Prayer

Prayer of the People, 16 June 2019

June 17, 2019 0 Comments

Based on Psalm 103:1-6

Heavenly Father we praise you with all our inmost being, we praise Your holy name.

We ask Your Spirit to help us not forget all the benefits You bring to our lives—

  • You forgive all our sins.
  • You heal our diseases.
  • You redeem our lives from the pit.
  • You crown us with love and compassion.
  • You satisfy our desires with good things.
  • You renew our youth like the eagle’s.
  • You are the Lord who works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.

We celebrate You and we ask you to help us recalibrate our lives to You.  We wait expectantly to see Your healing – of our hearts, of our bodies, of our relationships, and of the land.

We ask that You redeem us. Please redeem us from sin, mistakes, apathy, depression, and weakness. You can make something beautiful out of us. Give us an awareness of your tangibe love expressed at the Cross of Jesus Christ. Let it flourish at UBC and  spread out into the whole world bringing salvation to many.

Hallelujah! You are the Lord who works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed. Today we sing alleluia with the people of Hong Kong who are resisting a power that would limit the gathering of people in your name, the free expression of your good news, and the just treatment of anyone who disagrees with it by bringing the truth to light. Fortify your people with your love for their enemies and with grace to forgive those who transgress against them.

Lord, We lift up those in our congregation who are seeking work. As they persevere through this trial please direct their paths. Increase their faith and give them courage to seek first your kingdom and your righteousness. Open doors for them and even as they wait — show them how to redeem their time and relationships for your glory.

Lord you know us and we trust you. So we pray together for ourselves and your church that has been gathering across the earth this day —

(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 Ellen and Craig O’Brien.

Prayer

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Prayer of the People, 9 June 2019

June 10, 2019 0 Comments

Pentecost Sunday

Heavenly Father,

We enter into your communion — the communion of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — with deep gratitude for the love you have shown to all Creation in the life and death of Jesus Christ. It is by His blood that we have been ushered into your presence. It is by your Spirit that we have been brought into a dynamic and living relationship with you.

Thank you.

Thank you for causing us to stand in your grace.
Thank you for granting us forgiveness of sin without merit.
Thank you for cleansing us of that which generates so much shame.
Thank you for destroying the works of the evil one.
Thank you for creating new life in us.
Thank you for bringing us into a family of believers.
Thank you for putting a new song in our hearts.
Thank you for sustaining us in the night.
Thank you for revealing your purposes to us.
Thank you for giving us daily bread.
Thank you for carrying us when we feel so weak.

Thank you.

You have caused your face to shine on us. Though we may fear that our neighbours will  despise us, may your glory be through us life for the nations and to our neighbours. May your salvation be the joy of their hearts and the firmness of their steps. May your love bring health to their bones. May your Word proclaimed humbly from our mouths be truth that sets them free.

Oh Father, we grieve with First Nations communities in Canada over the state of women and children. Bring comfort and bring justice. It’s not just our cities and highways that need your new humanity — its our hearts and minds. We repent of seeing with contempt. We repent of not seeing. We repent of seeing and not caring. We repent of thinking “not my problem.” We repent of our hardness of heart. Please send your Spirit like fire to illuminate our hearts so we do not walk about in darkness and stupid complicity.

We need wisdom from heaven to align our disordered affections with you. The violence of the past has sows seeds of pain that grow today. We need healing in the land O Lord. With shameless audacity we come knocking on the doors of heaven — Fill us with your Spirit.

We set our lives before you and so we pray as Jesus teaches 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, 26 May 2019

May 27, 2019 1 Comment

Heavenly Father,

We set our hearts and our minds on You. You are seated in Your throne room, yet your majesty and glory fills the whole earth. We come without pretensions for our own righteousness. Instead we come with gratitude for the righteousness of Jesus in whom our lives have been hidden.  You are our righteousness, our holiness, and our redemption. Thank you for this grace!

We sit with you and are fed.
We walk with you and have company.
We stand with you and have victory.

Thank you for this grace. In our weakness you are strong. You have forgiven our sins and have fortified us through many temptations. You have been our help and truly it is by your help that we have come this far.

