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	Christian worship, sermons, prayer and Bible study from St. Mark's Church and Putnoe Heights Church, Bedford, England - The world is our parish

Intercessions for

Prayers 12 March 2006

Beneath the cross of Jesus I fain would take my stand -
The shadow of a mighty rock within a weary land;
A home within a wilderness, a rest upon the way,
From the burning of the noontide and the burden of the day.

Holy, Blessed and Glorious Trinity, our God.
Your world gleams and resounds with your beauty.
Father, guide us to live in love with all creation;
Son, teach us to accept the cost of that love;
Spirit, show us yourself in everything and every person.

Lord in your mercy – Hear our prayer.

Modern man can fly at a speed faster than sound, can communicate by radio and other means to every part of the world in the fraction of a second; can circle the earth and land on the moon, and descend to the depths of the sea. He can make atomic weapons and biuological warfare. Modern man has learnt how to control births, he may soon be able to determine sex, and possibly to intervene with the working chromosomes. Yet what a mess we have made of the world … wars, slums, racial prejudice, refugees and pollution.
 

Father, forgive us, and yet despite our failings you are still so generous to us and we are able to say thank you; for the gifts which our gardens, fields and orchards bring us. We thank you for the green of the grass, the colours of the flowers and the loveliness of nature; which is more beautiful than the robes of Kings. We thank you for all that grows and brings health to mankind. For the sleep of Winter; the rebirth of Spring which we are now experiencing; the glory of Summer and the harvest of Autumn. Help us in nature’s life to see you as the giver of all life.
Lord in your mercy – Hear our prayer.

A prayer for tolerance:
Grant us, O Lord, to see in our fellow countrymen of whatever colour or race, brothers and sisters for whom Christ died. Give us grace to welcome people of different cultures and beliefs into our national life, and the humility to receive from them such good things as they have to offer. Save us from racial prejudice and indifference to the stranger; and grant that we may inherit the freedom of the sons and daughters of God, in Jesus Christ, the Lord and Saviour of all.
Lord in your mercy – Hear our prayer.
 

A prayer for children:
Have mercy, O God, on all children who are handicapped by poverty, or illness; broken or unhappy homes. Lift from them the burden of misery and fear. Enable all who care for them to minister with tenderness, and to trust always in your power, to heal and restore; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Lord in your mercy – Hear our prayer.
 

Dear Lord, when the sorrows of others fill our hearts to breaking and their problems seem almost too much to bear, fill our minds with the right words to say. Make our hearts strong to pour out love; our arms strong to hold them to us, and our hands and feet ready to work and run for them.
Bless those who are sad. Take away the ache of their loneliness, and help them to find comfort in going on.
Bless those who are worried, help them to find peace of mind; that they will never be tested beyond what they can bear.
Bless all those who are far from home, and far from friends, and protect them in body, mind and spirit.
Lord in your mercy – Hear our prayer.
 

We now remember before God those who have died, and light a candle to symbolise the light of Christ which eternally shines and brings hope. We remember ….
You turn our darkness into light; in your light shall we see light.
May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace and rise in glory.
I take, O cross, thy shadow, for my abiding place;
I ask no other sunshine than the sunshine of his face;
Content to let the world go by, to know no gain or loss -
My sinful self my only shame, my glory all – the cross.
And now as Jesus taught his disciples se we say:
Our Father …