Daily Prayer & Hymn Suggestion
Friday 12th September
Hymn: All the way my Saviour leads me (SofF 1162/MP 22)
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, when we allow you to have first place in our lives, and follow the guidance of your Holy Spirit, we know that whatever difficulties we face you will always work in and through them for our good. More than this, that because you have always been faithful in the past, we are able to live in the present in confidence and face the future with hope. We thank you, Lord, for the joy and reassurance this gives us, knowing that through your perfect love we have nothing to fear, neither in this life nor in the life to come, for we are safe in your loving care, our hearts and minds held in your peace. And so today, Lord, whatever we are on our life journey, whatever challenges we may be facing, we place our trust in you.
Amen
Liz Stuart
Thursday 11th September
Hymn: Draw me close to you SofF 1217/CMP 980
Prayer:
Sometimes, Lord God, we become aware of a ‘hollowness’ in our lives, a sense that something is missing which we can’t quite put a finger on – and then we realise it is not ‘something’ but ‘someone’, and that person is you, Lord. This is not because you have abandoned us, Lord, but because we have drifted away from you, allowing other things to take over, filling our time, and, without meaning to, changing our priorities so that you haven’t been uppermost in thoughts and plans. Lord, we are sorry and we ask you to draw us back to you, to that place of intimacy where we become aware of your love surrounding us and your Holy Spirit guiding us. For only in your presence can we find the peace and fullness of life we long for.
Amen
Liz Stuart
Wednesday 10th September
Hymn: My life in in your hands
Prayer:
So often advertising and social media platforms seek to persuade us that if only we try certain products or various therapies or fitness programmes our lives will be so much better, happier and more fulfilling, and yet, if we follow their advice, we will soon discover how untrue these promises turn out to be! For you call us not to invest in a product but in a person, not in a new routine but in a relationship, in One who will never disappoint us or let us down. Life is unpredictable, full of ups and downs, but when we put our trust in you, Lord, we are placing our lives in the hands of the One who holds the future, a future which is full of hope and certainty where we receive the strength and the love we need to live each day. So today, Lord, we entrust ourselves to you, and know ourselves truly safe in your loving care.
Amen
Liz Stuart
Tuesday 9th September
Hymn: How long? (As we bring our songs of worship) SofF 1177
Prayer:
Lord God, we long for your reign of justice and peace, for that time when all conflict, evil and suffering will cease, and all people will be lost in wonder love and praise as your glory is revealed. But we live in the in-between times, Lord, knowing that the power of sin and death has been broken once and for all through the Cross, and yet still seeing the results of war, of inhumanity, inequality and abuse played out on the stage of the world, and sometimes in our own communities. But we should not and will not give up hope, Lord, for in your perfect timing your Kingdom will come, and while we may not see it in our lifetime, we can do our part in working towards it as we seek to share your love and light in those places and among the people where you have put us. Lord, help us to have the courage to do this today.
Liz Stuart
Monday 8th September
Hymn: Whom shall I fear? (The God of angel armies)
Prayer:
Lord God, we don’t know what this week will hold. We have made our plans, dates in our diaries, some of them social, some of them to do with work or family commitments, maybe some of them appointments that we are anxious about, but in reality we realise that actually all of our life is in your hands, Lord, and that your plans don’t always coincide with ours! What we have learned, though, is that you are always working in every situation for our well-being, and that even when things, in our eyes, go wrong, you are always by our side. Even more than this, that whatever we face, you both go before us and behind us encircling us with your love, guarding us from all that would seek to undermine our trust in you, and guiding us in the direction you would have us take. We thank you, Lord, and we step out in faith today.
Amen
Liz Stuart
Sunday 7th September
Hymn: All praise to our redeeming Lord (StF 608/H&P 753/MP 19)
Prayer:
Lord God, when we come to worship you we are entering into a relationship not only with you, one to one, important and vital though this is. We also come as part of a great fellowship of all those who have put their trust in you, and into a church family where each one of us has a part to play in supporting one another and building up the whole Body of Christ, a community where all are loved, respected and valued. And if some are not able to be physically present, and if some of us are less able than we once were, we all still have that important role of lifting up one another in prayer, which is the powerhouse of the church, and without which a church cannot flourish and grow. So today as we worship you, Lord, in whatever place or capacity we come, may we all sense your presence, and be in-filled with your love and uplifted by your Holy Spirit.
