OCCASIONAL PRAYERS (series)

 

Intercessory Prayers 3^rd Sunday after Epiphany

Glorious Father of Light,

Who declared at The Beginning: Let there be Light!

And it was, and is – you - Jesus, the Christ and Light of the world -

The Light, through whom, alone, we truly see;

Our Eternal Epiphany, and Darkness-Slayer!

We raise our hearts,

our heads,

our hands (if we dare)

 certainly, our hopes and voices

 in grateful

praise!

For with You is the Fountain

of Life

in whose Light we see light,

ALLELUIA! ALLELUIA! ALLELUIA!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Abba! Father!

Thank you for your signs:

of grace,

                    of goodness,

                    of glory,

                                         of generosity,

demonstrated by Jesus,

expressed in the gospel of

water-into-wine extravagance,

turning, returning, overturning

restrictive Law into life-giving Liberty,

grumpiness into giddiness,

and the overwhelming, party-loving joy

of your abundant, Holy-Spirit life,

bursting from our innermost being

in cascading Glory!

LORD, Let IT BE SO for us, this day, and every day!

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

                                          ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Beloved Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,

We pray for Your Church: Your Body, Your Bride, Your Beloved –

Have mercy on us!

Have mercy, and heal all who minister

to the Body of Christ;

from Archbishops to administrators,

Curates to choristers,

Prophets, Priests and pray-ers,

and, indeed, every single one of us,

  being equally essential  

to our growing together

 into the fulness of the stature of Christ –

Lord in Your mercy – hear our prayer.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Abba/Amma!

What we wouldn’t give for peace!

Well, we say that.

We pray that.

You know: Ukraine.

Gaza. Yemen. Sudan.

Lebanon.

Israel, and so many other arenas of conflict.

Seriously, though:

Who believes in “peace in our Time?”

We like to think we do, obviously, but: do we?

And yet, and yet…

O God, you were in Christ, the Prince of Peace,

reconciling

the whole world to Yourself and

 who now calls us to be ambassadors

of your kingdom: which is

“love, joy, and peace in the Holy Spirit.”

Help us, then, to be peacemakers in our own

home, our own church,

our own workplace and neighbourhood

and, forgiving our cynicism, please,

to be faithful peace-prayers, too.

Lord in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 Dear, dear Father,

whose lovingkindness and compassion

are from everlasting to everlasting,

have mercy on all among us who are

suffering, in mind, body, or soul;

who are lonely, hungry, sick, or afraid –

or all those afflictions –

And those we personally mention to you, now, for a moment…

PAUSE

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,

 may you be resurrection-affirming comfort

to those who mourn.

And in this cold and inhospitable climate

please, have mercy, and rescue all who

are homeless, or poverty-stricken;

who are addicts, prisoners, or outcasts;

who are stateless immigrants,

or refugees, surviving on fear.

There, but for your extravagant grace,

do we go:

Merciful Father, accept these our prayers for the sake of your Son, our saviour, Jesus Christ,

AMEN