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If I climb the heavens,
Lord, you are there.
If I fly to the point of sunrise,
your right hand
holds me fast.
(Ps 139)
Lord, we know that we may experience difficulties of various kinds at different times in our lives.
We pray for courage and strength at those times, but we also pray for the ability and grace to join
others and be of support when they are in difficulty.
Amen.
Lord Jesus,you reached out and healed
the leper, the blind, the lame, the hurting and blessed them.
Many times we find in the Gospel occasions when you reached out to those
who felt alone and
abandoned by their community and society.
May we know your presence with us today that we may
know your healing in our lives.
May we live
in such a way that we help to bring healing and peace and reconciliation to those
who share our lives each day. Amen.
Lord, we ask you to open our eyes that we
may value and appreciate all, focusing on what we
have in common rather than our differences.
Inspire us to distinguish between what is
important and what is not, and open our
minds and heartsthat we may always be people of good will who bring life and joy to others.
Amen.
For times when we are jealous
of those we are close to, forgive us, Forgive us and help us.
For times when we insist on getting our own way, forgive us, Forgive us and help us.
For times when we increase tension instead of making peace, forgive us, Forgive
us and help us.
For times when we won't
listen to those we live with,, forgive us, Forgive us and help us.
For things we say which are designed to hurt ,
forgive us, Forgive us and help us.
And because we sometimes just get bored with each other,
forgive us, Forgive us and help us.
O Lord
Open our
eyes to your presence to recognise you
in the people of the fellowship around us;
to see
you in the faces of those who greet us in this place;
to recognise
you in the music, words and story we hear this day.
Open our minds to your graceto the gentle unthreatening words of love spoken through hymn and scripture;
to the prophetic word breaking into our thinking if
we are too complacent;
to the stirring word
disturbing our assumptions if we are too comfortable.
Open our lips to your praises especially
when we do so with unfamiliar wordsespecially
if our minds are
disturbed by burdens and worries;especially
if we hold a grudge against another.
Open our hearts to your love especially if the past is preventing us from enjoying today's freedom;
especially if refusal to forgive another captivates us;especially
if bitterness refuses us the peace to which we are entitled.
Open our lives to your healing that in mind, emotion and spirit we may know that we are accepted;
that in daily relationships we may enjoy the blessing of the children
of God;
That we may discover the adventure and exhilaration of life in all its fullness.Yes, O Lord,
Open our eyes to your presence, our minds to your grace,
Our lips to your praises, our hearts to your love,
Our
lives to your healing, and be found among us.
Amen
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