Prayers - Sunday 14 December
3rd Sunday of Advent/Te Rātapu Tuatoro o te Haerenga Mai
Prayers inspired by: original prayers Isa 35:1-10 Ps 146:5-10, James 5:7-10, Matt 11:2-11
An approach, an acknowledgment.
E te Atua,
te pūtake o te mana, o te tapu
E whakatata ana mai ki a Koe
Engari ka heke te roimata me te hupe
Mō rātou kua ngaro;
Ka tangi te ngākau,
Engari, ka huri anō ki a Koe
Kia whai mātou i Tō ara o te Tapu.
Awhinatia mai.
O God,
the source of all mana, of all tapu
We approach
But our tears fall
For those lost to us;
Our hearts cry out
But we turn again to You,
Seeking Your Way of Holiness.
Help us in our searching
“No lion will be there,
nor any ravenous beast;
they will not be found there.
But only the redeemed will walk there,
and those the Lord has rescued will return.
They will enter Zion with singing;
everlasting joy will crown their heads.
Gladness and joy will overtake them,
and sorrow and sighing will flee away.
We wait for You, o Lord.
Bidding & Response
Be strong, do not fear; for our God will come.
We pray For the Church.
Our friend and brother Jesus:
Look kindly on Your Church throughout the world;
As we carry out the work You left us:
However short we fall in that work;
Healing, cleansing, loving, proclaiming the good news You brought;
May we Your church not stumble on Your Way;
Nor cause others to stumble.
Help us instead to follow;
In freedom, compassion, and obedience to You.
Help us, Your church, to search for, and to love
those who seek You;
and those who may, some day.
Be strong, do not fear; for our God will come.
We pray for the world,
Daily, hourly, moment by moment
Your world
Our home, groans,
With every hurt inflicted
With every shot fired,
With every stream polluted,
With every lie told.
Yet we must love others still
and continue on the Way
that John directed us to.
Because when Christ comes:
Then will the eyes of the blind be opened
and the ears of the deaf unstopped.
Then will the lame leap like a deer,
and the mute tongue shout for joy.
Water will gush forth in the wilderness
and streams in the desert.
The burning sand will become a pool,
the thirsty ground bubbling springs.
In the haunts where jackals once lay,
grass and reeds and papyrus will grow.
Be strong, do not fear; for our God will come.
We pray for our communities and for our own needs.
We thank you for our communities;
In all their forms.
May we not “grumble against one another,
Lest we be judged.
The Judge is standing at the door!”
May Your hands become our hands.
In our neighbourhoods, our schools, our malls, our kitchens,
our places of worship;
May there be bread enough for our journey, and some left over.
Be strong, do not fear; for our God will come.
Āmine.
