Prayer

Prayer of the People, Easter Weekend

April 16, 2020 0 Comments

Heavenly Father,

We celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the fulfillment of all that was required for our fellowship with you in your communion: the communion of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Jesus you have triumphed over the grave. Death has no dominion over you or your church!

We thank you for the speaking word that woke us up to you — for in the moment when you said to us “Let there be light” our lives were changed. Your creative power has brought us hope when we were hopeless, faith when we were stuck in doubt, and love when we were sure we had nothing else to give. Thank you for the Cross and your deep compassion for us. Our deliverance and our righteousness comes only from you.

Lord, we lift up to you people we know who are struggling with the changes brought to their living rooms and their hearts by this pandemic: feeling isolated and lonely, or feeling impatient with the people living with them; worried about finances, unsure of what to do next for work, grieving the loss of a loved one, or worn out by the new effort required by their work. Give us grace Lord. Have mercy on us Oh Lord.

Lord, we lift up to you students pressing in for exams. We lift up to you teachers sorting out how to cause learning. We lift up to you students who worry that their futures may be on hold for a long time. We ask you to meet them. In this season help us all see the beauty and glory of Jesus that we might entrust all our worries for tomorrow in His hands.

We entrust our lives to you and so we expect that we will have courage to love as you love. And so we pray as Jesus taught us.

(Please join me in the Lord’s Prayer)

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one;
for yours is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory, 
forever. 
Amen.

Prayer

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Prayer of The People, 3 April 2020

April 7, 2020 0 Comments

Heavenly Father, We praise you the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth. You have never abandoned your Creation. You have set your plans and purposes in place from the beginning. You have persisted in the revelation of your glory. You are the origin of all life, all truth, and all love. Thank you for the grace that has brought us into your communion — the communion of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.


Thank you for revealing your life and love in Jesus Christ your Son. 

He is before us and so we praise you.
He is after us and so we aim our lives at Him. We know every knee shall bow and every tongue  confess that He is Lord to your glory forever and ever.

You are also present with us: Our good shepherd, the lover of our souls, the author and perfecter of our faith, and the God who saves us.

You are with us in our tears. We have lost the illusion of invincibility.
You are with us in our fears. We have lost the thin promises of our self-designed security.

O Immanuel — God with us. Our only assurance — you are behind us and before us and above and below us all the days of our lives.

Grant your church courage today as are scattered to homes and shelters to meet you in that space and to order our lives according to your grace. Grant us the full-bodied maturity of Jesus  to acknowledge our own weakness, to mourn with those who mourn, and in the moment to also rejoice with those who rejoice. 

We lift up to you places and people ravaged with the Coronavirus and by the constraints of the lockdown:  Italy, Iran, India, Ecuador, Spain and New York City. Grant us perseverance and patience to weather this storm with you.

And so we pray together in Jesus Name as He taught us. 
(Please join me in the Lord’s Prayer)


Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one;
for yours is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory, 
forever. 
Amen.

Prepared by Craig O’Brien for the Origin Church Weekend Broadcast

Prayer

Silence is More Powerful Than Noise

March 19, 2020 0 Comments

This is a line from Frank Laubach in his book: Prayer the Mightiest Force in the Word: Thoughts for an Atomic Age. The book truly is written for his time. The world was still reeling from the throes of war. He writes:

Prayer is likely to under valued by all but wise people because it is so silent and so secret. We are often deceived into thinking that noise is more important than silence. War sounds far more important than the noiseless growing of a crop of wheat, yet the silent wheat feeds millions, while war destroys them. Nobody but God knows how often prayers have changed the course of history. Many a man who prayed received no credit excepting in heaven. We are tempted to turn from prayer to something more noisy like speeches or guns, because our motives are mixed. We are interested in the making of a better world of course, but we also want people to give us credit fro what we have done.

Secret prayer for others all during the day is an acid test of our unselfishness. Our little selves must fade out, leavening a self-forgetting channel, through which God’s warmth flows unhindered in lovely unending prayer. The highest form of communion is not asking God for things for ourselves, but letting Him flow down through us, our out over the world–in endless benediction. In the old Hebrew story Sodom needed ten good men to be saved. Now the world needs ten million. Anybody Christian enough to have read this far must be on that ten million or there will not be enough to save our age.

