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Harvest Festival Prayers

2 October 2005

Let us pray for other people – people all over the world as well as for our own friends and families.
Let us think about Harvest and what it means to us. We have all been busy all year, whether going out to work, looking after families or going to school. Good things have come to us – food to eat, clothes to wear, places to live, opportunities to enjoy ourselves. Let us thank God for giving us all these good things.
 

But there are some people who have none of these things. Perhaps their harvest has failed, or wicked people have taken away all the things that made their lives good, or they have suffered disease, famine, war or natural disasters like floods and hurricanes. Let us ask God to help us and all people who have everything they need and more to share their good fortune with those who are in need. We pray for the organisations which help people who have nothing to start making a living for themselves.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
 

Let us think about people who help us – Mums and Dads, teachers, clergy, doctors, nurses, firemen, policemen, dinner ladies, people in shops, people who make things, people who mend things that have gone wrong and everyone who supplies our needs. We ask God to help them and to help us to remember to be thankful for them and what they do.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
 

Let us think about the people who are ill or unhappy or unloved and those who help them and look after them. We ask God to help and encourage them and give them hope. Let’s think about anyone we know who needs special help at the moment.
We’re going to be very quiet for a little while and think about them …
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
 

Let us think about people who have died. Jesus Christ is like a light when it’s dark, a light which never goes out. We think about those who have died and light a candle to remind us of the light of Christ, which shines for evermore and brings hope.

We remember

Jesus turns our darkness into light: by His light we shall see light until the end of time.

Jesus taught us the prayer we call the Lord’s Prayer. It says all the things we should pray for, and we’ll say it together now.

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours
Now and for ever. Amen