Prayer of Intercession

Sunday, 26 January 2020

Third Sunday after Epiphany

Prepared and led by Hope S. Antone

Let us take to God our concerns for the world, the church and for one another. After I say, “God in your mercy”, please join in saying, “hear our prayer”…

Almighty God, we come to you as a people walking in darkness because of disasters, calamities, diseases affecting the world that you entrusted to us. We have in mind the bushfires in Australia, flashfloods in Indonesia, volcanic eruption in the Philippines, the locust invasion in Kenya, earthquake in Turkey, and the ongoing coronavirus outbreak in China. May your comforting and healing presence surround those who were most affected. May your light shine on those who are finding a cure for the deadly virus. May we be more mindful of our bodies and health. God in your mercy: hear our prayer.  

Living God, you created the world with its seasons to help us appreciate the cycle of life. May families be truly renewed in body, mind and spirit during this quieter Lunar New Year celebration in Hong Kong. At this time of family reunion and homecoming, we remember those who are separated from their loved ones, especially those who were arrested last year for joining the protests in Hong Kong. We pray for fair trials, based on your justice and compassion. May we practice justice in our relationships at home, in work places and the community. God in your mercy: hear our prayer.  

Loving God, you created the world with so much diversity among peoples, cultures, religions and various backgrounds. We pray for refugees and asylum seekers, internally displaced people, victims of trafficking who are uprooted from their homes. May their cases be heard fairly and humanely that they may be assured of life with dignity, security and integrity. Touch and move the leaders all over the world to seek an end to war, to work for genuine peace between nations, and to ensure true reconciliation of different groups in society. God in your mercy: hear our prayer.  

Faithful God, we pray for the church, its leaders and members who are called to become fishers of men and women, that they may share the good news of your will for life in its fullness. We lift up the churches and people of all faiths of Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Western Sahara, Tunisia – that they may bear witness to their faiths, work for the good of all, and end political violence and power domination. God in your mercy: hear our prayer.

Compassionate God, we pray for the ministry of Kowloon Union Church. Abiding by Christ’s teaching and by our motto, ‘where all are one,’ may we provide welcome and refuge to everyone who enters our church, that they may leave feeling blessed to serve others. We pray for the safety of the construction workers during the months of renovation. We lift up to you the members and friends of KUC who have been ill, are recovering, or who lost a loved one. May your healing and comforting presence fill them. God in your mercy: hear our prayer.

Ever-present God, in Christ you brought the gift of salvation that dispels the darkness of the world. Pour out your Spirit on us that we may work with you to renew the face of your groaning earth. We ask this through Christ, who taught his disciples to pray:

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins

as we forgive those who sin against us.

Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours

now and forever. Amen.

Prayer of Intercession

Sunday, 19 January, 2020

Prepared and led by Rey Asis

Lord God, Your love flows through us like the air that we breathe. It keeps our heart beating and our mind clear and with purpose. It surrounds us and is within us. It heals and comforts us. You are forever generous with Your love and we hope to be forever thankful. 

As you are generous, there are times we are not. We become selfish, proud and unkind. We ask for Your forgiveness, O Lord, for the moments we choose to turn a blind eye to injustice, cover our ears to pleas, and not act in accordance to your commandments. For the times we become frail and choose to be immature, pardon us and guide us to grow in Your love. 

Life is never easy and we are always faced with challenges. We raise our hearts, our spirits to You Lord God as we pray - 

For our Mother Earth. So much lives have been affected by natural calamities like the Taal volcano eruption and the bush fires in Australia. Please keep the affected communities from further harm, provide refuge for those still in need, and guide us as we reach out to help. 

For the leaders of the world. Decisions made have harmed innocent lives and pose great threat to peace. May Your mercy reside in their hearts and Your light guide them so that actions and policies lead to cooperation and not for unfriendly competition, and for the greater good, and not only for a few. 

For Hong Kong. There is much to aspire for, to look toward to, to be hopeful for. Guide our leaders so that they side with what is right and what is good, we pray for our community that they stay united, for the youth, that while much they have yet to receive, guide them and us in building this city that stands on justice, human rights and democracy. 

For our congregation. We pray for our church that will face renovation in the coming months. We pray for safety of all, especially the workers and everyone who enter this building. We pray for healing for Harry’s mother and Mr Chang Lik. We pray for everyone who is in need, I’ll or feeling alone. 

In the ecumenical prayer cycle, we pray for Cyprus, Greece and Turkey.

Lord God, as we go through a new week, guide us, our loved ones and our community. May we grow united in spirit, fill us with Your grace, as we live Your word and in everything we do, we do in your greater glory. 

This we pray through Your Son, Jesus Christ, Amen. 

Prayer of Intercession

Sunday, 12 January, 2020

Prepared and led by Carl Catedral

  

Dear God, 

It’s often difficult to pay attention to what’s happening in the world because it can sometimes feel overwhelming and hopeless. But every week, we commit to coming here and praying for the world, our city, and our church because we believe you really care. We believe that you are really present with us and hear us when we pray. 