Frank C. Laubach, Prayer — the Mightiest Force in the Word: Thoughts for an Atomic Age

Let’s pray. For many of us, more secret prayer is what our social-distancing and staying home is making possible.

Prayer

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Prayer of the People, 15 March 2020

March 17, 2020 0 Comments

This prayer was shared in our Origin Online worship service on 15 March 2020. As we respond to the Covid-19 situation on our campuses and in our city all Origin Worship Gatherings will be online until further notice. You can watch the service here.

Drawn from Psalm 91.

Heavenly Father,

You are the Almighty, Most High God, and we have chosen to dwell in Your shelter and to rest in Your shadow.  You are our refuge and our fortress, our God, in whom we trust.” By the blood and body of Jesus you have brought us into your Communion — the communion of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Thank you.

And yet this week has given us repeated opportunity to pause, face our mortality, and make choices about our own convenience in relation to others’ wellbeing. The world feels deeply unstable and shaken by a deadly virus. 

So we enter Your presence setting our hope on you. We look to you to save us, knowing others around the world are deeply grieving, more vulnerable, and more anxious. Come Holy Spirit and cover us with Your feathers.

Let us find refuge under Your wings.  We want Your faithfulness to be our shield and rampart.  Lord, help us turn to You in trust when fears in the night, attacks by day, and illness stalks people all around the world. Lord, we trust You, and yet we also need You to help our unbelief, for some of us — worry troubles our thoughts.  Many of us need You to grow our compassion and patience. Work among us Oh Lord.

We receive the ministry of Your messenger to guard us in all our ways;  give wisdom, strength, and encouragement to government officials and medical health officers all around the world as policies of protection are implemented.  Give us wisdom to know how to adjust our lives while choosing to reach out and remain deeply connected.

Lord we love You and we acknowledge Your power.  Please protect and rescue us all; You are our Deliverer. We are calling to You and looking to You for answers.  You are with us in trouble. We recognise in a new way how vulnerable we all are. As we rely on You, make us kind, remind us of people we can call or message, let Your Spirit strengthen us, embolden us, and make us humble to serve.

Please join me in praying the Lord’s prayer.

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one;
for yours is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory, 
forever. 
Amen.

Prepared by Ellen and Craig O’Brien

Prayer

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Prayer of the People, 8 March 2020

March 10, 2020 0 Comments

Heavenly Father,

You have loved us first! Thank you for bringing us into your communion: the communion of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

We come before you busy – a lot to do, many concerns, pressured, and we want to pause to gaze upon You.  (Pause)

You have chosen to abide with us, to give us Your Spirit.  You love us well. Make us sponges that are able to receive the depth and truth of Your love, and when life squeezes us, we pray that as we allow You to fill us up, Your love is what comes out under pressure.

Lord, the world is anxious about the coronavirus.  People are grieving. In addition to washing our hands, we want our demeanours to be washed in Your love.  Perfect love, which only You have, casts out fear. So we receive Your deep, abiding love, and we ask for courage to show Your love to others.

Lord, we pray for health officials in China, Iran, Italy, here, and everywhere because there’s a pressure to manage and fix some things that no human can.  We ask that you prepare Your people to serve, support, encourage, and be present to the sick and dying.

Lord, we celebrate today as International Women’s Day, and thank you for women who gave birth to us, who instruct us and model a sincere faith, and who lead us.  We pray that all women will live into the potential You have created us with and that we would be women after Your own heart. For women who carry a heavy load, we ask that burdens will be lifted.  For those whose bodies are exploited, we cry out for justice. For those ignored and unseen, we pray that they will receive the respect, consideration, and opportunities needed to help them flourish. 

Lord, we cast down all of our anxieties on You because You care for us and because You are capable of dealing with them.  

We receive the Spirit of Jesus and choose to trust You and to walk in love.

In Jesus’ Name, Amen.


Please join me in praying the Lord’s prayer.

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one;
for yours is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory, 
forever. 
Amen.

Prepared by Ellen and Craig O’Brien

Prayer

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