Prayers of
the People
April 2, 1995
Living God,
Engage us. You are the one with whom all life has to do. Have to do with us now. Reveal unto us where we are really placing our ultimate trust. Illumine the places where, for all our professed longing for your presence, we have been avoiding you.
Our vain search, whatever the cause, is hardening our hearts. We are weary of living in a dry and thirsty land. Do something new. Replace our hearts of stone with hearts of flesh.
And shine in our hearts with the light of your true glory.
God, in your mercy...Hear our prayer.
Almighty God
Unto whom all hearts be open, search our hearts for the deep longings. Then let our crys come unto you! Hear the prayers of those who have loved ones on their hearts, especially those who feel there is nothing more they can do. May they be found again by a love that empowers and upholds. May they be found by your love.
Hear the crys of those whose loved ones are burdened by illness, by such earth making changes, by loss of security, hear the crys of those who are just plain weary of welldoing, who no longer find much joy in life. May all these discover again what it is to be known and what it is to know one another.
God, in your mercy...Hear our prayer.
Gracious God
Hear us name the names of those we are aware of and want to bring to your attention
Muriel McDiarmid and her family and circle of friends
Cindy Gustin - taking special care of herself as birth time approaches.
Glen Huddart as he deals with the consequences of a skiing accident
Touch with your healing power the lives of Laurie Paynter, Margaret Smith, the Spencers.
Hear the other names we name in our hearts.
God, in your mercy...Hear our prayer
Living God,
Much of the time we seek to wrestle with you, we don't seem to engage you.
Is that because we are praying for and about ourselves alone?
Let the crys of your beloved everywhere reach us especially from those living
in conditions that overwhelm us! That we turn away from!
Dear God, we pray for the world -we pray for all the people in the situations we turn away from and as we turn again to them we sense you near .
God, in your mercy...Hear our prayer
Living God,
we pray for the church. With the World Council of Churches we join in prayer
for the church in Uganda and Sudan. Make the heart of the church there big
enough for that troubled continent. Pray for the upcoming meeting of our own
General Council Executive. Give it a sense of proportion as it faces it own
stresses and opportunities. As we remember the need of the world God, we pray
indeed for the church, God have mercy upon us, save us from an enlarged notion
of who we are, save us from belittling the notion of what we are called to
be.