Prayer for the Season of Birth, Hope and Renewal

by Patrica Brennan-Alpert


God of Grace,

In this season of birth, hope and renewal, we give thanks together for the stories from the scriptures that make us revise our mental pictures of history and today’s reality.



When we are full of fear and pessimism, let us recall how you brought Sarah from ironic laughter to joyful motherhood. When we fear we have lost everything, let us remember Hagar, cast out of her home, her hopes overturned. She was anticipating death in the desert when you made a new promise to Hagar, Ishmael and their people.



God who reconciles and makes new, we pray for those closest to us, family, friends and neighbours. We pray that old resentments and prejudices are let go so peace and understanding can take their place.



We ask your blessing on the intentions and work of our teachers and leaders. We pray they feel your presence in our support. We pray they are awake to your spirit and trust in your will.



For the powerful in the world we pray they find and build the path of peace and justice through confusing times, conflicting interests.



Dear God, we pray for those most in need of your strength and comfort. We pray for those in our congregation who are ill and grieving. We pray for all who face frightening changes due to climate shifts, and economic ills. We pray for all living in war zones, violent communities and homes. We pray for all who live with effects of violence and the absence of love.



For ourselves, we pray we may put aside our own worries and busy plans to be your hands where help is needed. Help us put aside greed and self-interest and fantasy in favour of compassion, clarity and self-giving.

Help us follow Jesus example and be the world we want to see.



We come together on this day to pray for renewed understanding among all the peoples who share in your worship, your word and your work. Our scriptures tell us we are brothers and sisters to each other. Let us make brotherly love a reality in our community.

Let us make trust in God our reality.

In Jesus’ Name we pray.


Amen

Prayer for the Beginning of Lent

by Lesley Hamilton


Good Morning GOD, we come to you with what is in our hearts today. As we enter this season of lent, we prayerfully reflect, with courage and grace, on the gifts we have to offer you. What should we start doing? What should we stop doing? What should we continue doing? Jesus left the desert and took up his ministry, understanding his purpose. We pray --- that in our own wilderness journey, for but a small measure, of the clarity of purpose YOU bestowed upon Jesus ---following his.

In this time of change lord, we pray for strength of character; to lay down our fear --- and let you lead us towards spending our time, money, resources, and most importantly, our love, on your behalf. In glad faithfulness, and in Jesus’ name, we pray for willing hands --- to feed, clothe, and promote justice for ourselves and each other in this world. We have learned today, and pray to remember GOD... when we feel isolated or cast into the wilderness that --- wherever we go, and whatever we do, there we are... and so are you, Lord GOD... we are always home with you in our hearts... and pray that in Jesus’ companionship we will be guided toward right action. As the Hebrew people were exiled for 40 years, so were the people of Africville right here in Halifax, and they are not home yet. The black community, now known as Seaview Park, was dismantled in 1969 in favour of A. Murray MacKay, a commuter bridge that, to this day, saves urban workers a few minutes of time and aggravation going to and from their jobs. We pray sincerely GOD, for forgiveness as bystanders in this exile, which sent 400 Black Nova Scotian's to the wilderness. As the Government and Africville representatives attempt to reconcile these issues in our community GOD, we pray that whatever the outcome, we are able to support our neighbours in seeking justice. Although monetary reparation is small mercy, we pray, dearest Lord, that the beloved and storied Seaview Place Church and Interpretive Centre is rebuilt as a symbol of homecoming from the wilderness for Africville citizens.
Finally, we pray to be forgiven GOD, for the times when we have isolate ourselves and others in some form of wilderness. May we be inclusive in our welcome and may we learn from each other in this church family, as we companion one another in faith. We pray to leave this place today in truth; KNOWING completely that everything, absolutely everything, will be ok, in life and death, if only we engage you GOD, as our most intimate and trusted companion, in all circumstances, every minute, of every day.
AMEN

A Prayer for Our Families

by Nancy Bowes

Dear Father and Mother God,

Thank you for the blessing of family: for the warmth, the reassurance, the guidance, the love we receive from them, especially in our early days, but truly, throughout our days. They are the foundation on which our daily lives are built: their needs, their expectations keep us steady, keep us oriented to a world outside ourselves. Help us to be the kind of children and siblings and parents you would have us be: giving, forgiving, accepting, loving unconditionally.

God who sees and knows all that we are and all that we do,

Forgive us for the many times we put ourselves before our families: for the times we treat our nearest and dearest as means instead of as ends in themselves. Forgive us too for our harsh judgments upon the families who act differently than we suppose we would in their circumstances. Help us to hold them up, so they can be loving families. Help us to notice, and dare to offer to help, when we suppose they must need support – whether that is in the grocery store at 5:00 p.m., when a child is crying wildly or in our backyards, when a single young mother is struggling to feed and care for a child.

