A Prayer

This summer Derek, the pastor at my church, asked if I might be interested in speaking at a Sunday night service. That didn't end up working out, but this week I had the opportunity to participate by giving the intercessory prayer* in the middle of the service. It was encouraging to be asked and a neat opportunity to be a part of a Sunday service.

I thought I'd post the prayer here, not because it's anything wonderful, but because it's my hope and prayer for us as God's Church around the world. For those of us in the Church, my prayer is that this would be true of us. For those who are not apart of the Church or who don't believe in Christ as their Lord and Saviour, I pray that, if and when they do interact with the Church or with Christians, this is the sort of church they would experience.

[Note: I've put in verse references to the passages from Scripture that are referred to, in case you were curious.]

In the Gospel of John, Jesus tells his disciples:

'A new command I give you: [...] As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this
all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another' [John 13:34-5]

Will you join me in praying that this would be true of us - as God's dearly loved children [John 1:12] - and of His church - who are His ambassadors to the world. [2 Cor 5:20]


Dear heavenly Father,

We come before you, deeply grateful that while we were yet sinners, you loved us so much that you sent your sinless Son to die that you might have a relationship with us, a sinful people. [Rom 5:8]

Father, we look around at this broken world and are daily reminded of the darkness that is here. Our hearts break for the young girl who was found, locked in a shed, 18 years after she was kidnapped. Our hearts break for her pain, and our hearts are heavy for those who perpetrated this crime against her - that one human could do such a thing to another is hard to believe. And our hearts go out to the grieving families affected by this week's accident near Newry.

Father, we pray that your Church would be agents of love and healing in both of these situations. May your Church, of which we are a part, be conduits of your love and healing throughout our city, our nation, and this world. May the World experience, through us, the richness of your love. Give us boldness and courage, that your Church might step into the darkest areas of people's lives and shine the light of your Son.

As students begin to return to University and others begin for the first time, help us to reach out to those in our community. That as you bring them into this place - whether it be for a meal, a chat, or to find You - they would experience your love through us. Father, may this be a place where, even as you reached out to us when we were sinners, in the same way, we would welcome - in spite of the colour of their skin, the quirks of their personalities, or the sin in their lives - all those that you bring through our doors. May our lives testify to the abundant life [John 10:10] we have in You and we pray, most of all, that through us and through this place, others would come to experience, for themselves, the freedom [Gal 2:4, 5:1] and joy [Phil 1:26] of a relationship with You in Christ!

Father, we reflect on our own lives and remember what Christ said his disciples: that the world would know they were his disciples by the love they showed for one another. [John 13;35] As we sit today, among your family - this body of Christ, of which we are a part - we think of those seated to our right and to our left, of those we enjoy spending time with and those we have not spoken to in years. May we spur one another on in love and good deeds [Heb 10:24] - that we might reach out to one another. If there are relationships in our lives, ways in which we interact with each other, that aren't loving, give us eyes to see and repentant hearts to change. May we lay down our bitterness, our anger, or our jealousy by serving one another, in love. Help us to make the decision each day to think of others as more important then ourselves [Phil 2:3] - and may we love and serve one another with that in mind.

Christ showed his disciples his love when he washed their feet the last night he was with them. [John 13:1] Give us eyes to see ways in which we might serve one another - and the humility of heart to do act on those opportunities. We are told that greater love has no man than this, than he lay down his life for his friends. [John 15:13] Holy Spirit, grow us into a people that lay down our lives - every part of them - our pride and our preferences, our desires and our wants, our accomplishments and our egos - to serve those around us - this wonderful body of Christ we are a part of. [Eph 5:21] May we become the Family you have called us to be and, in so doing, be a beacon of your Light to the World that is around us and among us. [Matt 5:14-6]

Where there is hurt and distance, may we reach out in love and forgiveness. Where there is loneliness and heart ache, may we reach out in tenderness and compassion, choosing to be a part of one another's lives. As ministers of Your Gospel - in this world and to one another - help us to lay down all of who were are - for you, Lord - and for each other.

We ask that all these things would be true of us and of your Church around the world, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit - who empowers us and enables us to show Your love to each other and to the World we live in that desperately needs you.

We pray all these things in Your name, Amen.

My prayer: That the Triune God, and His deep love for His creation, would be known by all through our love for one another.

*It struck me last night, when I finished writing this, that it isn't really a prayer of intercession...I don't think anyways. Oops!