Prayer of Intercession

Sunday, 9 October 2016

Eunice Chan

Let us pray.

Gracious and merciful Lord, as we bow our heads and close our eyes, our hearts are filled with gratitude. We are grateful that we can come together under the same roof before You this morning and we can sing loudly and dance gracefully to worship You. Lord, we thank You for friends, for health and for grace. May we live this and every day conscious of all that has been given to us. Send the Holy Spirit to us, so that we can be a reservoir of joy, an oasis of peace, and a pool of serenity that can ripple out to all those around us.

As we look around the world, we remember the people affected by various natural disasters. Lord, we lift up to You the people in Haiti and the Dominican Republic after Hurricane Matthew swept through last week, and the people in Mexico whose homes were destroyed by the eruption of Colima volcano. May emergency aid be delivered to them swiftly and rebuilding efforts be undertaken smoothly.

Lord, in many places around the world, differences in ethnicities and religions have been a continual source of conflict.  Closer to us, we witnessed clashes between the South Asian communities and the Police in Jordan last week. Lord, because of our differences, we can offend, and we can be misunderstood. Forgive us, Lord, when we feel helpless, disheartened or detached. Indeed our Lord, You make it simple: everything comes back to love. May You forever guide us in Your footsteps, grant us strength and renew our faith so that our feet can be the feet with which You walk to do good.

We pray for our church, for all those on our prayer lists, and those whose names are kept in our hearts. We especially remember Pastor Maggie, Rev Kwok, Revd. Tobias, brother Saimon, and sister Surryya. May You set Your loving gaze on our brothers and sisters who are unwell, and grant strength and peace to their families. 

In this ecumenical prayer cycle, we pray for the churches in Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan as they continue to work for Your glory.  

We pray all this in the name of Your Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Amen.