So God of Creation, it is with heavy hearts we lift up to you our world. We confess for the ways we have not cared for your creation and allowed our governments and nations to pollute and damage the world you have given us to steward. We lament the ways that our human negligence has led to environmental changes that contribute to the exacerbation of the effects of natural disaster. We particularly lift up to you the situation in Australia as fires continue to burn endangering the lives of people and their homes as well as animals and their natural habitats. God we pray that you would watch over your creation and provide relief to a hurting people and land. We pray for those who have been affected by the fires and are in need of resources whether it be physical, emotional, or financial. We pray for the firefighters, responders, and health workers on the ground, and we pray too for the eyes and hearts of our governmental officials to be opened and to respond to the needs of the people and our earth. 

Prince of Peace, we see the conflict in the world around us, and it causes us to long even more for Your peace to guard our often wearied hearts and minds. Today, we specifically lift up to you the situation between Iran and the US. As tensions grow between the US and Iranian governments, we seek Your intervention to calm the tensions and bring peace in the midst of contentious and retaliatory attitudes that have escalated as a result of the assassination of Revolutionary Guard General Soleimani. We pray also for the situation regarding the Ukrainian Boeing 737 aircraft that was shot down over Iran this week. We pray for clarity and resolution and for comfort to the families of those involved in the incident.

Healer God, we pray for the health issues impacting our city and our world. We pray for the Democratic Republic of Congo that is experiencing an outbreak of measles. We pray for the proper resources and infrastructure to support the medical needs of the people and to bring the epidemic under control. May your love and comfort also be with those who are affected and/or have lost loved ones as a result. We pray also for those suffering from a mysterious respiratory disease that was identified in Wuhan earlier this month. We pray that this illness can be fully identified and that a cure can be found for those who have been affected.

In Hong Kong, we continue to pray for the peace and restoration of our city. We continue to remember those who have been physically, psychologically and spiritually traumatized and ask for your healing and your comfort. We pray also that as many local universities resume classes this coming week that you would bless and be with all students, teachers and faculty. 

In our ecumenical prayer cycle, we lift up in prayer today the churches and people of all faiths of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.

In praying for this region, we are thankful for:

-those who continue to pursue peace in the midst of ethnic strife and

terrorism

-the faithfulness of Muslims in expressing their faith and working

with others

-Christians who practice their faith even when they are a small often

discriminated minority.

We pray also for:

-women and others in these countries who are deprived of basic

freedoms and human dignity

-those who misuse or exploit religious identity for extremist political

ends

-the wise use of the benefits of oil and other natural resources for the

sake of all

-the emergence of stable democratic societies based on the rule of

law, social justice, and respect for religious and other freedoms.

For our beloved church, we pray for this new year and all that it holds. We lift up our plans to you and pray that you would give us wisdom and direction as we seek to be a church that continues to embody our desire to be a place “where all are one.” We pray too for those in our community who are in need of healing and lift up Mr Chang Lik who continues to make good progress in his recovery.

As we conclude our prayers for the people, let us together pray the prayer Jesus taught his disciples. You are all welcome to pray in your preferred language.

Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins

as we forgive those who sin against us.

Save us from the time of trial

and deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours

now and forever. Amen.

Prayer of Intercession

Sunday, 5 January, 2020

Prepared and led by Cecilia Yeung

  

Let us pray for the world, the church and our community. After each petition, I will say “Lord, have mercy on us.” Then please join me to say “Hear our prayers”. 

Let’s bow our heads and pray. 

God of Creation, we give thanks to You for all the beautiful nature and creation around us. Forgive us when we fail to recognise and value the dignity and humanity of all who share our small planet. We remember those who are suffering various forms of prosecutions and those who are living in fear of war. May You uphold this world you created for us - a place where we call our home. 

Lord, have mercy on us. 

Hear our prayers.

God of Truth, we open our hearts to you in gratitude and wonder. Guide our minds to follow you rather than to listen to the world for easy solutions. We give thanks for the many who share their time, energy, gifts and skills in enabling others to survive and hopefully start to achieve their God-given potential. May You continue to walk with those who act faithfully in bringing your truth to many places of injustice around the world. 

Lord, have mercy on us. 

Hear our prayers.

God of Hope, we give thanks to you for you have shown your way through Jesus’s Incarnation. We continue to ask for your love and kindness so that we may care about people around us who have expressed frustration, anger or disconnectedness with the political process in so many countries for a variety of reasons but there is an upsurge in an expressed awareness of our shared humanity and planet and the need to protect this for our future survival. May the hope brought through Your Son Jesus by the inspire us. 

Lord, have mercy on us. 

Hear our prayers.

God of Love, help us to plan our coming year to be fruitful and blissful, and that we may always be with you, in you, and through you, may we be fearless to express your Love. May You strengthen our KUC family and friends who are physically weak, Mr Chang Lik and others whose names we have not mentioned out loud but offer silently in our hearts. May Your joy give us optimism and the challenge of a new way of living the future. Bless our members and friends in KUC, help us to shine through the work we do.

Lord, have mercy on us. 

Hear our prayers.

May Your joy and hope born in Advent light the way through the minutes, hours, days and months to come. May your love and peace strengthen and steady our steps. Tell us that we are not alone, for you are with us. 

We pray in Jesus’s name. Amen.