Tag Archive: Prayer of the People

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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Prayer of the People, 1 March 2020

March 3, 2020 0 Comments

Trust God — based on Psalm 118:5-9

Heavenly Father,

We enter Your presence with Thanksgiving and Your courts with joy because we delight in Your love, goodness, and righteousness.  We focus all of our attention on You. Thank you for bringing us into the communion of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

We are thankful that when we call on You in distress, 
You answer us and set us in a wide open spaces. 

We call out to You today for those harmed by the coronavirus, the escalation in the Syrian conflict, the Delhi riots, and globally for migrants whose paths are blocked. Please comfort them and bring people who care into their lives.

Lord, we pray for justice in the Wet’suwet’en conflict; please let honour and respect prevail as the issues are more carefully considered. Lord, we ask for Your help, guidance, comfort, and just, so that people can experience life in wide open spaces.

Help all humanity walk in the communion of the Father, Son, and Spirit and know that You are for us, and that we do not have to live in fear.   

The Lord is for us and helps us.  Please Let Vanessa sense Your help for her and her family as they grieve their loss today. Show us ways to offer support.

(Please take a moment and pray for people God brings to your mind.)

Your Word, Lord reminds us: It is better for us to trust in you than to put confidence in humanity. We need each other, but there is no substitute for your love.

We deeply trust You and ask You to help our unbelief.  You are a righteous, good, beautiful, and true God. We rest in You and Your ways.

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

Prayer of the People, 16 February 2020

February 18, 2020 0 Comments

Heavenly Father,

We delight in you and your communion — the communion of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. You have marked out for us a well-watered garden. As we walk with you our fellowship pulses  with life and yields much fruit. Thank you for the assurance and confidence we have with you through the life, death, and resurrection of Your Son Jesus Christ.

This morning we arose with the intention of praising you for the mighty works of your hand. The immensity of the universe beckons us as do the molecular wonders of our bodies. You have created with wisdom — and it is beautiful!

Oh that we would sit at your feet and learn from you. Teach us to consider our days and our ways with wisdom. Enlarge our vision of Jesus as Lord and form us into a people of your love, truth, and grace.

May the ways of your Kingdom be seen in the work of our hands and minds. Redeem our lives from despair and from deceit. We gladly stand with you for the redemption of people so we seek your righteousness in all things. We yearn for our full deliverance from the lies of satan and from the corruption of our rebellion.

Come Lord Jesus. Establish communities in our cities where there is:

healing from addiction.
trust in our relationships.
goodness in our governance.
and justice for those deprived of it.

Please bless the work of Vancouver Urban Ministries, Community of Hope, and the Athens Ministry Centre.

Come Lord Jesus. Establish churches in our cities where:

the good news of Jesus is shared among students.
the journey through doubt is heard.
the growing pains of growth are given grace.
the lonely find courage to connect.

Please bless the work of our Langara Oakridge Team here in Vancouver and of Canvas Church in Victoria.

Come Lord Jesus Come. May your Spirit blow through this garden and carry the fragrance of our fellowship beyond these walls. So we pray 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.

Prayer

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Prayer of the People, 9 Feb 2020

February 12, 2020 0 Comments

Land + People

Heavenly Father,

We thank you for your love and mercy shown us through the life, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Through Him you have brought us into your communion — the communion of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

We rejoice in your welcome and embrace. This has changed our lives. We take up the truth of the Gospel and the truth of your Word as a shield against the fiery darts of the enemy. What you say about us — dismantles the stories of guilt, shame, and fear that we have been telling ourselves.

Come Lord Jesus and walk with us.

Pour your love into our lives by your Holy Spirit so that peace rises up over anxiety. Give us compassion for people and a generosity of spirit toward them. Oh Lord, teach us the ways of peace so that we may not assume an enemy where there could have been a friend. We would lay down the old grudges that are destroying our souls and our capacities for friendship.

Come Lord Jesus and walk with us.

Oh Lord, your ancient enemy seems to work overtime seeking to dismantle your glory in Creation and blind us to your goodness. Forgive us Lord; we have given away the life-giving promises of your presence in exchange for cheap pleasures — but Oh how they have cost us. Save us through power of your life given in exchange for us.

Come Lord Jesus and walk with us.

We look past our fears of sickness and ask for you to comfort the families of those who have lost loved ones to this new coronavirus. Have mercy Lord.

We look past our fears for security and ask you to provide hospitable hearts and homes for the people fleeing violence in Idlib. Have mercy Lord.

We look past our fears for superiority and ask you to provide us with wisdom and respect for the limits, boundaries of Indigenous peoples. Have mercy Lord.

Oh how you love us Lord. Come, walk with us and teach us the ways of love.

In the Name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

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