As we have prayed for the people of Haiti and the rescue teams, armed forces personnel and aid workers, so let us also add to our prayers the families in Canada and around the world who this week are opening their arms and their homes to Haitian orphans: may they find strength in you to be loving parents to their new children and may those children find food, safety and love in their new homes.

Lord of all the earth,

Thank you for the brilliant blue skies of winter, for the sun to warm us and the moon to light our way through the longest, darkest nights. Keep prompting us, please, to preserve your fragile earth, to treat it as a legacy for our grandchildren, instead of as a resource to be mined.

Lord,

Our families are scattered all over your earth. This week and always, keep them safe, keep us in touch, keep us in your care.

In the name of your Son Jesus,

Amen.

Prayer for Haiti

By Patricia Brennan-Alpert

Saving God, we come to you full of sadness for the people suffering hunger and thirst, pain, fear and grief in Haiti. We pray for their relief, and for their friends and relatives living away from Haiti.

We pray that you will bless all that we send to help them. We give you thanks that we can share our strength and wealth when it is needed so badly.

We pray that you bless the intentions for good of all who are working for Haiti now.

We pray for friends and family. We pray especially for all who are burdened with illness, conflict, or addictions. Thank you God, for our material security. Where security has blinded us to our own mental, spiritual or emotional poverty, open our eyes by your commandments. Open us to the Good News.

Providing God, we thank you for our teachers and leaders and pray for your blessings on them. They lead us out of ignorance, carelessness and oppression; let us support them and forgive them their human failings. We pray for your guiding hand in the lives of all who teach.

Liberating God, we pray for people with power to influence world events. Bless their intentions. Let us remember we as individuals and as a community have power to change the world too. As David sang, “The joy of the lord is our strength”.

Loving God, you are always for the weakest, bringing good news to the poor, freeing the captives, healing the sick, liberating the oppressed. We pray to be re-inspired in our daily lives to share, to listen, to give nourishment, to love our neighbours. Whe pray to find you in our neighbours when we are in need.

Dear God, we pray for ourselves. We trust that you love us, but we struggle to understand how your love and the great suffering of the world can coexist. Bless us with courage to walk in your way when we are confronted with the great mysteries.

We pray in the name of Jesus, our brother and our teacher.

Amen

Prayer for the New Decade

by Sharon Nicolle


Dear God,

With awe we approach this new decade thanking You for our blessings and reflecting on the years that have passed. Your world, Lord, is a contrast of beauty, acts of compassion and technical wonders as well as devestating chaos, hunger and injustice. Please help the world, Lord, to deal with climate change and find an end to war and suffering.

God, one year ago we gathered up our things along with our memories and tears and left our beloved old church building behind. As young and old marched through the snow, it was with trepidation that we journeyed towards a new place and a brave plan knowing only that You were with us and that it was the right thing to do. And then a wondrous thing happened: our stay in the desert became a positive, even a joyous and unifying thing. We thank You for our beautiful oasis, Lord; this beautiful space filled with light, warmth and music. We thank You for our ministers: Linda and Ray, as well as the many who helped and are helping with the organization and set-up up of our church space every Sunday. We thank You for dedicated committee members, Sunday School leaders and donors of money, time and spirit, who ensure that the mission of St. John's "to be a welcoming place, open and inclusive for all", is alive in all we do.

Be with us now, Lord as we travel forward into this new year. Bless Brian, Louisa and the whole Implementation Team as they deal with the next steps of our re-development. As You once said to Jeremiah "I have set you this day...to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant." And beyond this, help us to remember that we are the plan, we are Your plan.

May each of us do unto others as we would have others do to us, helping the poor, the sad and the hungry; trusting in You as we go and believing in the one who has taken the Ultimate Journey for us, Your Son Jesus, in whose name we pray,

Amen.

Sea of Uncertainty Prayer

by Elaine Frampton

Gracious God,
Today we remember those times in our lives when we felt totally unprepared for what lay ahead. Despite our best laid plans and good intentions, our lives are influenced and shaped by events we cannot control.

Sometimes we feel that we are drowning in a sea of uncertainty. As we tread water, often there seems to be no land in sight.

But when we have the courage to let go of our worry, there is something greater than us, something that is beyond us that buoys us up and carries us to shore.

God, we pray today for anyone facing a painful decision, an exam or a job interview. We pray for those people facing unemployment, those who are trying to resolve personal debt or other crisis. We remember those of us having to deal with serious illness, their own or that of a loved one. We pray for our troops in Afghanistan and for the family members and friends who wait back home.

