Heavenly Father,
Unless you had come to our side, we would have stood alone in the dark. But you came to our rescue; you delivered us from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of Your Son, whom you love. You have shown the brilliant light of the Gospel into our hearts and minds. Thank you! Now your Spirit unites our voices in praise and our hopes together in the promise of eternal communion with you — the communion of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
For some of us, life is going well but we worry about the future. For others of us, life seems like a struggle and we worry about today. Some of us Lord, are haunted by memories of the past so accusations pierce the thin armour provided by time to disrupt our day and our most noble dreams. Help us Lord! Let us live by your truth and grace. Cover us and heal us. Sanctify us for your purposes and fill us with the joy of your salvation again.
Lord anxiety is weighing heavy among us. Bind it up and cast it away even as we come to Jesus as little children. We are too easily frozen or driven by our fears. So we come to abide with you. Form in us the steady trust in you that characterized Jesus’ life.
Lord we lift up to you students at the University of Kabul in Afghanistan who suffered through a terrible attack this week. Comfort the families and friends of those whose lives were so violently taken from them. Bring healing to the wounded and to those traumatized by the surge of fear and violence. Oh Lord Jesus bring your peace that they may take up their studies and enter into the knowledge of their Creator. May they become peacemakers who reap a harvest of righteousness.
We lift up to your our neighbours who are weathering uncertainty in their finances, in their health, in their politics, and in their work. May your church Lord be a beacon, a city on a hill, and a taste of our kinship before your Throne and at your Table. So we pray Lord as you 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.
This Prayer of the People was part of the Origin Church Weekend Broadcast on 6 Nov 2020.