Heavenly Father, thank you for advising us to meet together often to focus on you. Thank you for the peace and strength which return when we get together with other Christians. Thank you for your promise that where two or three are gathered in your name, you will be there too.
Thank you for our families and friends; for our jobs and incomes; for our church family; for the infra-structure in Britain which enables us to take transport, food, healthcare, policing, education and justice for granted. Thank you for the relative safety and luxury we enjoy in this county.
Lord, we ask for your transformation throughout the world. We pray for those who are suffering from the effects of climate change; for those whose lives are being devastated by war; for those fleeing from religious or political persecution; and for the people being ground down by relentless poverty. Please show each of us this week how we can help in practical and meaningful ways to bring physical and spiritual relief.
In our own nation ,Father, we pray for our government and the whole of parliament. Please grant MPs wisdom, clear insight and a genuine desire for justice and the common good. We ask for clarity and impartiality in the reporting of news. And we ask that we who are privileged to live in a democracy, would realise our responsibility and use it well.
Finally, Lord, in our church here and in our personal circumstances, please continue to bless us. We pray for your healing for those who are recovering from injury, surgery or illness. We pray for those who are mentally or emotionally ill, that they would be cared for and that healing would be allowed to happen. We pray for those who have been bereaved, or who expect bereavement soon. Be with them as they face that long, long span of time before they will see their precious one again. We pray for those who have quarrelled or who have given or taken offence, and for those whose most important relationships are under great strain. Please bring them patience and improved communication, and trust.
Father, we ask all these things in the name of Jesus and with gratitude for your willingness to listen to such inferior creatures as we are to you.
Amen.