Prayer of Intercession

Sunday, 3 February, 2013

Robert Lam

Lord, we pray together with many churches around the world this morning in the ecumenical cycle of prayers for the people and churches of Ireland and United Kingdom: England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

We give thanks to these countries for their contribution to Hong Kong.

We give thanks for their heritage, their language, their administration and judicial system making up part of what Hong Kong is today.

We give thanks to the work of their missionaries, the London Missionary Society and the Overseas Missionary Fellowship who through their prayers, loving service and personal witness built up the churches and the schools here in Hong Kong including Kowloon Union Church.

We pray for churches in UK and in Northern Ireland which try to be faithful to Christ in the midst of secularization and change. We pray for those in these two countries who feel that they have been left behind: the homeless and the unemployed, those whose education seems inadequate or their skills out of date and those who are long term patients in hospitals. We also pray for the workers who have lost their jobs, the young who cannot find work and the elderly who depend on support in residential homes.

We pray for the world. We pray for the Christian churches in the Middle East and in countries under Islamic rule. We remember our Christian brothers and sisters in these countries who worship and trust in You particularly those who worship You in fear of safety, persecution and hardship. Lord, grant them peace and joy in all they do. Protect  them and may they live in harmony and peace with the people of other faiths in their communities.

We pray for China.

We pray for the new leadership. Lord give them wisdom and resolve in tackling corruption. We thank you for Internet and its wide use by the people in China in reporting corruption and injustices of high officials.

We remember at this time the massive return of the migrant workers back to their provinces and villages. Protect them in their safe journey back and may they have a good reunion with their loved ones, their families and their relatives.

We pray for Hong Kong. Lord help us to understand the frustration and the anxiety of those in our community who find that their access to essential supplies, hospitals and schools have been made difficult by unscrupulous traders and the influx of our mainland brothers and sisters.

Lord we ask that you give wisdom to government in tackling with the unscrupulous traders, to allocating additional and adequate funds and resources to better meet the educational and medical needs of the communities particularly in the northern part of the new territories.

We pray for Kowloon Union Church. We continue to pray for the work of KUC space and the upgrading drainage work at the sanctuary.

We pray in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Amen.