Pray

Please pray

For yourself. Prayerfully put on the whole armour of God, so that you can stand firm in your belief. Salvation – your helmet. Righteousness – your breastplate. Truth – your belt. The Gospel of Peace – your shoes. Faith – your shield. The Word of God – your sword. Fully equipped, we are can truly stand firm.

For us, members of the church. Pray for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. For the fruit of the Spirit to grow in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

Pray that the name of Jesus is apparent in all that we do.

In particular: Sue Kelly, Jo Hepper are admitted as churchwarden’s at St Chad’s for 2022-3; also John Clark and Liz Raven at St Alkmund’s. Please pray for them especially in the interregnum: for wisdom, strength and leadership. My we all be part of the team of helpers.

For our town. For the re-emergence of community. For the work of providing for those without. Further prayers for the Wider Ministry in Shrewsbury are here.

For our world.  For the peace of God which passes understanding. Particularly in the light of the current world instability.

 

A prayer from the service in St Chad’s on 19 June.

God our Father, we come before you in prayer with reverence, with joy, and with holy fear, confident in your love for us.
Jesus our Saviour, you have redeemed us and made us clean; we adore you.
Spirit, you inspire us and direct us; please fill us now and show us more ways in which we can serve.

As we think of the International conflict we pray that, even in the middle of it, small acts of kindness between neighbours, between strangers, may reflect God’s love, and that each act of love may shine like a light in the darkness. Strengthen and inspire, Lord God we pray, the spirits of those who find themselves in a conflict not of their making.

Give wisdom we pray to our church leaders, and the retired clergy who help us in this interregnum. We thank you for their continued service on our behalf. Together with the congregations of all other churches in Shrewsbury, pour out on us all your spirit. We pray for a renewal and re-invigoration of our spiritual awareness. May we all keep a right sense of priorities as we seek both to announce the Good News of Jesus and his saving grace, and to steward this lovely building for future generations, to the Glory of God.

May God’s presence fill us and fill every nook and cranny of our buildings with his peace, the peace that passes understanding. Like the burning bush that was not consumed, may we and our buildings be enveloped in the refining fire of God’s presence through Jesus, so that we may become beacons of hope, lights in the darkness, as we go about our daily lives. Show us, we pray, more ways in which we can serve.

This prayer we offer in Jesus name, Amen.

 

A prayer for these times.         Sam Wells , the vicar of St Martin in the Fields

O God of peace, your prophet Isaiah promised

Swords would be turned into ploughshares,

And your son’s mother proclaimed

The mighty would be put down, and the humble exalted.

Visit the people of Ukraine, deliver them from fear, violence,

Attack, injury, destruction, death,

And give them courage, solidarity and allies

In their hour of vulnerability and sorrow.

Turn the hearts of those bent on war and invasion.

Strengthen the hands of all seeking to halt conflict,

Restore order, pursue justice,

And make this moment of peril an occasion for your Holy Spirit to

To show your world the cost of conflict and our dependence on one another

In Christ our Lord, who went to his death because of our hatred and rose

Because our hatred is never stronger than your indomitable love  Amen

 

Here is a prayer written by Pope John Paul when he was still a Bishop in Poland under the communist regime:

                       TO YOU, CREATOR OF NATURE AND HUMANITY, OF TRUTH AND BEAUTY, I PRAY
Hear My voice,
for it is the voice of the victim of all wars and violence among individuals and Nations.
Hear my voice,
for it is the voice of all children who suffer and will suffer when people put their faith in weapons and war.
Hear my voice,
for it is my voice when I beg you to instil into the hearts of all human beings the wisdom of peace, the strength of justice and the joy of fellowship.
Hear my voice,
for I speak for the multitudes in every country and in every period of history who do not want war and are ready to walk the road of peace.
Hear my voice,
and grant insight and strength so that we may we all  respond to hatred with love, to injustice with total dedication to justice, to,need with the sharing of self, to war with peace.
O GOD , HEAR MY VOICE, AND GRANT UNTO THE WORLD YOUR EVERLASTING PEACE.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            We held a candle-lit vigil on Shrove Tuesday, March 1st, for the Ukraine.
I was stuck, as the darkness grew outside the church, how each candle inside appeared to burn more brightly.
In my minds eye I saw St Chad’s as one candle. St Alkmund’s as another. The Cathedral, the Abbey, the Greek Orthodox church, all other churches in Shrewsbury – each one as another candle. My mind roved across the West Midlands, Wales, the UK. Across Europe, some places of worship in China. The Americas and Canada, all other locations in which God is acknowledged and worshipped. Each church in every place being a candle – so much light in the darkness.
And my mind rested on the Ukraine with its rich tradition of worship. There are many candles burning. And in Russia – the same.
As the vigil continued, and the darkness outside grew even more intense, the light from each individual candle seemed to add to another, making the whole somehow greater than the combined individuals. Let us pray that individual acts of kindness and goodness in the face of atrocity, of love and peace in the face of the onslaught, will grow and will overcome the evil by bringing God’s light into the dark places.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Here is a prayer sent in to us recently:
LIGHTING A CANDLE OF PEACE.
     We light this candle for peace, Lord.
May its light scatter the darkness,
May its flame be a symbol of hope,
May its burning be a sign of faith,
Joining with many other lights for peace.
We light this candle for peace.
May our lives be an expression of peace-making,
May we seek to be lights in a dark world,
Pointing to you, Lord Jesus, the Prince of Peace,
And following you in the way of Peace.
Let this candle burn as a sign of peace
Offered to you. Amen.
There are many other things we could pray for: ask God to show you.