St Mary's Greyfriars' Church, Dumfries :: Prayer sheet

November 2008

Dave — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 08:04:14 -0400

‘Remember, remember’ … so the rhyme goes
But what we reflect on are hard times and woes
The things that we’ve known that were hurtful or sad
The people we see who are nasty and bad

But let us keep to the fore of our heart and our mind
Many ordinary people who are brave, true and kind.
For all those lost lives, in wars that are past
That gave us our freedom and a peace that does last.

Take that foundation and add to it ‘grace’
And life everlasting for the whole human race
Our Father in heaven is what we will see
Whose Son came to earth to save both you and me.

Remember, remember … so the rhyme goes
That with God on our side we can conquer our foes
And let us take time to think on what’s good
Like our church and our friends, our warm homes and food

Remember, remember … every week, every day
We should worship our Lord, serve Him and pray.

October

Dave — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 05:47:06 -0400

This month’s prayer is inspired by the alpha (α; first) and omega (Ω; last) symbols that are on the rear wall of the church behind the choir.

Dear Lord our God,
You are the beginning of the world, You are the beginning of all life.
You are the most wondrous creator and loving Father to all mankind.
Let us seek a new beginning with you at the centre of our world.
Let us seek to know you better through our Bible and Christianity Explored.
Your love is the ultimate goal for us as we live out our lives.
You are the one that meets us when our time on earth ends
Let us share our belongings and love through our actions – sharing our harvest gifts and coming together at Communion.
Let us focus on our Faith and fellowship – focussing on the future for our Mission and people at the Congregational Board meeting and at the Buzz, Guild and Gardening Club events.
We bring this prayer through Jesus Christ, our Saviour and our guide, to you our Father, our beginning and our end.

Amen.

September

Dave — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 09:40:01 -0400

Dear Lord our God

We are blessed with a safe and secure place to live – we ask for your support for these areas around the world like Russia and Georgia where there is conflict and war.

We are blessed with friends and family and fellow Christians with whom we share our thoughts and activities – we ask that China learns from the countries present at the Olympic Games about freedom of speech and freedom of worship.

We are blessed with good health services with professionals and volunteers who care for us at every stage in our lives – we ask for your love to help those who face illness and disease.

We are blessed with enough food and a plentiful supply clean water – we ask for your blessing on the organisations like Christian Aid who work towards everyone having these things.

We thank you for the summer holidays that have refreshed us physically; for all our social groups like the Buzz Club and Gardening Club that sustain us mentally; and for the coming events at the Guild and Christianity Explored that will develop us spiritually. Let us be open to your Spirit working within us.

Lord, hear our prayer in the name of your Son Jesus Christ, our strength and our Redeemer.

Amen

July

Dave — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 09:43:48 -0400

God of caring, God of helping
Words by Rev Lindsay Louise Biddle, Locum Minister Newton Mearns Parish Church

Dear Lord our God,
God of caring, God of helping,
through our work, pour out your power.
Bind us with your healing presence,
that our gifts may ever flower.
Grant us comfort, grant us courage,
for the living of each hour.

Open now our hearts to feel
the passion of your suffering love.
With our minds and thoughtful actions,
make us angels from above.
Grant us wisdom, grant us knowledge,
Blessings from your heavenly dove.

God of all our understanding,
take our wonders and our whys.
Satisfy our deepest longings,
hear our prayers in every sigh.
Grant us goodness, grant us mercy,
as we serve throughout our lives.

Amen

June

Dave — Wed, 28 May 2008 06:35:58 -0400

Lord our God,

Almighty Creator, maker of an amazing world and miracle worker - we come in awe at
Your power and glory. May we never forget Your greatness and think we can do things without You.

Redeeming Father, overseer of all our thoughts and deeds, loving and patient confessor - we come burdened with sin to seek your forgiveness. Grant us self-awareness and an ardent desire to be better Christians.

Benevolent Lord, provider of plentiful food for our society, safe and comfortable surroundings, good friends and family - may we appreciate what we have and use all opportunities to share it with others around the world.

Responsive Father, hearer of our needs and desires - answer our prayers in the right way and at the right time for the good of ourselves and those that we pray for. Comfort us through any difficult times and share in our rejoicing when things go well.

We come before You in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ whose death on the cross has secured for us the gift of eternal life.
Amen

May

Dave — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 08:02:45 -0400

Dear Lord our Father

Almighty God: The miracle of new birth is all around us in springtime plants and animals; Your majesty is visible; the resurrection of Your Son is in our minds; Your power is in our hearts.

Forgiving God: We come before You and confess the wrong things we've said or done; lift the burden of guilt from us so that we can go forward with clear hearts.

Bountiful God: We are blessed with many things; we thank You for our safe homes, our stable governments, our church, minister and family, our pastoral support team from Presbytery, our friends and our individual gifts.

Listening God: We ask your comfort and support for those in need; for people affected by war, poverty, bereavement, and illness. We ask your blessing on our new mission into our congregation's homes, our parish and our town and also on our events throughout this month.

We ask these things in Jesus' name and in the knowledge that through Him we all have a better world and better lives.

Amen

April

Dave — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 20:12:30 -0400

Dear Lord our Father

Our faith sustains us through difficult times -
the suffering and war we see throughout the world,
the unexpected loss of a loved one and family break-ups.
But we have Your care and support to help us through it and for that we thank you.
You are the source of our hope for the future -
our Lent Reflections, our new Church Mission and the victory of Easter -
all of these things refresh our commitment.
And we ask your blessing on this exciting new phase for our congregation.
We promise to share our love with those around us -
in our homes, our community and in our church.
And for judging others just because they are different from us,
we seek Your forgiveness.
Grant us strength and fulfilment at this special time of year;
through the knowledge of everlasting life and the forgiveness of sin
secured by Jesus' death on the cross and resurrection.
In Jesus' name we pray

Amen

What this is...

Dave — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 06:30:44 -0400

The idea for a monthly prayer sheet came from the elders' conference on Faith First. It's designed to help us focus our thoughts so each and every member of St Mary's-Greyfriars' congregation can make a contribution to activities - in our homes, our church, our region and internationally.

Our members are also asked to pray for a particular congregation/ministry within the presbytery each week. For details, click here.