More Prayers 

 

Octoberf 2025

Lord, we look to you to help us on our journey through life.

We enjoy travelling, but we know that it cannot always be on the sunlit slopes of happiness and fulfilment.

At times, we slog through the valley of suffering, confusion and disappointment.

 

Remind us, then, what we already know – that it is by putting our whole trust in you that we will not only scrape through, but find life in all its fullness.

 

As we pick out way through,

• we see friends and loved ones struggling with life – and death.

• we wrestle with our own weaknesses and afflictions

and

• do not always bear them with fortitude and grace.

 

We know what we should be and what we should do but often don’t do it.

• we let people down, we let you down.

• we moan about our own little burdens yet ignore the crushing loads of others.

• we are quick to ask for your help in our troubles but turn from those who need our time and our care

 

Forgive us, Lord, and help us to learn ,the path of trust and compassion.

For it is by taking that way –the way of Jesus, that we will arrive at that place where

• trust replaces fear,

• compassion for others overcomes our love of self,

and

• we know, in our hearts of hearts that we are where we should be – in tune with your intent for us, and at home in your love.

 

September 2025

Lord,

We find it much easier to make sense of things  than to live with mystery.

To believe that by reading books and studying we can open the door and find you.

 But all we find is an idol, a concept,  of our own creation.

 

Break through such arrogance and meet us where we are.

 Show us

• how to live with uncertainty,

• to put our hand - and our lives in your hand

• to  trust and find you walking beside us in all the twists and turns of life;

• to meet you in our home, our work; among friends, neighbours, and strangers.

 

For that is the only way we can know you and learn to follow you.

 

Bless you.

 

 

August 2025

Lord,

 Although we often lose sight of who we are,

    we know that we belong to you,

    and on that we rely

 

We seem to carry with us the sense of a larger life that makes this room in which we live seem narrow and paltry.

And knowing that,

   we become sick at the world around us, and sad at the evil of it.

 

Yet soon the recollection fades

    and we grow satisfied and cease to be surprised and disgusted at the evil around us.

The glamour and clamour of the earth distract us from our origins,

    and its temptations rob us of our birthright.

 

It becomes hard for us to remember whose children we are

    and that we are here to live out our lives with you.

 

Yet only thus believing can life be bravely lived

    and its purposes become plain.

 

Call us back, Lord

and

keep us close.

 

July 25

Teach us, Lord, not to despise the things of earth

 or

 separate ourselves into a holy huddle.

 

Help us to follow you in

• the narrow way,

• the hum-drum task,

• the fickleness of people,

• life’s trials, misunderstandings and strife.

Let us

• dive fully into life,

• grasp its passing opportunities

and

• make good use of the time we have.

 

Help us

• to bear the fret of care,

• to keep constant in the face of disappointment and failure.

• to play our part in the life of our times,

• to think clearly,

• to act kindly, do justly, help the needy, comfort the sick,
  and care for the dying.

Help us always to make someone glad that we passed their way.

 

And keep us, Father, in the way, to the end.

 

June 2025

Lord, 
the dreams of humanity for a time of peace and prosperity are deeply ingrained in our hopes; a time
•    without war and conflict, 
•    without suffering or want, 
•    where no-one is exploited 
and 
•    everyone is able to live life to the full. 

• Yet it is a dream for there has never been a time like that nor will there ever be.
  For in addition to the suffering that is in the very nature of things, we find ourselves adding to the pain by our coldness, selfishness and exploitation of others. 

• We know that  life here can never be perfect but we can be better. 
  Take away, Lord, 
  •    the cynicism that excuses our indolence, 
  •    and the explanations we give for our self-centredness. 
  Give us instead an acute awareness of 
  •    what concern we should  feel, 
  •    what kindness we might show, 
  and 
  •    what good we must do. 

• So that our corner of your world may be a little more the way you want it to be.

• Lord,

• the dreams of men for a time of peace and prosperity are deeply ingrained in our hopes; a time

• without war and conflict,

• without suffering or want,

• where no-one is exploited

• and

• everyone is able to live life to the full.

•  

• Yet it is a dream for there has never been a time like that nor will there ever be.

• For in addition to the suffering that is in the very nature of things, we find ourselves adding to the pain by our coldness, selfishness and exploitation of others.

•  

• We know that  life here can never be perfect but we can be better.

• Take away, Lord,

• the cynicism that excuses our indolence,

• and the explanations we give for our self-centredness.

• Give us instead an acute awareness of

• what concern we should  feel,

• what kindness we might show,

• and

• what good we must do. 

• So that our corner of your world may be a little more the way you want it to be.

 

May 2025

Lord,

Make us into the people you would have us be

For we are utterly dependent on you,

 

Yet it is no pathetic, secondary life we have.

nor a cringing acceptance of our inadequacies

For you have given us an independent strength by which we can pursue our lives.

