Month: September 2022

Merciful and Compassionate God,

You care for all your peoples, whether they are here around us or in far off places, you care enough to call people to share the good news of your love and grace.

You care about our country as we continue to live through a pandemic, as hurricane winds destroy homes and disrupt daily lives in the Maritimes, and as we prepare for a municipal election.

You care about countries like Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Ukraine and Russia whose needs are deep and where suffering is great.

You care about those who are sick, in pain, in treatment, awaiting test results, in long-term care homes. Your compassion extends to them.

You care about those who carry heavy burdens, broken hearts, those grieving, lonely and anxious, your compassion extends to them as well.

You care for the marginalized, the addicted, those in need of affordable housing, and parents who weep at night due to financial challenges.

You care for those who answer your call to lead, to preach, to teach, to administer, to share your Good News. Your compassion extends to us as well.

Forgiving God, like Jonah we resist when asked to tell the story of your love and mercy. We can feel awkward and inadequate. But you have called us to speak and to act, and to walk in the shoes of compassion and mercy with all. As your disciples as it has been for generations, help us to rise up and follow wherever you lead.
Hear us now as we offer our prayer as you have taught us ….

Our Father……….  Amen.

We pray for our Households of Faith.

Spirit of transformation, we are grateful for the ways you inspire, disturb, and shape us through our experiences in the world and with one another. Open our eyes, soften our hearts, expand our minds, unravel our assumptions as you nurture personal growth, our callings, and deepened relationship with creation and one another. Help us to see the world through your eyes of compassion. Strengthen us to come alongside, support, and build strong communities in which all are welcome, where justice is done, and all have bread.

Whether experiencing difference or the routine of everyday, may our lives be open to your presence, active, moving, transforming our hearts and minds, nurturing our growth as your disciples of healing and hope.

Spirit of transformation, we pray for the world you love;

We pray for creation groaning due to global warming and environmental destruction at our hands.

May we be healing restorative stewards of your good creation. 

We pray for famine-stricken nations, nations at war, nations suffering due to corrupt political leadership.

May we endeavour each day to walk in the shoes of peace and justice, recognizing the world’s pain is our pain.

You are the God  who brings new life from the ashes; who makes streams of water to flow in the wilderness.

May your kingdom come, your will for restoration be done we pray….     

Spirit of transformation,

we pray for

all who stand in need of healing whether for physical, emotional, or relational pain.

Be with the sick, those living with chronic pain or physical limitations;

Be with lonely long-term care residents who feel forgotten and overburdened heath care providers.

We pray for those awaiting test results or appointments and those journeying cancer treatment.

We pray for the discouraged, the heart-broken, those who carry the scars of abuse, and the grieving.

Spirit of transformation, we pray for the church,

                As we live into a new church year, may we live into boldly and faithfully into your mission and vision. May ministries flourish, relationships deepen, and may joy abound as we learn and serve together including next weekend’s apple butter & cheese festival.   

Listening God, we offer all our prayers, those spoken aloud and those we carry deep in our hearts, as your people who strive to walk in your ways of Jesus in whose name we pray, Amen.

We pray for our Households of Faith. May peace and comfort surround them. We pray as September gears up and as they live into new rhythms. May each of our households of faith draw near to You as You draw near to them with joy, hope, and peace.

Thank you God that you have called us to be your people, people who live generously, who love and serve generously, who give of our gifts and abilities, loving others as you have loved us. May you use our gifts to bless and encourage others and may you God be honoured and praised as a result

God, as we worship in the beauty of creation this morning, we give praise for the land, for the bounty of crops and food, for clean water and fresh air. We give praise for the evidence of your creative spirit, transforming even the smallest of seeds into the beauty of sunflowers, fields of corn, forests that very soon will be ablaze with your glory.

God, we also ask that your transforming power would also be at work in us, moulding & transforming us so that the character of Jesus is evident to all. Thank you for calling us to partner in your work so that the world would see and acknowledge that you are a God who redeems and restores. Give us the courage to step out, to be obedient to your call

Thank you Holy Spirit for your work in our lives, for holding us secure in the love of God, and for leading us, sometimes in ways we could not have imagined. Holy Spirit, may your transforming power change us as individuals, as a church

We give thanks God for answered prayer and for your invitation to bring all our needs and requests to you. Hear our individual prayers as we pause in silence before you.

(take a moment to pray for those individuals that the Holy Spirit brings to your mind)

Oh God, we lift up those in our congregation and community this morning who are grieving the death of a loved one or other tragedy of life. God, bring comfort, grant peace, and may your love bring deep healing into their lives. Jesus, be their hope.

We pray for those who are in need of physical healing and renewal….thank you that you are a God who heals and restores. Touch their bodies and renew their spirits. For those who are lonely or discouraged this day, bring hope and light into their lives.

Grant each of us Lord a discerning heart, eyes that see, and an obedient heart so that we may be people of grace and love in our workplace, our communities and families, used by you as instruments of hope and peace.

God, live in us and through us.

We give you praise and Thanks in the Holy name of your Son, Jesus.

   We pray for our Households of Faith as this school year has begun and the children have enjoying their new classes and routines. May they continue to grow in wisdom and grace.

Thank you God for these folks and may your peace and presence be their strength.

Amen   

Spirit of transformation and power,

grant us the gifts of curiosity and imagination, to see the world as you do; to look on our neighbours with love and acceptance; to welcome the stranger with warmth and generosity. Grant us inspiration and courage to build bridges and connections beyond our comfortable circles of relationship and familiar neighbourhoods. May we be open to your presence, active, moving, moulding, transforming our hearts and minds, nurturing our growth as your disciples, deepening our capacity to love.

Spirit of transformation and power,

We pray the people of Pakistan amidst devastating floods;

The people of China sweltering amidst extreme heat

We pray for those whose homes and livelihood are threatened by wild fires,

The people of Ethiopia facing famine and drought

The people of Ukraine amidst war and unimaginable suffering.

You are the God who transforms ashes into new life;

You are the God who makes streams flow in the wilderness.

May your kingdom come in its fullness we pray…. that all may prosper, live in peace and justice.

Spirit of transformation and power, we also pray for:

All who stand in need of healing and wholeness for mind, body, spirit.

Be with the sick, those living with chronic pain, the dying;

Be with the lonely and isolated, most especially long-term care residents who continue to deal with covid outbreaks and lockdowns.

We pray for those awaiting test results, specialist appointments, those who are journeying cancer treatment, and those living with unexpected disruptions to daily life.

We pray for the discouraged, the heart-broken, those who carry the scars of abuse, and all who grieve.

Spirit of transformation and power, we pray for the church,

we thank you for gifts of leadership, flourishing ministries, and the enjoyment of serving together in ways that further your mission and your vision. Grant us strength to release that which has served its season. May we be open and faithful to walk the new paths you have for us.

Spirit of transformation and power, we offer all our prayers, those spoken aloud and those we carry deep in our hearts, as your people who strive to walk in your ways of peace. Amen.

We pray for our Households of Faith. Bless each one with the presence of your peace and the strength of your joy. Amen