Amen
Liz Stuart
Saturday 6th September
Hymn: One day (No more tears)
Prayer:
For many people life is a struggle, Lord, a struggle to make ends meet, a struggle with addiction, a struggle with health issues, relationships and so much more. The world can be a very confusing place, whether we are looking on a global scale with its conflicts and inequalities, or at a national level with conflicting messages from those in power, or on a personal level with it’s daily mixture of highs and lows. There is a real need and a searching for lasting values, for guidance and for hope, in reality for you, Lord, for when we put our trust in you we see everything with a different perspective, in the light of eternity. When life is getting us down help us to hold onto this, Lord. To remember that you are in control, and that one day all our questions will be answered and all our confusions ended, on that day when we see you face to face and know as we are known.
Amen
Liz Stuart
Friday 5th September
Hymn: Who is there like you? (SofF 1117/CMP 1017)
Prayer:
You have done so much for us, Lord God, and there is no way we could ever repay you. In Jesus you have shown us a love that far exceeds any love we have ever or will ever know, for in His suffering and death He gave up everything for us. And this was not because we had or ever could do anything to deserve or merit such a sacrifice but solely for our benefit, so that we can be and, indeed, can know ourselves free from the power of sin and the finality of death. And there is nothing we can do to repay you, Lord, for the new life we have received is in itself a gift, a gift which we can only accept and seek to honour by the way we live. So, Lord, we ask that your Holy Spirit will give us the courage and the strength to live out our faith, and by our words and actions and attitudes to give glory and praise to you.
Amen
Liz Stuart
Thursday 4th September
Hymn: What shall we offer our good Lord? (StF 671/H&P 807)
Prayer:
As we have travelled through this week, let us stop and reflect just for a moment on what has happened so far. The people we have met, some of them new faces, and the conversations we have had. The places we have visited, perhaps for the first time, and the new experiences we have received, things that have surprised us or moved us, or maybe challenged us. For all that has been good, all that has given us joy, we thank you, Lord. And there may well have been times when we have felt anxious, or sad, or lonely, and we bring these to mind as well, and with them the awareness of how you have also shared these with us, and we thank you, Lord, for this too. And now, Lord, may we have the courage to share our story and your story with other people.
Amen
Liz Stuart
Wednesday 3rd September
Hymn: Lord, when the storms of life arise (MP 886)
Prayer:
None of us can avoid the ‘storms of life’, Lord God, however much we seek to take care of ourselves, make sure we don’t take unnecessary risks and lead a sensible lifestyle. Indeed, it’s often when everything is going really well that the unexpected hits us – illness, bereavement, redundancy, hardship and so on – and we feel totally unprepared, out of our depth, overwhelmed, struggling to find a way forward. And yet, Lord, when these things happen we are not alone, and sometimes we can look back and see how you have prepared us and supported us through some of the smaller ups and downs of life. And this reminds us that you are there for us now, today, not taking away the pain or the suffering, but enabling to find a peace and calm in the middle of the storm, through which new hope and trust are born.
Amen
Liz Stuart
Tuesday 2nd September
Hymn: I worship you, almighty God (SofF 282/CMP 864)
Prayer:
There is no-one like you, Lord God; no-one more glorious, more faithful, more holy, more loving, more anything! For you have created a world more wonderful, more full of beauty and diversity than anything we can imagine. Poets can write lyrics about it, musicians and artists try to compose and create images of it, but all of these fall short of the sounds and smells and sights of all you have made. And when it comes to your faithfulness and your love, no-one has ever been able to express this more perfectly than all we discover through Jesus and experience through your Holy Spirit. Holy and amazing God, open our eyes and ears and hearts today to all your gifts to us, so that we may be continually filled with wonder and worship at all your goodness to us.
Amen
Liz Stuart
Monday 1st September
Hymn: For this I have Jesus (For the joys) SofF 721/MP 829
Prayer:
Another new month, Lord Jesus, a month of new beginnings in the church, in academic life, and a new season of the year, so many changes, so many new opportunities, and so much that is unknown, some of it exciting, maybe some of it a bit scary! But, whatever the future holds, for all of it we have you, Jesus, for you are there in all our joys, all our sorrows, all our new adventures and experiences and relationships, going before us, travelling beside us, and through your Holy Spirit giving us the guidance and the strength and reassurance we need. And so we thank you for all the plans you have for us, as your church and in our own lives, plans for our good and for our growth. May we go forward in faith and trust, and in and through it all give you glory.
Amen
Liz Stuart