way out of addictions that have bound them for too long to a bottle or needle, to pornography or food, even to work or pleasure; we pray–Help them, Lord.
For teachers and students, staff and administrators, school bus drivers and parents, as schools open and classes resume, as relationships are formed and learning continues, give discerning spirits, renewed minds, positive attitudes, searching hearts, that when any truth is taught or grasped it’s Your truth that’s taught or grasped; we pray–Help them, Lord.
For scared parents holding their first child in their arms, or scared parents sending their child off to college, for couples discovering the gifts of being married for the first time or empty-nesters rediscovering one another, we thank You and also pray–Help them, Lord. For our nation and for its leaders–our president, vice-president, legislators and judges; for those any who govern and lead, protect and assist, for all who need guidance in decisions, who need courage for acting, who need to be able to admit mistakes and celebrate successes, we pray–Help them, Lord.
For us as Your church, trying to do the best we can to show your love to the world but who sometimes struggle with a neighbor next door or even in the pew next to us; for pastors and staff, elders and deacons, trustees, teachers, youth leaders and all who try to be faithful in our giving, our serving, our living and caring in Your name–Help us, Lord.
And now, for our preacher who wants to declare Your truth with clarity, compassion and conviction, and we who listen desiring to receive, believe and live that same truth, we pray–Help us, Lord. For it’s in Your name, Jesus. AMEN