Prayers

We come today with many hopes:
hope for ourselves and for our families,
hope for our communities,
hope for our world.
We come with hope that may be full of life,
or hope that may be dwindling.
Let’s give our hopes to God,
and be present to what God is doing here and now.
Let’s be hopeful about new possibilities that are ahead of us.

God of hope,
open our eyes, our ears and our hearts
to become more aware of the hope that you offer:
a hope that is refreshing;
a hope that has no limits;
a hope that is for all people.
Amen.

Eternal God, in you our souls delight.
And, as we gather to hear your word and reflect on your love,
we celebrate your glory
and embrace all that is new
as it springs up ever fresh,
ever beautiful, ever enlightening,
ever drawing us closer to you,
moment by moment, day by day,
as we worship, work and pray.
Amen.

God of justice and resilience,
we give you thanks for calling us by name,
to shed your light where there is darkness,
to lead others to your Son, our Saviour,
to be open to the empowering hope of your Holy Spirit.
May we never grow weary of praising you
but serve you with all our heart,
with all our mind and with all our strength,
today and always.
Amen.

A prayer of confession

Refrain: please forgive us, we pray.
God of hope,
when we listen to your word, but don’t take it to heart:
please forgive us, we pray.
When you reach out your hand to us, but we don’t take it…
When injustice needs to be challenged, but we remain silent…
When we are lost and in darkness and don’t see your hope…
Lord, draw us back to you.
Amen.

Assurance of forgiveness

God of richness and refreshment:
your tenderness enables us to trust you,
your forgiveness enables us to begin again,
your call enables us to follow you,
your faithfulness enables us to find peace in you,
and your Spirit enables us to live as your servants
in the world today.
Amen.

Loving God,
your wonderful light can shine in the darkest of nights.
Refreshing hope, thank you.
Your justice can stand firm against the worst corruption.
Refreshing hope, thank you.
Your comforting spirit can reach the depths of despair.
Refreshing hope, thank you.
You call us to share that hope as we praise you.
Refreshing hope, thank you.
Amen.

Lord of hope, we come with our joys and sorrows, our testing moments and touching moments. As we reflect on the week that’s just passed, fix our thoughts on where we saw glimpses of hope. As we focus on those images, help us to see where you were at work.

We thank you for good news this week, particularly remembering…

See, he is doing a new thing among us.
Lord, bring in your kingdom and renew our hope.

Lord of hope, sometimes our world feels hope-less. We hear of wars and rumours of wars, especially in Ukraine and the Middle East. Our world seems a place of confusion and unrest, especially in Venezuela and other parts of the western hemisphere. Leaders seem to grasp their power tightly and neglect justice; their words seem to be either black or white, love or hate; there seems to be no desire to compromise or understand each other. Lord of hope, you see all this and you weep. Yet, you also whisper a new way of living: the bruised and broken are tended to, justice is proclaimed, the sick are healed and the captives freed. Lord, you came to set us free. Help us to walk in that way of freedom, following your lead and bringing your justice and love to everyone we meet. 

See, he is doing a new thing among us.
Lord, bring in your kingdom and renew our hope.

Lord of hope, we focus now on signs of hope within our community. We thank you for places of nurture and education, for our health services and places of recreation. We think of a particular part of our community that needs new life and hope and we wonder: Are you calling us to be the answer to our prayers? Take us out from here to be your servants, sowing seeds of hope into every place we go this week.

See, he is doing a new thing among us.
Lord, bring in your kingdom and renew our hope.

Lord of hope, we pray for our nation. We pray for those in government, that they may be people of integrity, honesty and peace. We thank you that you came in humility to be our King. May our earthly leaders follow your way of justice and love. We bring to mind a particular area of need in our country right now: give our leaders the courage and diligence to make change happen to the benefit of those who have little chance of making changes for themselves.

See, he is doing a new thing among us.
Lord, bring in your kingdom and renew our hope.

Lord of hope, at your baptism your Father declared his love and delight in you. We pray for our families now. We thank you for those who bring us joy and name them out loud or in our hearts. We pray for those family members who are causing us concern at the moment, through illness or trouble of some sort. Lord, enable us to be bringers of hope to them. We pray for those from whom we might be estranged. Lord, bring hope into our distance and bring us closer. We pray for those who have no family and long to be close to others. Give us eyes to see where there is need and to bring hope and friendship into their loneliness. And we remember those for whom family life is painful and scary. Lord, speak hope into their situations and bring them to places of safety.

See, he is doing a new thing among us.
Lord, bring in your kingdom and renew our hope.

Lord of hope, send us out into a new week refreshed by having spent time worshipping you, renewed in our zeal to bring your kingdom into every situation, startled by the joy that we glimpse unexpectedly and ready to serve you in the good times and the hard. Fill us with the hope that does not disappoint as we welcome you daily into our hearts.

Amen.

God of hope: breathe your spirit.
(invite everyone to breathe out slowly)
For those who have lost hope…
For those who feel disillusioned…
For those who are waiting in vain…
For ourselves when we feel like this…

God, you bring hope today,
as well as to so many through the ages.
May we be open to the hope that you bring:
refreshing, restoring, renewing,
and be ready to share that hope with others.
Amen.

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