 

Help us to use that strength

• to do what is right

and

• to seek the good of those around us.

 

Give us

• the light and wisdom we need to keep us on track,

• the sense to see what is best,

• the honesty to recognise where we have gone wrong,

and

• the confidence to enjoy all that life gives us.May 

 

April 2)25

​

Lord when life is hard and the days bleak,

When faith and love falter,

Save us from despair.

Give us hope

For hope lifts from us the burden of explaining and coping

And rests on your wisdom and strength.

When we feel like giving up because we are weak or sinful or confused

remind us of how good life is

and

how sorting out the world is not our responsibility

We leave it to you.

For the moment, help us to do what we can do.

When a sense of failure afflicts us

and

we realise we are not as good, strong or clever, as we thought we were,

lift our eyes to the vision of what you might make of us..

Be with those who have given up.

• Lighten their darkness;

• warm their hearts;

• give them back their dreams.

Give us all the will to keep following,

For as we follow we gain strength

and

there is peace to be found in your company on the journey.

​

 

Prayer for March 2025

​

Lord, our constant friend,

we thank you for

• your company on our journey

• the gladness you bring

and

• the joy that permeates our living.

 

For

• no matter what mess we get ourselves into,

nor

• how far we wander off,

when we turn round you are there.

Not silent or forbidding, but there

• to help us up and help us on.

 

Teach us what is good and school us in it

so that

• what is kind and loving, comes naturally

and

• self-indulgence and meanness disgust us.

 

Walk with us

and

keep us heading towards the light. 

 

February 2025

Lord,

let us see in your power, your purposes at work,

and

not try to tap it for our own.

January 2025

 

Lord guide us

As we set out on another year’s journey

 

Sometimes, Lord, our courage fails us

 and we grope forwards,

• not sure of the road ahead,

• the mists of anxiety and cynicism clouding our minds 

and

• we lose our direction.

 

Lord,

• let us sit beside you by the road and rest from time to time

• let the warm sun of your love break through our bewilderment    

so that

• we may sure again of your care for us.

and

• understand that wherever we are headed, you go with us.

 

Stay with us,

• lighten our minds,

• warm our hearts.

Give us

• direction

• strength to follow where you lead

and

• joy on the journey

 

Above all, here, now, let us know that you walk beside us into this new year. 

 

December 2024

Gracious Lord we rejoice in Christmas, and that it comes to

• brighten our darkness,

• lift our spirits

and

• proclaim your love

 

Lord, who comes into our world largely unrecognised, forgive us

• that we who claim to be yours are often blind to your presence. 

• that we are so focussed on our own interests and concerns that we fail to see the crying needs of those around us.

• that we are so sure that the gathering of possessions and the pursuit of pleasure will lead us to happiness

• that we turn away from the simple teaching and example of Jesus to follow the pathetic counsels of those who tell us that the good life makes no demands and requires no commitment.

 

Lord, you came into our world as a helpless child and threw yourself on our care and compassion.

 

May we trust also in your love for us, and live our lives in a careless abandon for our own concerns

and

a complete and enduring dedication yours.

 

November 2024

 

Lord

Walk with us as we travel forward.

• We like our comfort and at times would rather sit and do nothing

• We are often distracted and chose amusement as a substitute for happiness

• Our vision grows blurred and we begin to think that this earth’s baubles might do as a prize. 

 

Keep us travelling along the road to a better world

and

a better life for those around us.

 

Whenever our attention turns towards ourselves,

• shift it out to where we can ease the burden of those who are finding the road through life tough.

and

• sit with those whose road is running out.

 

Lord, as we walk into the unknown we are easily frightened by what lies ahead.

So

• remind us of your constancy thus far

• stay with us

• strengthen us when we weaken

• refresh us with your joy and peace

 

October 2024

 

Lord

Our creator, protector, provider and friend

We bless you for walking with us through all the twists and turns of life.

We don’t always find it easy to live out what Jesus taught us.

    and sometimes find the folk wrapped up with us difficult to live with

When we do, remind us that they are your children too

 

September 24

Lord, we have gathered here

• to sing your praise,

• to hear your word

and

• to gain strength for our journey through life.

 

We have discovered that that journey can never be always on the sunlit slopes of happiness and fulfilment

but that we must travel through the valley of suffering, confusion and disappointment.

Remind us again of what we already know:

• that it is by putting our whole trust in you that we will not only scrape through, but will also find life in all its fullness.

 

As we pick out way through, we see our friends and loved ones struggling with life – and death.

• We wrestle with our own weaknesses and afflictions and do not always bear them with fortitude and grace.

• We know what we should be and what we should do but often we do not do it.

• We let people down, we let you down.

• While we moan about our own little burdens we ignore the crushing loads of others.

