Prayers of Intercession for January 15 2012

By Mrs Morag Stewart

Heavenly Father, give us a sense of your presence as we gather here for worship today.  Grant us gratitude as we remember your goodness, penitence as we remember our sins, and joy as we remember your love; and enable us to lift up our hearts in humble prayer and fervent praise through Jesus Christ our Lord

We give you thanks for life, and the experience life brings us.  We thank you for our joys, sorrows, trials, failures and triumphs.  We praise you for our country, its beauty, the riches it has for us and the gifts it showers on us.  We thank you for your people, the gift of languages we speak, the variety of races we have, the cultural heritage we cherish.  Grant that we accept these gifts with thankfulness and use them for the good of the human race and to bring glory to you.
Lord, in your mercy
Hear our prayer

We pray for a world in which even ordinary humanity fails so often.  We pray for government ministers in every nation.  We pray that those who lead and take on great responsibilities may not simply wish to seem great in the eyes of other s, but may genuinely serve their people, searching continually for polices and strategies which will be for the good of all, especially for the weakest and most vulnerable.
We pray for the victims of war and violence among individuals and nations
We pray for the children who suffer when people put their faith in weapons and war
We pray for the multitudes in every country who do not want war and are ready to walk the road of peace
Hear our prayer and grant us insight and strength so that we may always respond to hatred with love, to injustice with total dedication to justice, to need with the willingness to share, to war with peace.
Lord in your mercy
Hear our prayer

As the weather turns colder, we pray especially for the homeless, the elderly and housebound, and all those living alone.  Help us to be good neighbours, looking out for those who may be in need this Winter and reaching out as individuals and as a church community to do what we can to relieve their misery and suffering.

Hear our prayer Lord, for people who are ill, in hospitals, at home, or wherever they may be. Give them courage, hope and peace, and the knowledge that you are present in their weakness, pain and suffering. May the skills and knowledge of those who care for the sick be fully used to help and to heal. 

We pray for those whose hearts have been saddened by the death of someone close and dear to them. Give to them the strong comfort which no one else can give, and let them know the comforting power of the resurrection of Jesus.

Jesus Christ is the Light of the World, a light which no darkness can quench. We remember before God those who have died and light a candle to symbolise the light of Christ, which eternally shines and brings hope. Today we remember ...

Merciful Father, accept these prayers for the sake of your Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen