Prayers of the People/Intercession on Vision
Great God our Father, Savior and Holy Spirit: Our hearts are filled with gratitude for your grace and faithfulness. Thank you for caring about those who we care about–for those who are sick or injured, recovering or anticipating surgery: heal them, Lord, to their joy and your glory; and for those who grieve: comfort them with your presence and the hope of eternal life in Christ.
Thank you for caring about our world that is really your world–a world bent on rejecting You by turning instead to violence, power, wealth, pleasure, and self-interest to try and find meaning, hope and peace.
May your people truly be salt which flavors and preserves a tasteless, decaying world with the truth of the gospel lived and proclaimed. Thank you for caring about your church–not perfect, but yours nonetheless. Help us to see what you see in our families, our community, region, nation and world. May our hearts break over what breaks your heart.
May we laugh when you laugh and weep when you weep. Give us vision, and with it, the wisdom to understand your mission and the energy to faithfully carry it out, now and always. And thank you for your word of life–which we long for; and your table which spiritually sustains and encourages us as your family, called by your name: Christians.
This is our prayer–offered in Jesus name. AMEN
Holy God–Father, Son and Spirit: We come with our agendas in order to enlist you in our causes but You won’t be co-opted for our small visions. Instead, You hold out a greater vision and purpose and invite us to follow rather than lead.
You invite us to do something bigger, something more lasting, something that pushes us beyond our limits. And you even give us what we need to live Your calling and vision–Your presence with us, Your power in us, Your unconditional love for us, Your call to us and Your grace all around us.
We are not alone. That’s why we are so bold today to come to You in prayer with our doubts, anxieties, worries, weights and dreams. We pray for those who are afflicted physically, emotionally or spiritually; and boldly ask that You heal them. Keep them from discouragement during times of recuperation.
Give them Your certain hope for tomorrow, the hope that overcomes fear or worry. For those who grieve, comfort them with Your resurrection hope and the assurance of Your gracious presence. Surround them with supportive people who can share Your enduring love with them in little acts of kindness and care.
Joyfully we pray for new families formed in marriage, or in birth; and families that have been reunited or reconciled with each other. We pray for Your continual care in our marriages and families so the world may see in our homes a clear and compelling reflection of Your love for us and of our love for You.
For summertime retreat and relaxation that brings renewal in vacation or leisure moments, for Your daily provision, for this nation where we can worship freely …we give You thanks. We pray on behalf of our country’s leaders–our president, vice president, legislators and judges, that you will enable them to understand Your truth, to acknowledge Your righteousness and give them the courage to lead us in Your ways.
And, we ask that You bless and protect our young men and women serving in harm’s way–may they know Your presence and acknowledge Your grace each day. Mend broken hearts and shattered lives. Encourage the dispirited and discouraged. Provide for those who lack much, and inspire generosity in those who have much. Make Your church–This church–a “light on the hill” where all may see what we do and be drawn to Your light through us. Make us as salt, creating a thirst for Your living water. And unite all Your people in our town, that one day we’d be known more for the real presence of Christ than for being on the cover of a magazine at the top of their list. May Your revival begin with us. This, and all that is still tucked quietly in our hearts, we pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.