• While we are quick to ask for your help in our troubles, we turn away from those who need our time and our care

 

Forgive us, Lord, and help us to follow the path of trust for ourselves and compassion for others.

For it is by taking that way –the way of Jesus, that we will arrive at that place where

• trust replaces fear,

• compassion for others overcomes our love of self,

and 

• in our hearts of hearts, we know that we are where we should be – in tune with your intent for us, and at home in your love.

​

​

August 24

Father,

We come to you because you accept us as we are

We read of Jesus

• sitting with sinners,

• loving the lost

and

• welcoming the wayward.

And on that we rely.

 

 

July 24

• Father,

• We who feel blessed pray that you will stand by those who feel desolate

• Those who

• have lost someone dear to them

• are poor and do not have sufficient to live on

• are ill, particularly those with an illness that has no cure

• are despised by the people amongst whom they live or work

• are plagued by addiction or besetting sins

​

June 24

Father,

At times we are happy that you have chosen us as companions

At others we wish you hadn’t bothered.

 

Sometimes we find ourselves comforted and strengthened by your company

At others we want to hide from what we see as unreasonable demands on us.

 

We realise that you have made each of us different

and have no interest in turning us into

• wooden replicas of the sickly smiling saints in stained-glass windows or

• buttoned-up do-gooders

• or those who try to be good all the time.

 

We thank you that Jesus invited us to come just as we are,

He welcomed tax collectors, prostitutes, doubters and sinners just like us,

And claimed them as his friends  

.

Teach each of us, then,

• to be the best we can be

and

• count us among those who seek the kingdom  

• of love, joy and peace

• here, where we are

• now   

​

May 24

Father, we are where we are

Wrapped in circumstances, some of which is chosen, some not

Help us

• to enjoy where we are and what we have

• to improve what we have

and

• bear without complaint what we find irksome.

Help us

• fashion a good life for ourselves and those who travel with us.

• steel our hearts against fear and despair

and

• give us joy in trusting.

​

April 24

Father

When evening comes, may it find us at peace

• With ourselves

• With the folk we live with

• With you

• If we have allowed grubby behaviour to spoil the day, forgive us

• If bitter thoughts pester us, teach us to forgive

• If we are anxious, help us to let go and trust

• If we have barred the door against unpalatable truths, open up our minds

• If the gathering darkness has leaked into our souls, let the warm light of your presence grow ever brighter.

 

Above all. come close to us now and teach us to trust.

​

 

Lord, this life of ours often tests our faith and our courage.

• Our faith, for there are no clear answers to the suffering around us

• Our courage, in that the forces of evil seem massive and universal.

We find it easy to doubt and be tempted to give up.

 

Yet what can we do but trust

and

• when we do,

• when we give up our strivings for sense and our blustering for confidence,

• we find that we do not fall but are supported by a strength not our own.

So

• if we fail, may we not be faithless,

• if we fall, may we go down fighting.

 

Help us to go on challenging what is hurting out neighbours

Yet keep

• that cheerfulness that marks out those who know they are safe,

and

• that gentleness of spirit that comes from being loved.

​

January 2024

Lord guide us and walk with us through the year ahead.

 

We search for happiness, contentment, for success, for fulfilment. Our desires and ambitions, our plans and our hopes absorb our attention continually

and

Continually distract us from seeking the one thing needful,

that is,

• to make our peace with you,

• to understand your intentions for us

and

• to improve the world in which we live.

 

You never leave us to wander and stray, for you call to us in every experience and event.

None of it makes sense ultimately without you and your ambition for us.

• Help us, then, to abandon our futile searches and trivial lifestyles

• and seek out what you want for us and from us.

• Trip us up and call us back when we move off track.

• Do not lose patience with us.

So that we know that we are where we should be.

​​​

December 2024

Gracious Lord

We rejoice in this glad time of Christmas,

It comes to

• brighten our darkness,

• proclaim your love and

• lift our spirits.

November

There are times, Lord, when evil is so rampant and error so prevelant that we think of throwing in the towel and settle selfishly for safety and what pleasure we can extract tact from our circumstances

 

We find the world a brutal, confusing and troubling place

We know what is right, what is just, what is good, what we should do

Yet so often find excuses for doing something else, something easier and less challenging

Forgive us

 

We are burdened with things that do not matter

Confused by problems of our own manufacture

And

Frightened of things that are figments of our imagination

 

Then we remember that you

haven’t given up on us.

 

Give us therefore strength for our tasks

Wisdom for our responsibilities

Insight to understand our times

Along with

 A mighty concern for all the people of our world

And a firm grasp on our trust in you

 

 

 

September 2023

Lord,

 We bring you the results of this week’s life;

Of some it we are not proud; forgive us  

But we thank you for the good we have been able to do and the help we have been able to give

And we thank you for those who help us in our living,

   particularly those who do the ordinary jobs that keep the world turning, even when

   they are boring and monotonous.

