December 19, 2010 - Prayers of the People

Eternal God, thank you.

Thank you for our LORD Jesus Christ and for the church, and for the millions of people who have walked the pathways of faith, who have held high the light of hope for a sin-darkened world, and endured suffering for the sake of the gospel.

We’re encouraged in the light of their witness, O God.

Encouraged to be steadfast in the things of faith.

To do the best we can.

To love deeply, to forgive quickly, and to be with one another in the fellowship of the church.

To make the church good … to make it pure in its vision and purpose … 

And courageous in its witness …

Holding before the world the rich alternative of your kingdom.

A kingdom of light and peace.

Father in heaven, we thank you for our jobs.

We thank you for those who work for us, and we thank you for those under whom we work.

Help us to be faithful in our work …

To bring high value to our tasks …

To labor with Christ in our hands and in our feet.

That we might be swift to the demands of our work.

And kindly in our dealings with all.

Applying ourselves with creativity and energy.

Conducting ourselves in a manner worthy of Christ himself.

We pray, O God, for friends and family.

Some who grieve the loss of loved ones.

Others who battle illness.

Some are out of work and looking.

Some work in hard places.

We pray for the spiritually confused.

Folks who wander from one truth to another, forever looking and never finding.

Be merciful to them, we pray, and when the time is right, reveal to them the glory of Christ and bring them to yourself.

We pray for the hard-of-heart.

Those who have steeled their souls to your tender mercies and the power of the gospel.

Those who are lost within degraded values and mindless self-interest.

Be merciful to them in their rebellion, we pray, and as the years wear on, wear them down, until they come to their senses and lay down their arms and surrender to you, dear God … returning home to where we all belong … your love, O God, and the kingdom of heaven.

Bless us, we pray, in the remains of the day.

Bless our worship and imprint upon us the glory of Christ.

Plant deep within our minds his life-giving word.

And put us to sleep tonight with a sense that we have touched the hem of his robe and heard choirs of angels singing your glory.

All of this, in the name of our LORD Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray, saying, Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven …