leadinginworship

Prayer for the Homeless in Our City

The sun rises and people head out from the shelter
to spend the day on the streets.
We pray for kindness in an unfair world,
safety from harm and aid for those who are sick.
Every person has their story.
Jesus, you too were a wanderer,
travelling far from family:
be with those who feel lonely today.
We ask for basic things:
food to sustain,
 comfortable dry places to rest,
and for the compassion of strangers.
It can be a long day till the shelter opens again.
We pray for politicians
who make choices in high office towers.
Life is made possible or impossible,
affordable housing is built or not built,
jobs are created or not created,
the vulnerable are supported or not supported,
all with signatures of the well-to-do.
Let there be humanity in their choices:
protect politicians from greed 
and from the influence of those 
who only want to get richer.
We need your Spirit trickling up,
taking us by surprise,
showing us a better path,
moving us to be people who see people
and who respond in human ways
even to those who live in inhuman conditions.
There are better ways to help each other,
help us find them.
This we pray to you, Creator of us all.  Amen

Prayer for Those Seeking Shelter

Today we pray for those among us
who seek shelter every day.
Home is gone for them, for many reasons;
addiction, mental illness, violence,
or they just couldn't pay the rent.
Evicted or just drifting, they wander.
Some live in their vehicle,
holding on to suitcases of possessions.
Others have left it all behind,
and with a bag or two 
go to shelters for a meal or a bed.
Others sleep rough, under bridges,
or in the hedges around the city.
People of no address,
they are forgotten by every social safety net.
No healthcare, no safety, few options.
These are the ones who are precious and loved in your sight.
You don't lose track.
We see them sitting on the park benches,
or avoiding the cold in stairwells or subway cars.
God of miracles, can you change this “us and them”?
Can we call each other by name;
Jason, Mike, Emma, Rick, Carol?
As your children, can we meet and hear stories?
Instead of only a handout, can we sit together, 
lamenting what is lost, acknowledging resourcefulness.
From those with homes,
take away smugness and superiority,
and every hero complex of wanting to rescue those
we objectify into "the homeless".
Open those who have plenty, to share it.
For those who are seeking shelter,
give courage and stamina.
When hope is hard to find,
help them find it.
For safety, for friends,
for community on the way,
we give thanks.
You identify with all who have
nowhere to lay their head.
You are with them this night,
you are with them every night. Amen.

Good News Congregational Prayer

Thank you, God, for the good news you proclaim every day:
the good news of beauty and life, proclaimed by every creature.
We hear this good news in the song of the red winged blackbird balancing on a reed,
we see it in the green life galloping up in every plant and tree,
we smell it in the damp earth, we taste it in the tang of rhubarb.
Your world, new and fresh each day…
thank you for giving us life and breath to enjoy it.

Thank you for the good news we have been hearing this week;
for those among us who have experienced healing,
for conflicts that have been resolved,
for the hungry that have been fed,
for your work through millions of people,
proclaiming the year of the Lord’s favour. 

Forgive us for the times we have
lost hope, lost sight, lost vision of your kingdom come.
We repent of how we have believed
your power to be limited, that there is no good news possible.

We pray for those who are waiting for good news,
waiting for results of tests, or waiting for an operation, or waiting to get better.
There are those waiting for news of a job, waiting for a turn in the economy.
There are those waiting for refuge, waiting for a visa, waiting for residency.
Help us walk with each other in good times and hard times.

Finally, we pray for Israel and Palestine.
We long for good news there;
good news for those who live in fear of terrorist acts,
good news for those who are trapped by a high wall and oppressive laws,
good news for children who need a better future,
good news for a country that has been too long bound by hatred and division.
God of peace, send your peace down on your holy land.

All these things we pray to you,
confident in your mercy to hear,
and your power to act upon them.  In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.

 

Prayer of the Unemployed

In the wrench of job loss, we fall at your feet, Lord Jesus.
Occupation and income all suddenly thrown aside,
our life’s apple cart overturned.
Uncertainty is thrust upon us,
not-knowing haunting our waking hours,
anxiety our companion all night long.

Jesus stand among us.
Look in our eyes with love,
assuring us that we are loved just as we are,
even as people without jobs.
Grasp us by the shoulders,
giving us confidence for the job search ahead.
Shake us awake
when we feel like lying down and sleeping forever.
Whisper words of identity in our ears
when we wonder who we are.
God of the unknown journey and the twisting path,
be our guide in this time of grief and change.
Enlighten us to the work you would have us do.
Keep our eyes focused on the employment that never ends,
the work we do for your kingdom, 
trusting that you will provide for our needs.