Intercessory Prayer – 1 March 2020
Loving Father, we praise you for your goodness. You are our creator, the giver of life and meaning. In you we live and move and have our being. Without you all life comes undone.
Lord Jesus, we come to this Lenten season only partly conscious of the wrong we have committed and the good we have failed to do. We are often blind to ourselves and our neighbour. We need your help. Give us grace to face the truth so that we may receive your forgiveness and pass it on to others. Populate our thoughts with a vision of you.
Jesus you were tested in every way and did not fall short. Be with us when we are tested; feed us with the bread of your presence, make us servants to your purpose and release us to worship the one true God. Help us to draw near to you the living Christ.
Jesus, you are our healer. We think of J.E. who is recovering from knee surgery. Relieve her pain and grant her freedom of movement we ask. We think also of others we know personally who are injured or unwell. Touch the lives of each person here for we all carry hurts whether seen or unseen.
We thank you Lord for the work of the Leprosy Mission around the world. Thank you for being with E. and the other youth advocates this year as they travelled to Nepal. We ask your blessing on those living with leprosy and their families. Deliver them from the physical disease of leprosy and from the prejudice often attached to it. Bless the doctors and nurses providing care at Anandaban Hospital. May you provide all that is needed for new plumbing to pipe clean water to the hospital.
We think Lord of the world you love, a world in need. In some ways the global village is smaller now and our lives are more interconnected. We feel the butterfly effect – how a small virus in one part of the world can have a huge impact on people in another part. We ask your mercy at the sore points and the points of intersection. Save us from our fears. May your will be done and your kingdom come in all those situations which cause alarm: coronavirus, climate change, undercurrents of nationalism, riots, wars and the rumours of wars. We ask your blessing and provision for the millions of displaced people in this world.
God of infinite worth, children are a gift from you. Guide our political leaders with the upcoming conscience vote on abortion. We are ask for your blessing on all expectant mothers and unborn children. Give them health & peace and safe delivery. Help us all to remember that we are made in your image and to value life.
Jesus, you were a carpenter. We ask your blessing and oversight on our builders and property team as they seek to strengthen the church buildings. We look to you for the next steps in the life of this congregation. Give us wisdom and faith to make decisions which will glorify you and be a blessing now and into the future.
Inscrutable God, your ways are not our ways. Sometimes following Jesus is confusing and difficult. We pray for the exiles – those who feel estranged from you or who are struggling in their journey of faith. Help us in times of disorientation to be honest with you, not to throw the baby out with the bath water but instead discern what is true and hold to Christ. Thank you God that you are big enough to handle our doubts and our anger. We praise you that you know us and care for us.
God of meaning, we find our purpose and hope in you. You have blessed us in this country with many good things and yet there is a spiritual poverty in this land. We pray for those who don’t yet know you. Find them we ask good shepherd. We pray for your blessing on the up-coming combined Tawa churches Alpha course. May you provide all that is needed for the successful running of Alpha. Lead us and guide us to those who you would have us invite to Alpha. May you be real for each one Lord Jesus.
We pray all these things in the name of Jesus, our Saviour and friend. Amen.
Tawa Baptist 