A warm welcome to
St Cuthbert Church and Home Prayer Group,
whether at Home or in Church.
OUR PRAYERS FOR OCTOBER ARE CENTRED ON
PEACE.
This month we are praying for Peace which has been described thus: - God’s ultimate provision of peace is discovered in the person and work of Jesus Christ. It is only through Christ that Peace with God can be achieved and maintained.
We hear this in St Pauls’ letter to the Romans (5-1) ‘By faith we have been made acceptable to God and now because of our Lord Jesus Christ we live at peace with God’.
Again at 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verses 18-19, illustrating how God has made our reconciliation to Himself possible through Jesus
18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.
Our prayers amongst others will encompass Peace between Nations, Peace in our lives and those of others, also those things which obstruct Peace.
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.
So shall we pray,
A prayer for world peace from the Baptist Peace fellowship. (Adapted)
Gracious Father we pray for peace in your world, for all national leaders, that they may have wisdom to know, and courage to do what is right; for all men and women that their hearts may be turned to yourself in the search for righteousness and truth.
We pray now for those working to improve international relationships, that they may find the true way of reconciliation.
We pray for those who suffer as a result of war, the injured and disabled, the mentally distressed, the homeless and hungry, those who mourn their dead, today we think chiefly of the loved ones of so many innocent civilians in Ukraine and especially for those who are without hope or friend to sustain them in their grief.
In Jesus’ name we pray AMEN
Christian Aid’s prayer for peace in Ukraine.
God of all people and nations who created all things alive and breathing, united and whole, show us the way of peace that is your overwhelming presence.
We hold before you all the peoples of Ukraine and Russia; every child and every adult. We long for the time when weapons of war are beaten into ploughshares, when nations no longer lift up sword against nation.
We cry out for peace, protect we pray those who only desire to live in security and safety. Comfort those who fear for the lives of their loved ones. Be with those who are bereaved.
Change the hearts of those set on violence and aggression, and fill leaders with the wisdom that leads to peace.
Kindle again in us a love of our neighbour, a passion for justice to prevail and a renewed recognition that we all play our part in peace.
Creator of all, hear our prayer, bring us peace and make us whole. AMEN.
A prayer for the victims of war from Pope John Paul II
To You, creator of nature and humanity, of truth and beauty, I pray: hear my voice, for it is the voice of the victims of all wars and violence among individuals and nations; Hear my voice, for it is the voice of all children who suffer and who will suffer when people put their faith in weapons and war; Hear my voice, when I beg you to instil into the hearts of all human beings the vision of peace, the strength of justice and the joy of fellowship;
Hear my voice, for I speak for the multitudes in every country and in every period of history who do not want war and are ready to walk the road of peace;
Hear my voice, and grant insight and strength so that we may always respond to hatred with love, to injustice with total dedication to justice, to need with the sharing of self, to war with peace. O God, hear my voice, and grant to the world your everlasting peace. AMEN
A prayer from the World Council of Churches for understanding between different races.
Eternal God whose image lies in the hearts of all people. We live among people whose ways are different from ours, whose faiths are foreign to us, whose tongues are unintelligible to us
Help us to remember that you love all people with your great love, that the yearnings of other hearts are much like our own, and are known to you
Help us to recognise you Lord in the words of truth, the things of beauty; and the actions of love about us. We pray through Christ who is a stranger to no one land more than another, and to every land no less than to another. AMEN
A prayer for the healing of broken relationships
Lord you long to draw us together as a family. Thank you that your kingdom provides us with the framework for unity and the channels for forgiveness. And yet, sometimes we find ourselves at a difficult time in relationships., sometimes we freeze and lose the way., help us we earnestly pray to have the love, grace and wisdom to pursue reconciliation. Please give us that certain hope to know that through your Holy Spirit we can move into a new season, free to walk closely together again along with those from whom we have fallen apart. AMEN
Verses from the well-known hymn by John Whittier exhorting the values to us of peace and calm that God makes possible for us in each of our lives.
Drop Thy still dews of quietness,
Till all our strivings cease;
Take from our souls the strain and stress,
And let our ordered lives confess
The beauty of Thy peace.
Breathe through the heats of our desire
Thy coolness and Thy balm;
Let sense be dumb, let flesh retire;
Speak through the earthquake, wind, and fire,
O still, small Voice of calm.
AMEN
A prayer for those who seek to obstruct the path to peace and reconciliation.
Heavenly Father the road to reconciling differences whether between nations or individuals can be fraught with even the slightest upsets which can capsize months of delicate negotiation.
We pray you for your intervention in the minds of those who may choose to obstruct the path to a genuine solution, Lord, which we see today in so many conflicts, to name but a few, Ukraine, Gaza, the Sudan, and in the case of so many individual situations. This we ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.
A prayer for peace from St Francis of Assisi.
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love with all my soul.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. 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 ‘Peace and Reconciliation’ it is hoped these prayers may have been apposite.
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.
On the* first and* third Wednesdays at St Cuthbert's, there is a short Holy Communion service, which begins at 10.30am and lasts about half an hour, and anyone joing the prayer group in church are warmly welcome to stay in church for this. There is also the added bonus of coffee and fellowship in a local cafe after the Holy Communion service!
We would very warmly welcome you.
*Please be aware that there may be changes to these services throughout the year.
Up to date details can be found on our website and in our church magazine.
