P6. The sixth in a series of Prayers of the People

(The sixth in a series.  See entry #736 for an explanation)


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PRAYERS FOR THE SEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY, FEBRUARY 20, 2011

O Holy God, we seek your guidance for ourselves and our world, praying Lord of all people, Hear Us!

We pray for the people of the whole world, and for their leaders.  We pray for those involved with the conflicts and resolutions of northern Africa and the Middle East.  We pray for our own government leaders, for our president Barack, and for the members of our legislatures in Washington, Frankfort, and downtown at City Hall.  Guide these women and men to whom is entrusted our health, our mutual covenants, our planned and unplanned futures, praying Lord of all people, Hear Us!

We pray for the entirety of your creation, for those who believe and those who wonder.  We pray for your church and its leaders and ministers, its people and its programs.  In the Anglican Communion, we pray for The Church of Wales.  In the Diocese of Kentucky, we pray for Christ Church, Bowling Green.  In the Highland Community Ministries, we pray for Douglass Boulevard Church of Christ.  For the inter- and intra- connectiveness of these ministers and their missions, we seek the understanding and ability for their successes; praying Lord of all people, Hear Us!

We pray for the people of Advent Parish, for our rector Tim, our deacon Eva, our musicians and choir and their leader Bryan, and for all involved in the outreach and other programs of our church.  We pray for our neighbors along Baxter Avenue and Broadway, and for those we know and those who pass by, and especially for those we'll never know.  Understanding that one measure of the health and wealth of a community is the efforts, achievements, and successes of the least of its people, we ask your leading hand upon all these in our midst, praying Lord of all people, Hear Us!

We pray for all those in need: for the unemployed and underemployed, for the unrepresented, the unheard, and the unbelievers.  We also pray for those in need of healing, of comfort, of peace.  We pray especially for those who appear on our prayer-list, for [names go here].  Here we may add aloud or in silence our ouwn needs and prayers.  Praying Lord of all people, Hear Us!

Finally we pray for those who have died and those they've left behind, including [Advent deceased names go here], knowing that while their physical bodies are no longer with us, that their successes and failings and family and friends remain as part of their mark on this earth, and that together with them we will one day live in eternity, praying Lord of all people, Hear Us!

Celebrant:  O God of Grace and Mercy, you have created for us the foundation by which to make our lives good and great.  Be with this congregation as we work to fulfill your commandments to go the extra mile, offer alms to the beggar, and to be charitable in every way with all those around us, in order to be perfect as your Son was perfect.  Amen.