A warm welcome to
St Cuthbert Church and Home Prayer Group,
whether at Home or in Church.
St Cuthbert‘s Church and Home Prayer Group.
Our Prayers this time are for ‘Harvest’.
Our October Prayers will emphasise thanksgiving and rejoicing, they will also cover care for God’s creation, hunger and poverty. How our own lives can be harvests to God’s glory.
At Matthew chapter 9 verses 37 and 38, Jesus, used the Harvest as a symbol where he is pointing to the need for Christian disciples to spread the ‘Good News’ of his Gospel.,
Jesus said to his disciples “A large crop is in the fields, but there are only a few workers ask the Lord in charge of the harvest to send out workers to bring it in.”
Shall we commence our Prayer time together with the Lord’s Prayer in the traditional form.
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done;
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power and the glory,
for ever and ever. AMEN.
Two Prayers of thanksgiving for God’s goodness From the Bible Reading Fellowship.
Faithful God of seedtime and harvest,
you have gifted us a world
that is bursting with abundant life.
Please open our eyes to your good gifts around us,
and open our mouths to give you thanks and praise.
For ‘The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof’,
and ‘all things come from you’. Amen
God of the Harvest,
just as you planned flowers to bloom
trees to blossom,
and the earth to bring forth fruit,
so too might goodness grow in us
that we might not only be blessed,
but also become a blessing to others,
through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen
A prayer from Frank Topping.
Lord your harvest is the harvest of love, love sown in the hearts of people, love that speaks out like the branches of a great tree covering all who seek its shelter , love that inspires and recreates.
Love that is planted in the weak and the weary, the sick and the dying.
The harvest of your love is the life that reaches through the weeds of sin and death to the sunlight of resurrection.
Lord nurture my days with your love , water my soul with the dews of forgiveness, that the harvest of my life may be your joy. AMEN.
A prayer from Dick Williams seeking how our lives can be a harvest of God’s love.
Creator God, we thank you for your promise that while the earth endures seed time and harvest, summer and winter, day and night, shall not fail.
We thank you for the reliability of this good earth, for the variety of the seasons , and for all the variety and contrasts of your creative genius.
We thank you for this world’s agenda for the labours of men and women and for permitting us to be partners to the earth’s activity.
We thank you that we can nourish the miracle of life upon the miracle of harvest and we praise you for the dignity of sharing in the work of your almighty hands. O God our Father, blessed be forever.
AMEN
A prayer from Lilian Cox that any harvest is only a harvest of God’s love when the least are recognized.
We dare not ask you to bless our harvest peace, till it is spread for poorest and for least.
We dare not bring our harvest gifts to you, unless our hungry brothers share them too.
Not only at this time, Lord, every day. Those whom you love are dying every day.
Teach us to do with less, and so to share from our abundance more than we can spare.
Now with this harvest plenty round us piled, show us the Christ in every starving child.
.Speak as you spoke of old in Galilee. You feed or refuse NOT them, BUT ME . AMEN.
A prayer expounding that ‘Bread alone’ is insufficient and reminding us of Jesus’ temptations from Llewellyn Cummings.
Lord Jesus , many people have full larders with bread enough, and to spare. Yet inwardly they are hungry for the things of the Spirit.
You are the bread of life, without you our hearts go hungry, our lives are empty.
Help us constantly to feed on you by faith, that we may know the abundant life you came to bring us all. AMEN.
A prayer adapted from Christian Aid asking that we may seek to share God’s harvest.
Lord of the harvest, we rejoice in the bounty of your world We thank you for the rich harvest it produces . As we do so, we remember those who do not have enough; the thousands who are daily dying of hunger. We pray for those who have more than they require, for ourselves and our Parish here in Churchtown, and for our Team Parishes in Crossens and Banks
Show us Lord what needs to be done , and how to share the world’s harvest more fairly.
Teach us to value people more than things . Above all, help us to set our hearts on your Kingdom of love and justice, and to seek to do your work here on earth as servants of Jesus Christ our Lord. AMEN.
A prayer reminding us of our responsibilities to God’s creation.
Thank you, Lord, that Harvest reminds us,
how the world should be when properly cared for.
Forgive us for our careless attitudes to your creation,
and our wasteful responses to your goodness.
Help us to fulfil your first commission
to tend and nurture the gift of this world,
to your glory and for your name’s sake. Amen
A prayer reminding us of how we can so easily forget God’s bountiful love for us.
Merciful Lord you have given us a world of beauty, and we have spoilt it. A world to feed us, and so many go hungry. A world of riches, and we are unwilling to share. A world to care for, and we think only of ourselves. Forgive us, gracious God, every time your heart is saddened by our selfishness, every time we have no thought for others, no cares but ours. Enable us to see this world as a gift from you that can be shared and those who live on it as our neighbours. We ask this that your name may be glorified through the beauty of this world and the service of our lives. AMEN.
A prayer emphasizing our need to appreciate God’s amazing creative generosity.
Creator God, forgive our moments of ingratitude,
the spiritual blindness that prevents us
from appreciating the wonder that is this world,
the endless cycle of nature,
of life and death and rebirth.
Forgive us for taking without giving
reaping without sowing.
Open our eyes to see
our lips to praise
our hands to share
May our feet tread lightly on the path we tread
and our footsteps be worthy of following
for they lead to you. AMEN.
A THANKSGIVING PRAYER FROM THE BIBLE READING FELLOWSHIP.
As we arrange our Harvest Thanksgiving table,
to display the fruits of the earth
and the work of your hands,
prepare us likewise to be on display,
on your harvest table in heaven,
filled with the fruits of the Spirit
and the work of your grace. Amen
Our own silent prayer
Shall we say the Grace. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all evermore. Amen.
Thank you for being with us, whether at home or in Church and so contributing to our prayers about ‘HARVEST. It is hoped this may have been helpful at this time.
Roger
Church and Home prayer group meetings are usualluy held on the first Wednesday of each month and are advertised on our website and in our church magazine.
After the prayer meeting in church, there is a short Holy Communion service which begins at 10.30am and lasts about half an hour. There is no pressure to stay, but you would be most welcome! There is also the added bonus of coffee and fellowship in a local cafe after the Holy Communion service!
We would very warmly welcome your support.
