Hope

Eternal God, our Father, as we bow our heads, we would acknowledge you as sovereign Lord; as we close our eyes, we pray for a vision of your glory; as the physical world fades from view, may the unseen world which is eternal become real to us. Teach us, our Father, that what we do now is the pathway to what we seek, for as we own you to be Lord we come to know what it is to be truly human; as we seek and live for the spiritual, the world and our flesh find their rightful place; as we seek first your Kingdom and your righteousness, all the other things we seek will be added to us.
We thank you, our Father, that Jesus Christ came into this world, lived, died, and rose from the dead that we might know that depth of your love and the plan of redemption, and the hope of the future. In these times of deep perplexity may we remember how you said, "When the Spirit of truth comes, he will lead you into all truth. He will not speak on his own, but he will tell you what he hears, and will speak of things to come. He will give me glory, for he will take what I have to say and tell it to you." O Lord, we want to claim this promise of the Spirit for our lives. We want our lives to be a place where the Holy Spirit takes what Christ has and tells it to us. We want more and more to become a true community of the Spirit, led, directed and empowered by the Holy Spirit. We feel so helpless as times in the face of our own and the world's need. May we hear you saying, "Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit saith the Lord."
So we pray that you will bring the scenes of our lives before us, and help us to see life and to evaluate our living in the light of your truth and love revealed in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.....our homes, our families, our business, our pleasures, our neighbors, our community, our country, our distraught world.....we would bring them all to Thee. And if we have spurned your call to give and serve, we would begin anew today to do what we have neglected to our own hurt. And if we have lost hope in the midst of our troubles and sorrows, we would be rekindled in the faith that if God is for us, nothing can be against us. "Our times are in they hands, My God, I wish them there; my life, my soul, my friends, I leave entirely to Thy care."
Hear all the prayers of your people - this spoken prayer and those unspoken - and answer us in your mercy. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen