Photo courtesy of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
Prayer of the Church
Second Sunday after the Epiphany
17 January 2021
Let us pray for the whole Church of God in Christ Jesus and for all people according to their needs.
O Lord, You have called us into the fellowship and priesthood of Your Son, Jesus Christ. By His incarnation and great work of salvation, heaven is opened to us in Him. Give us boldness to cling to Your faithful call, that Your deliverance would not be hidden but spoken freely in all the world. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
Gracious God, preserve Your Church here and throughout the world. Send forth laborers into Your harvest and sustain those You have sent, especially Matthew, our Synod president; our district president; and our circuit visitor. Make all Christians bold in confession and unwavering in prayer. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
Father, You have given us Your Holy Spirit, making our bodies Your temple and knitting us together into the mystical body of Your Son, Jesus Christ. Give us courage and constancy to treasure Your gift of holy marriage. Preserve Your Christians in true chastity: the married in honorable faithfulness to one another, and the unmarried in honorable purity, for You have bought us with the precious price of Your Son’s blood to glorify You in our bodies. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
Almighty God, You are the Lord and You do whatever seems good to You. As every lawful authority on earth comes from You, uphold in righteousness and health our nation with its leaders. Preserve in wisdom and honor Joseph, our president-elect; Kamala, our vice-president-elect; our governor; and all public servants, including our armed forces, police and first responders. Send peace in our time. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
O God, behold in mercy all for whom we pray. Bring healing, comfort, strength, patience and certainty to all in need. Receive our thanks for Your constant watch and merciful kindness. In every sorrow and every joy, do not let our eyes be drawn from the greater marvel of Your kindness in Christ Jesus, by whose grace and forgiveness alone we receive every blessing. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
Holy Lord, renew the gift of Your Holy Spirit to all who commune this day. Work in us true contrition to lament and abandon our sins, and so to come in confident faith to eat Your Son’s body and drink His blood, given and shed for the forgiveness of sins. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
All these things and whatever else You know that we need, grant us, Father, for the sake of Him who died and rose again and now lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God forever. Amen.
