I hope you are able to spend a few minutes at noon each day as we pray together as a church family. These prayers are to help you with that:
Monday:
“Thy hand O Lord has guided your church from age to age.......”
Dear Lord, please guide your church through this crisis, help us all to care for one another and appreciate what is really important in our lives. We pray for all our clergy as they face the challenge of caring for all the people in their parishes and sharing the message of your love and offer of salvation in new and different ways.
We give thanks for the dedication of those working in the NHS and all those caring for those who are sick and frightened. May they know the peace of your love and support at this time. Amen
Tuesday:
Sovereign God, we pray for those in government. Thank you that they govern under your authority. No experience they have ever had can have prepared them for the decisions they have to make at the moment, with the health and well-being of so many people for years to come so dramatically in the balance. We pray for your wisdom to guide them, and for courage to make good decisions even if they may be unpopular. We pray for you care especially for those who are battling COVID themselves; with their bodies under strain from both intense work and illness, we pray that you will help them to recover. Amen
Wednesday:
Loving God, give us a new sense of your power. We are your children and cannot see very far ahead at the moment. In the darkness of our ignorance and folly we are stumbling against the law of your universe. We are experiencing catastrophe falling upon us which we could never have foreseen; illness overtaking loved ones and death smiting many in a frightening way.
In moments of pessimism, our whole world seems in a grip of unknown forces and it is easy to doubt your love. Forgive us and turn our eyes to the Cross until we begin to understand the power of your Love. Help us keep our faith, even though we feel wounded; deepen our prayer-life and show us your power until we share it.
We know you will speak to us. You will speak words of pardon and our burdens will roll away - words of healing and we shall be made whole; words of joy and our hearts will sing; the word of peace so that our fretting, care and worry will pass. So grant us new faith in ALL your promises and give us new courage to face each day, so we can soon say with the whole world:
"Lo, the winter is past - the rain is over and gone; the flowers appear on the earth and the time of the singing of birds is come." (Song of Solomon 2:11)
Amen
Thursday:
Merciful Lord, we pray for all people who are currently putting their own safety at risk to serve others.
We pray for those involved in medical care who are working directly with the sick: doctors, nurses, paramedics, and support staff. We pray for other key workers who are also exposed instead of isolated, as they keep food, medicines, and other vital supplies available. We pray for the teachers who are caring for the children of these key workers.
Please care for these people who are risking their own safety and putting others first. Amen
Friday:
Keep us, good Lord, under the shadow of your mercy, Sustain and support the anxious, be with those who care for the sick, and lift up all who are brought low; that we may find comfort knowing that nothing can separate us from your love In Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
Saturday:
Almighty Father, please help us, through this time, to see that we are less in control of our lives than we thought, and that some things we thought were vital are not. Help us, instead, to rest in your love and sovereign power. As we let go of things and ideas which are not helpful, please help us to turn to you and grow closer to you during this strange and isolated time. May you be the one we know we can rely on in all things, even this. We pray for those who don't know or follow you; please help them to find you through this pandemic. Amen