Church Prayers and Intercessions for Ordinary 23

Prayers Sunday 8th September
Lord God, you are the father of all people and we bring our prayers knowing that you will hear us and help us.

Hear our prayer Lord for the whole family of your church.  Grant that we, and all your people, may be built up in our faith, and always show in our lives the love we see in Jesus.  Give courage to those who find it hard to follow you; to those who are finding it difficult to have faith because of a personal hardship or tragedy; to those who are made to suffer for their faith.  Let your Holy Spirit support them, and may all Christians stand firm in the hope that your kingdom of love will come.

We pray for our country and the many freedoms which we enjoy. We pray for our Queen and for those who govern in her name.  Give them health and strength, wisdom and courage, so that they may carry out their many duties in the best interests of all our people. 

We pray for one another.  Help us to grow together in faith and love, rejoicing in your fatherhood, as we bring our prayers to you in the name of Jesus Christ.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer
Hear our prayer Lord for children and young people

We pray for children and young people as they go about their learning.
At the start of a new academic year we think of children who are spending their first hours away from home in nursery or pre-school: those who are eager and active as they explore and welcome new experiences and relationships and those more shyly weighing up their first steps.

We think of those children who are returning to school to face new challenges and experiences to extend their learning. 

We think of young people whose ability and circumstances allow them to accept the opportunity of further and higher education: those meeting college or university for the first time and finding their values tested and their horizons widened, those who are linking industry or commerce with education as they take up apprenticeships, those for whom education seems and end in itself yielding no clear direction for the future. 
We think of all children and young people, praying that they may be worthy of the best in our society, and society worthy of their potential.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer

Hear our prayer Lord, as we thank you for giving us so much to enjoy in the world.  Open our eyes to see all the beauty around us as Summer turns to Autumn;

We thank you for the touch of coolness in the air that gives us a new burst of energy,
for the colouring of trees that shows the creativity of the Divine Artist,
for the falling leaves that reveal the strength of the branches,
for the harvest that brings us gratitude for the bounty of our land,
for this change of seasons that reveals the circle of life.
God of all seasons, as you transform the earth, transform us by your Spirit.
Lord in Your Mercy, hear our prayer

Hear our prayer Lord for those whose lives have been shattered by natural disater.  We hold in our hearts the families forever changed by grief and loss.  We ask for your blessing on all those who have lost their homes, their livelihoods, their security and their hope and we pray for the work of the relief agencies and those providing emergency assistance.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer

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 especially for those who have no one to help them, that in their loneliness they may know that you are with them.
Father of all, we pray for those we love but no longer see.  Grant them your peace and let light perpetual shine upon them.
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:
You turn our darkness into light in your light shall we see light
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer
Merciful Father, accept these prayers for the sake of your Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