Prayers - Sunday 30 November
1st Sunday of Advent/Te Rātapu Tuatahi o te Haerenga Mai
Prayers inspired by: original prayers the Sarum prayer (te reo Māori version Nā Rev Michael Tamihere i tito), Isa 2:1-5, Ps 122, Rom 13:11-14, Matt 24:36-44, Collect: Advent 4:2
An approach, an acknowledgment.
E te Atua o te aroha
E piki ana mātou ki a Koe
Titiro atawhai mai ki a mātou
E mau parekawakawa ana
Mō rātou kua wehe atu;
Kia wātea te wehenga atu ki a koe.
Ki a mātou e noho tonu,
Nohoia ki ō mātou ngākau,
Kia mārama te whakaaro.
O God who knows us -
We ascend towards you
Look kindly upon us,
we who wear the leaves of mourning
for those who have departed
may they come freely to you.
And for us who remain
Be in our hearts, and in our thinking
Always.
Our ancestors and prophets of old
cried “Let us go up
To the mountain of the Lord!
Let us go up to the house of the Lord!”
Yet you are the same God
Who chose, in your Son, and in Your Spirit
To come down - to dwell among us.
So now we open again
space in our hearts to wait -
in trust,
in quiet expectation.
We wait for You, o Lord.
Bidding & Response
The night is nearly over; the day is almost here.
For the Church.
O God of unending compassion,
Paul challenges us all to
“to cast away the works of darkness
and to put on the armour of light”
Help us to see what is dark in our own lives,
And in our own churches,
That must be brought to the light
Help us to come to the light without fear.
Make Your Church, this gathering, all around the world
A help and a gift of grace to all who seek Your light -
For all who want to push away darkness,
To live as Jesus lived among us
In freedom, compassion, and obedience to You.
Help us, Your church, to search for, and to love
those who seek You.
The night is nearly over; the day is almost here.
We pray for the world and for this place.
O God, who approaches
We pray for Your world,
For the time to come
When You will judge between the nations
and will settle disputes for many peoples.
They will beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
nor will they train for war anymore.
And if we are called to share our shirt
and our food
with the one who has none,
help us to give with open hands.
Help us to know Your peace,
which transcends all understanding,
The peace that will accompany us in our waiting.
The night is nearly over; the day is almost here.
We pray for our communities and for our own needs.
O God who waits.
We thank you for the people we live near and among.
We pray for those who are lonely,
Those afflicted by illness, sadness, and incompleteness
At a time of the year that demands so much.
Bless our places of community, and of gathering.
Bless us in our own need,
that you alone know completely.
Help us to remember your joyful promise-
Of wholeness that await us still:
“The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber,
because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.”
The night is nearly over; the day is almost here.
Āmine.
