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 November are for .
‘Coming closer to God’
Our November prayers emphasise God’s desire for all to know Him more, and to make this paramount in our lives.
Jesus exhorts us to do this in Matthew’s Gospel chapter 6 verse 33 where He stresses that to seek God should be our life’s priority; Jesus says But more than anything else, put God's work first and do what he wants. Then the other things will be yours as well.
Obvious ways are prayer our Bibles Worship our Christian fellowship and Christian service within our community.
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.
And so to our prayers
A prayer from Anselm Archbishop of Canterbury 1093-1109.
O Lord my God teach my heart where and when to seek you, where and how to find you,
Lord if you are not there but absent, where shall I seek you?
But you are everywhere, so you must be here, why then do I not seek you?
Lord I am not trying to make my way to your height, for my understanding is in no way equal to that;
But I do desire to understand a little of your truth, which my heart already believes and loves.
I do not seek to understand so that I may believe, but I believe so that I may understand,
And what is more, I do believe that unless I do believe I shall not understand. AMEN.
A prayer from Francis Brienen
God of surprises,
When I think you are not present in my life, you reveal yourself in the love of friends and family and nurture me in your never-ending affection.
God of surprises,
When we think you are not present in our community you labour to make us of one heart and cause us to share gladly and generously.
God of surprises,
When people think you are not present in our world , you bring hope out of despair and create growth out of difficulty.
God of surprises,
You are ever with us.
When the days go by and our vision fades, keep surprising us.
When our hope dims, and our patience wears thin,
keep coming to us.
Teach us to keep our lamps lit. and to be prepared, that we may see your loving presence among us. In Jesus name we pray, AMEN .
A prayer from Jones Very.
Wilt thou not visit me. The plant beside me feels thy gentle dew, and every blade of grass I see from thy deep earth its quickening moisture drew.
Wilt thou not visit me? Thy morning calls on me with cheering tone, and every hill and tree.
Lend but one voice – the voice of thee alone.
Come for I need thy love more than the flower, the dew or the rain,
Come gently as thy Holy dove; and let me in thy sight rejoice to live again.
I will not hide from them when thy storms come, though fierce may be their wrath.
But how with leafy stem and strengthened, follow on thy chosen path.
Yes, thou wilt visit me. No plant nor tree thine eye delights so well,
As, when from sin set free, my spirit loves with thine in peace to dwell.
In Jesus name we pray, AMEN
A prayer from Brook Foss Westcott.
O Lord God in whom we live and move and have our being , open our eyes that we may behold thy fatherly presence ever with us Draw our hearts to thee with the power of thy love. Teach us to be anxious for nothing, and when we have done what thou givest to do, help us, O God our Saviour to leave the issue to thy wisdom. Take from us all doubt and mistrust. Lift our hearts up to thee in Heaven and make us to know that all things are possible to us through thy Son our Redeemer. AMEN.
A prayer from Janet Schaffran and Pat Kozak.
We give you thanks gentle one who has touched our soul. You have loved us from the moment of our waking and have held us in joy and in grief. Stay with us we pray. Grace us with your presence, and with it; the fulness of our own humanity.
Help us claim our strength and need, our awesomeness and fragile beauty; that encouraged by the truth we might work to restore compassion to the human family and renew the face of the earth. AMEN.
A prayer from Helder Camara.
The milk float, the poor man begging, the staircase and the lift, the railway lines, the furrows of the sea, the pedigree dog and the ownerless dog, the pregnant woman, the paper boy, the man who sweeps the streets, the Church, the school, the office and the factory, streets being widened, the outward and homeward road, the key I use to open my front door, whether waking or sleeping.
All, All, All make me think of you.
What can I give to the Lord?
For all He has GIVEN ME.
In Jesus name we pray, AMEN.
A prayer from George Macleod.(Abridged)
Almighty God sustainer. Sun behind all suns. Soul behind all souls, everlasting reconciler of our whole beings. Show us in everything we touch and in everyone we meet the continued assurance of thy presence round us, lest ever we should think thee absent. In all created things thou art there, in every friend we have the sunshine of thy presence is shown forth. In every enemy that seems to cross our path thou art there within the cloud to challenge us to love.
Show to us the glory in the grey. Awake for us thy presence in the very storm till all our joys are seen as thee and all our trivial tasks emerge as priestly sacraments in the universal temple of thy love.
Of ourselves we cannot see this. Sure, physicians give us sight. Of ourselves we cannot act. Patient love give us love till every shower of rain speaks of thy forgiveness. Till every move of light and shadow speaks of grave and resurrection to assure us that we cannot die; thou creating and redeeming God. AMEN.
Coming closer to our Heavenly Father
God be in my head and in my understanding
God be in mine eyes and in my looking
God be in my mouth and in my speaking
God be in my heart and in my thinking
God be at mine end and in my departing.
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 ‘Coming closer to God.’ 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.