These weeks we are celebrating with graduates of UBC.  We celebrate what is completed, and we look forward to a future with you. As these dear ones take next steps please remind them to set their hearts on things above even while they navigate all of the practical pieces of finding work, of moving, and of navigating change.  Remind us of Your glory in the midst of change and uncertainty. You are the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.

We seek to live as Jesus did, so we are not unaffected or unmoved by the ways powers and principalities animate the institutions of our world. O how the nations rage! But your Kingdom will prevail even as North Korea tests their missiles, and as tensions rise in Europe’s elections, and as Iran stretches its arms, and India abounds with voices of hate and suspicion that find a place in online streams to turn people against their neighbours.

Compel us again through the tremendous and surprising grace of the Gospel to love our neighbours and our enemies and to plead with you for the salvation of all who would turn to Jesus Christ our Lord.

It is by His grace that turn our hearts and minds to you and that we pray —

(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, Society

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Prayer of the People, Easter, 21 April 2019

April 22, 2019 0 Comments

Lord,

We have gathered as have your people all over the world…

to celebrate your resurrection.
to marvel at Your power to return life where there is death.
to set our hearts and minds on Christ in the throne room of heaven.
to remind ourselves that we will appear with You in glory.


Too easily our Resurrection Sundays turn into another religious duty.

We long to be like the women who left from Jesus’ borrowed tomb —
their mission of duty and devotion defined by death was disrupted by the most astonishing news — Christ is Risen. Disrupt our dull missions and infuse us with Good News — God News; set us on missions of life.

Rescue us — we have been chained to our guilt.
Deliver us— we have been trapped by our shame.
Redeem us — we have been blinded by our fear.

Lord, we can get stuck at the Cross when we consider all that is not right in the world and in our own lives. The Cross is the epitome of violence, abuse of power, injustice, despair. We bring to You the pain… 

of the families who lost someone in the Sri Lankan bombings.
of the violence and of the family of the journalist who died in Northern Ireland.
of the families who have lost their homes in Mozambique.
of the ongoing violence in Afghanistan.
of families stuck at the US border.
of the civil war outside Libyan capital.
of our own hurting relationships, illness, unrealized goals and dreams.

We ask that you would take away every voice that says “You don’t care; You can’t do anything.”

On this Resurrection Day we look to You as the One who gives hope and as the One who has the power. Make us alive again to You, to Your ways, Your truth, Your hope. 

Help us to join in with others who walk with you in affirming—
Thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Please join me as we pray 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 & Ellen O’Brien

Prayer

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Prayer of the People, 14 April 2019 ~ Palm Sunday

April 15, 2019 0 Comments

Hosanna — Save us. Save us Lord.

Heavenly Father we cry out with those who saw Jesus ride into Jerusalem,
“Hosanna, Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.”

Blessed are you who reign in holiness and majesty.
Blessed is Jesus who took up the cross.
Blessed is your Holy Spirit who moves across Creation and has brought us new birth.

We cry Hosanna — Save us.

Save us from blindness to the truth. For when we do not see truth we become slaves again to fear.
Save us from shortsightedness. For when we forget the hope we have in you, we easily quit the race you have set before us.
Save us from farsightedness. For when we keep looking for greener pastures, we quit loving the people right beside us.

Thank you for the salvation we have in you. You have saved us Father, according to the righteousness of your Son.
Thank you for this grace in which we stand.
Thank you for adopting us into your family and calling us your children.
Thank you for your provisions of this past week. Most of us have eaten well, have been clothed for each change in weather, and have had some good work to apply ourselves too. 

But we cry “Hosanna.” Save us. 

Save us Lord from cold hearts. Grant us courage to reach out.
Save us Lord from the accuser’s lies. Grant us wisdom to hide in the righteousness of Christ.
Save us Lord from deeds poisoned with guilt. Grant us discernment to do what you call us to do.

We cry “Hosanna.” Save us.

Bring your salvation and deliverance to the people of Sudan; may your peace prevail. Bring your help to refugees stuck on Greek Islands; may hospitable doors be opened to them. Bring your redemption to the gangs of El Salvador; may sons and daughters play in streets and old men and women walk without fear of violence.

Hosanna. You have taught us to pray and so we pray…

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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