Prayers

These prayers are taken from the Vital Signs resource of The London Institute for Contemporary Christianity, and are republished with permission

My church family

Lord of all things, as I pray today I’m picturing the faces of my church family and their everyday places.
I lift up to you the places where they’ll be – schools, hospitals, factories, offices, farms, shops, universities, care homes, warehouses, building sites, leisure places, homes and beyond.

Some are busy and some are bored, some are blessed and some are burdened.
Please encourage them and work through them all today.
In their everyday opportunities and challenges, guide and strengthen them.

Is there anyone I should particularly pray for or send a message to?
Please guide my thoughts to them now.
Amen.
 

Reading the Bible

Lord, when I read the Bible, please help me to join up the dots.
Help me to learn what the passage meant then, what it means now and how the ‘So what?’ should be applied by your disciples today, starting with me.

Help me to find the connections between your word and your world today.
Amen.
 

For our gathered and scattered times

Lord, help us to have a beautiful interplay between our gathered and scattered times as a church.
May our gathered times equip us for our scattered times
and our scattered times help inform what happens in our gathered times.

Help our Sunday worship to be a place where we spur one another on towards love and good deeds.
May that love and those good deeds be seen and demonstrated on our frontlines.
Amen.
 

For conversations

Lord, when unplanned conversations open up, may my questions and my listening speak for you.

May those I chat to know that their frontline is holy, their role is mission, their commute is a pilgrimage, their tools are spiritual, their tasks are ministry and their time is worship. . .
Not because of what the job title says, because of the details on the job description or their salary, or even because they love every moment or want to be there.
But because they are there with you and for you.
Amen.
 

Age and stage-focused work

Lord, for each age and stage group in my church, I pray that those attending would know that you’re with them on their frontlines this week and that Jesus is Lord there, whatever happens.
I pray for eyes to see where they are already being fruitful on their frontlines.

Lord, grow their vision and mine of what living for Jesus might look like where they are.
Across the generations, may we encourage and support one another for our own ages and stages.
Amen.
 

When crises happen

Lord, when I seek to meet the challenge in front of me today, help me not to miss the challenge in front of people on their frontlines.
In a still-broken world, we know you can turn around bad situations for good.

When there are significant problems inside or outside our church, help us to see more with your eyes.
Help us to serve you well in these times.
Amen.