We live in the midst of great mystery

A prayer: “Mark 4: 26 -34” and the song “Morning Has Broken“.

On this new day, we do praise you, O God.

We live in the midst of great mystery:
the mysteries of your Creation,
of night and day,
seedtime and harvest,
life and death and life after death —
all unfolding within your steadfast love and faithfulness;
the mysteries of love and beauty and joy
that come upon us unexpectedly,
surprising us
lifting us up into your Son’s community of grace;
the mysteries of your Holy Spirit
giving us courage and hope and strength beyond our own.

We gather the week that has passed
and set it before you,
seeking
waiting
hoping
that you will do your work of
creation and re-creation,
of reconciliation and redemption
of healing and renewal
in us
in this church
in our world.

We open ourselves to you,
Lord and Friend,
Saviour and God of all Truth,
so that,
at the end of the day,
we may praise you
with hearts and minds and spirits
made new in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

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“Not a day goes by without your unfolding grace”

A prayer emerging from 2 Corinthians 4: 13 -5:1 and the hymn “Let us with a gladsome mind”.

We  praise you, God,
for you are faithful and kind,
your mercies endure through all that life brings us.

We bring to you the week that has passed:
the moments when we were hungry and thirsty
for a greater sense of your presence with us;
the times when we were troubled and anxious
and could not hold on to your promises
to be our rock and our strength;
the experiences of joy and gratitude
when we knew ourselves deeply cared for by you.

We lay all that before you
and we open our hearts and minds and spirits
to your Holy Spirit.

Renew in us the confidence that
you are always at work,
breaking into our lives with
newness that is the abundant Life
that Jesus promised.

Renew in us the trust that
not a day goes by without
your unfolding grace.

Renew us so that we gladly declare:
your goodness is stronger than evil;
you love is stronger than hate;
your light is stronger than the darkness;
your truth is stronger than lies.

We pray in the name of Jesus
who comes to us
in this time together,
in both our weakness and our strength,
in the bread and in the drink
we share in his name. Amen.

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We sing ourselves into your presence

A prayer based on Psalm 100 and Philippians 1

We sing ourselves into your presence, God,
for you are the One who has
made us
and called us your own
and has kept us safe thus far on the journey.

We sing ourselves into your presence, God,
and for a moment
we leave behind our worries
that the world we have cherished
is under threat
and fast disappearing.
For a moment,
we turn our anxious hearts toward you,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
and join your joyful dance of love.

We dance with you
and are caught up into your love:
your love that is stronger than death;
your love that is stronger than our fears;
your love that is even now
making the world new
with mercy and grace and joy.

We dance with you
and find ourselves in the company of others:
saints, past and present,
brothers and sisters in Christ,
your children around the world;
all called into your great love together.

Dance us beyond our selves, Lord of life.
Dance us into caring
and forgiveness
and your community of
peace and justice and hope.

We sing, we dance,
we yield our hearts to you.

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You Pray for Us

A prayer emerging from John 17: 1-5 and Acts 16: 16 -40.

Lord Jesus,
you pray for us:
you pray that we might now the one and only true God;
you pray that we shall see God’s splendour
in your life,
in the world around us,
in each other.

We live by your prayers, Jesus.
They carry us into God’s presence;
they lift us out of ourselves
and into your great love;
they become channels of God’s
resurrection action in our lives.

We are grateful.

You know us:
the prayers that are deepest in our hearts;
the prayers that we cry out in our deepest need;
the prayers that we do not say
because we are too busy
or not sure they matter
or unwilling to submit our lives to you.

Take the words and groans and silences
that we offer— poor gifts as they are —
take them into your grace;
transpose them into the language of your Spirit;
make them deep and good and true.

We open ourselves to your holy work.
Join these prayers
with those of others in your Body
till the fears that make us small are stilled,
till your people are formed by your courage and hope,
till the chains the bind people are broken,
the wounds that cripple hearts are healed,

Join these prayers with
those of others in your Body
so that a mighty chorus of praise
rises to your throne
and all the world sees the glory
you intend for all creation.

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You surprise us in your resurrection power

A prayer for Easter

We sing to you, God of grace and of love.
We sing to you, God of creation,
sovereign over all the earth.

You surprise us in your resurrection power:
at work in Jesus’ life and death,
bringing new beginnings,
showing up in unexpected places.

You surprise us in your resurrection power:
at work in our lives and in our deaths
where we have given up
and do not expect you to act
in any way that matters.

You surprise us in your resurrection power:
calling us by name,
giving us one another,
brothers and sisters we did not know we had,
your new community of grace and truth and hope and love.

Now, in our praise,
in our prayers,
in our waiting,
enter our lives again.
Enter our lives
with power for newness,
with courage to love one another,
with hope and peace and joy
that we may be your new creation
in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

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A King Like No Other

A prayer for Palm Sunday based on John 19: 16 -22

Lord Jesus Christ,
on this day, your disciples crowned you King
and we have joined their praise.

Yet, you are a King like no other.
You are on your way to suffering and to death
leading us into freedom and salvation and peace.
You offer your very self to heal our brokenness.
You take our violence and fears and hatreds
into your own life
and give back only love.

We pause now before this awesome mystery
watching as your power moves
beyond our weakness
beyond our failures
beyond our sins

Move us deeper into this holy story
and bring us into the wide open spaces of your grace
for yours is the kingdom,
yours is the power,
yours is the glory,
now and forever. Amen

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The deepest truth

Jesus,
our Lord, our Saviour,
you have claimed us as your own,
beloved children of a holy and good God.

In our best moments,
we know that to be true.
We trust it.
We live out of it with
confidence and hope and love and generosity.

We thank you that it is still true
when we turn away from you
and forget who we are
and whose we are
and what you have graced us to be.

You meet us in our weakness and in our failures
with a love that will not let us go.
You speak words of forgiveness that set us free.
You heal the wounds that cripple our souls.
You call us out of loneliness and into community
with others who are learning to
walk in your Way.

Speak those deep truths
deep into our hearts once again.
Make our spirits strong
with your strength
that we may have the courage
to stand against evil,
to speak the words that silence hate,
to risk the costs of loving.

Make our spirits strong
with your strength
that we may have the courage
to be your Body
broken and shared
with all the world.

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