Please listen as we name these people privately in silence.

SILENCE

God, help us to remember that there is a hand that can guide us. Whenever we feel we are adrift, help us feel that divine connection that is ever present.

Remind us that we are constantly supported. We will not be swept away with the waves, because there is a rock beneath our feet. It is a rock that is impermeable, unshakeable and sure. The rock is the connection. It is the consciousness that transcends our own. It is your love for us that is eternal.
And we are eternally grateful for it.

Amen

Shepherd Prayer

by Nancy Bowes

God, our Shepherd,

We are a flock in need of your care. As we face difficult and contentious decisions, help us remember the ties that bind us together, the 215 years of history that we share, and help us see our differences in the light of the many characteristics and desires and beliefs that we share. Help us to hold up our commonalities so that we will treat each other as brother and sister, not as “us” and “them”.

We are part of a city that is facing many challenges. We need your help to guide us through these decision-making processes – to find a new way of living together that is respectful of Your ways and Your Earth.

We pray for the lonely, the sick and the bereaved. Hear our prayers as we remember in silence family and friends who need your gentle guiding hand.

Please guide and protect our congregation. We are a busy lot, Lord, traveling up and down the province, across the country, around the world. We pray for our busy families and friends who travel frequently. Help us to find the time for rest and to move through the world under your care.

Finally, Lord, thank you for keeping the promise of spring. Thank you for the daffodils and forsythia already blooming and the magnolias and other trees bursting forth. Thank you for the longer evenings, and the brighter mornings. Help us to spread our springtime joy throughout the world.

In the name of your Son, Jesus,

Amen.

Prayer for the Environment

by Tiffanie

Dear God,

Thank you for the beautiful trees that give us fresh air and a reason to climb, the lakes that give us water and sooth us with their ripples, and the sound of birds in the morning when you wake up to sun streaming through your window. I thank you for the innumerable moments when your miraculous creations in nature have taken my breath away and rendered me speechless.

I worry that we are taking it all for granted- the water, the food, the security, and that if we don't act soon and care for our environment, it will be too late. The changes are already evident in many places all over the world; I witnessed it first hand in Ecuador where droughts where part of everyday life. Dear God, give us the compassion to realize our actions impact others.

Thank you for helping us become more and more aware of the problems and solutions and for infusing different groups and individuals all over the world with passion and a drive to help.

I ask that you give us the foresight and open-mindedness to make decisions that will benefit our environment (and oftentimes ourselves and our health as well) so that when our children ask us "What did you do to save the planet"? We can say with complete confidence- "I did everything in my power.. and then some!" Please give us the strength to think 7 generations ahead!

Give us the knowledge to make the best choices, to pollute and drive less, to walk more, to appreciate nature, to encourage others to work together, to live simply, to encourage others to live simply- Please God, help us change our habits.

Please take a moment of silence to open yourselves to God's voice and to pray for our environment.

Forgiving and sustainable God, we know you listen to our prayers. Help us to listen to Mother Nature and care for our ONE beautiful and fragile planet.

Amen.

Prayer for the New Week

by Sharon Nicolle

On this Sunday morning, as the birds seek shelter from the winds, we come to this place today in need of your shelter, O God, creator of Heaven and Earth.

Today Lord, as we anticipate the first of the long lovely evenings of spring, we thank you for the beauty around us, for the rain filling the lakes and the sun gradually warming the soil. Fill our intention too, O Lord to protect these lakes and soil from mis-use, pollution and destruction. May we learn to take only what we need and to put back so that all may share in your gifts.

Lord, we are weary of the sadnesses and excesses of our world. Many of us have struggled through another week, getting tripped up by our passions, walking into envy, greed and materialism but acting surprised when resentment and self-pity are the results. We pray for pardon and for eyes to see those who have so little and ears to hear those who cry out to us for help.

We pray now for those who are sick and for their caregivers. Give them strength and faith in you. We pray too for those who are destroying themselves through helpless indulgence. Show them a path, dear God, to hope and recovery. We especially pray as well for those trapped in seemingly hopeless situations, from the homeless of Halifax, to the seemingly endless strife in the Middle East.
We pray for those who have died and for the people who miss them and always will.
Lord, in silence now, hear our prayers for those we love.....help us to show that love and to appreciate those who cherish us.

God of wisdom, we ask for your blessings on this church, its ministers and committees who face many decisions and tasks in the coming months. Grant them courage and strength for this work.

Finally we pray for ourselves dear God....May we strive to live as you would intend us, following the example of your son, Jesus. Because of Him we are confident of your love. Grant us peace as we go out into this new week.

Amen.