 

We ask you to stand by

• those who have lost their way in life and don’t know where to turn

• those who have messed up and need forgiveness

• those who are slogging it out in a job they don’t enjoy

• those who are ill, or in pain, or are living out their last days in fear and anxiety

• those who are trapped in circumstances they cannot change

• those whose love or concern for someone close to them makes them anxious and unhappy

 

Help us to help them

And in our own concerns - with age, sickness, about our families and friends.

 

But keep us from moaning and from being self-centred,

Teach us to count our blessing

      and learn to trust       

 

Stay with us, Lord, all of us, this day and every day.

 

August 2023

Lord

we come to you looking for a little bit of comfort and reassurance.

We live in a world that repudiates so much of what we were taught as true and good.

But often the reassurance we seek is that

• we are not mistaken in our prejudices,

• what we hold to be true, is,

and

• what others believe, is not

•  

• Not only that, but we seek to have you on our side

• defending us and protecting us from other people and their demands,

• that you will listen to our excuses for not being better than we are

• or more giving that we should be.

•  

• We have become so used to such excuses that your invitation to follow falls on deaf ears.

• Forgive us Lord for such delusions and such laziness.

• Rekindle in us a thirst for what is right,

•  

• Join us to your great purposes

• to seek, in all we do, to bring in your kingdom,

• first, into our hearts and lives

• then, into the world around us.

​

 

July 2023

 

Lord, we come to you in thankfulness, for every day is filled with your goodness:

• the health we enjoy,

• the comfort of our homes,

• the companionship and fellowship of friends and relations,

• the capacity to love,

• and the opportunities to help each other along.

We thank you for

• the world we live in,

• the air we breathe,

• the food we eat,

• the clothes we wear;

• the sun that warms us,

• the rain and the weather

that feeds us and sustains us.

​

June 2023

Forgive us, Father, that

• grumble so easily,

• find suffering more appealing than victory over suspicion, aggression, and injustice,

• pile up our woes and discount our blessings,

• find fault with what others are doing

• complain so much and give thanks so little.

 

May 2023

Lord

At times. we feel that you are a million miles away.

Then we feel alone and half-afraid.

and

the world seems desolate; filled with turmoil, nastiness, and sufferin 

April 23

Lord we rejoice in the coming of Easter.

We thank you that

• winter is past,

• dark days are over

and

• the whole earth is bursting with new life.

 

We thank you too, for Jesus and the example he sets for us.

We may not believe in all the magic that has encrusted his story,

But we know that

• he shared our common life

• with all its complexity, suffering and death,

• and lifted it above the commonplace,

• offering to us life in the family of God.

 

And in Easter we see

• the triumph of life over death

• hope over despair

• love over hate

and

• trust over fear

Alleluia

​

​

March 2023​

Lord we live in troubling times that test our faith in goodness.

Give us therefore hope,

for hope lifts from us the burden of explaining and coping

and

rests on your wisdom and strength.

 

Save us from despair.

When we feel like giving up because we are weak or confused,
remind us of how good life is and how sorting out the world is not our responsibility: we leave it to you.
For the moment help us to do what we can do.

When a sense of failure afflicts us

and

we realise we are not as good as we thought we were,

• lift our eyes to the vision of what we might be

• give us the strength to keep following,

• never allowing us to wallow in our despair

• or to gain satisfaction in our excuses for failure

For as we follow we gain strength.

 

Be with those who despair.

• Lighten their darkness;

• warm their cold hearts to life;

• give them back their dreams.

And their confidence in your intentions for us

 

 

Lord, we step into this new year half-afraid, half-expectant.

We bless you that you have steered us through the year that is past

 Guiding us with

• the example of Jesus

• good teachers

• the promptings of our consciences

and

• honest companions

 

In the days to come,

• keep us from us straying from what is best

• and help us to reach for the stars

 

When we are frightened, comfort us

• when straying, haul us back on track

• when discouraged, call us on

• when confused, enlighten us

 

Give us joy in trusting

• contentment, with where we are and what we’re doing

• determination in our imitation of Jesus

and

• an enduring sense of your companionship.

 

January 2023

Lord, we step into this new year half-afraid, half-expectant.

We bless you that you have steered us through the year that is past

 Guiding us with

• the example of Jesus

• good teachers

• the promptings of our consciences

and

• honest companions

 

In the days to come,

• keep us from us straying from what is best

• and help us to reach for the stars

 

When we are frightened, comfort us

• when straying, haul us back on track

• when discouraged, call us on

• when confused, enlighten us

 

Give us joy in trusting

• contentment, with where we are and what we’re doing

• determination in our imitation of Jesus

and

• an enduring sense of your company in the way.

​

y to the end.