Prayer of the Church
Tenth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 14A)
9 August 2020
O Lord, our God, we do not presume to know Your ways or inform Your judgment. We ask You to grant us Your Holy Spirit so that we may apprehend Your ways and know Your Son, Jesus Christ, by faith. Give us wisdom, that we may trust in Your Word amid the stormy seas of this mortal life and be safely delivered from all danger onto the eternal shores of heaven. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
O Lord, our God, we have no righteousness of our own but only the righteousness of Christ into which we were clothed in Baptism. Grant us grace, that we may be faithful in every circumstance and bold in the confession of His saving name. Guard those who preach Your Word to us so that, hearing, we may believe and, believing, we may have everlasting life. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
O Lord, our God, we see the great need and ask You to raise up those who will serve us as pastors, teachers, missionaries and in all church-work vocations. Bless church planters and the younger congregations, that they may endure. Bring hope and renewal to all struggling congregations and to the pastors who serve them, and do not let fear keep us from Your Word and Sacraments. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
O Lord, our God, we ask You to bless us, our nation and those who lead us. Guide all elected and appointed civil servants in their judgments, that we may know justice in our land and peace among the nations. Make us especially mindful of those who need our special protection, the unborn, the aged and the oppressed. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
O Lord, our God, we pray for Your blessing upon the schools where children learn, especially for the schools, universities and seminaries of our church. Give Your blessing to all places where Your people gather to teach and learn Your Word. Help us to remember that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
O Lord, our God, we remember the sick, those who suffer, those troubled in mind, the grieving and the dying. Deliver them according to Your will and grant them the comfort of Your Word in their afflictions, that they may depend upon Your mercy in every circumstance. Hear us especially for _____________. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
O Lord, our God, we do not presume to come to this Your table trusting in our own merits. Give to us faith to discern Christ in His body and blood and repentance that we may receive for our good His gift of Himself in this blessed communion. What we have received with our lips, help us keep in holy, upright and godly lives. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
O Lord, our God, we give thanks for the saints of old who trusted in You in life and now rest in Christ from all their labors. Deliver us from all evil, and lead us through all temptation so that at last we may join them in the marriage supper of the Lamb in Your kingdom without end. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
O Lord, our God, we pray You to be our light in darkness, our strength in weakness, our courage in fear and our peace in distress. Speak to us by the voice of Your Word, that we may call upon You in the day of trouble and confess Your saving name before all people. Hear us on behalf of ourselves and those for whom we have prayed; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
