The Power of Prayer

The Power of Prayer

At St. Andrew's, we believe in the need for, and accessibility to prayer. This is our core value on prayer:

"We are passionately committed to surrounding all we are and do in prayer, seeking to put God first in every aspect of our ministry. Prayer is our link to both God's power and God's peace."

Prayer is a conversation between God and us. It can be as formal as reciting an ancient, poetically written prayer. Or it can be as informal as seeing a sunset and declaring, "Way to go, God!"

Below are a few examples of written prayers that you can use in your own prayer times. If you would like us to pray for you, please fill in a prayer request.

A Prayer for Joy

Help me, O God,
To listen to what it is that makes my heart glad
and to follow where it leads.

May joy, not guilt,
Your voice, not the voices of others,
Your will, not my willfulness,
be the guide that lead me to my vocation.

Help me to unearth the passions of my heart
that lay buried in my youth.

And help me to go over that ground again and again
until I can hold in my hands,
hold and treasure,
Your calling on my life …

From Windows of the Soul, Ken Gire

Benediction

Now, may the Risen Christ go with you,
Behind you to support you,
Beside you to befriend you,
Above you to watch over you,
Within you to empower you
and in front of you to show you the way.

Prayers of Approach:

As on a first day you began the work of creating us;
As on a first day you raised Your Son from the dead;
So on this first day, good Lord, freshen and remake us:
And as the week is new, let our lives begin again
Because of Jesus who shows us Your loving power.
Amen

O God of truth, who art worthy of nobler praises than we can offer and of purer worship than we can imagine, assist us in our prayers and draw us to thyself, that what is lacking in our words and thoughts may be supplied by thy overflowing love; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Almighy God, from whom every good prayer comes: deliver us, when we draw near to You from coldness of heart and wanderings of mind, that with steadfast thought and kindled desire we may worship You in the faith and spirit of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Prayers of Confession:

O God, we confess
The things we try to hide from You,
The things we try to hide from others,
The things we try to hide from ourselves.

We confess
The heartbreak, worry, and sorrow we have caused, and that make it hard for others to forgive us;
The times we have made it easy for others to go wrong;
The harm we have done, and cannot undo, and that make it hard for us to forgive ourselves.
Lord, have mercy and forgive us. Amen
O Lord, who alone can purify the human heart

We confess that we are
Prone to ease and pleasure,
Averse to self-discipline and sacrifice,
Anxious to hear something new, yet indifferent to the good news of Christ,
Zealous in getting, cautious in giving,
Eager in amusement, slothful in service,
Sudden in anger, slow to forgive,
Ready to promise, reluctant to perform.
O Lord, have mercy upon us. Amen

Prayers for Grace:

Almighty God, You have given us authority to rule the earth according to Your will: enable us to manage things with reason and love, that the whole creation may give You praise; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Almighty God, whose glory the heavens are telling, who art the breath of life of all things living: to Thee be praise from all Thy creatures, and from men and women, made in Thine own image, redeemed and restored by Jesus Christ Thine only Son, our Lord. Amen.

Prayers for Illumination:

O Lord, cause the pure light of Your divine knowledge to shine forth in our hearts, and open the eyes of our understanding, that we may comprehend Your gospel; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Prepare our hearts, O Lord, to accept Your word. Silence in us any voice but Your own, that hearing, we may also obey Your will; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

O God, whose word is sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing both heart and conscience with many wounds: let the sword of the Spirit pierce us through, and grant that the wounds that are made by Thy truth may be healed by Thy love; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Prayers of Thanksgiving:

O Lord, we thank You for Your goodness to us: for the world which You have made and for the strength to serve You in it, for disclosures of Yourself, in nature, art and in the lives of people, for all writings which display Your truth, for the tasks to which You are calling us, and for the Bible, through which You speak to us. But above all we thank You for Your Son, Jesus Christ our Saviour, through whom we see You, our Father. Let His Spirit dwell within us giving us the power to serve You with gladness all the days of our life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Gracious God, we thank You
For the beauty of the mountains and the mystery of the plains,
For the wealth of the waters, and the riches in mine and forest and field.
We thank You
For those who turned back the wilderness and the solitude that their children might enjoy a secure home;
For those who preached the gospel and strove to build the nation on the foundation of Jesus Christ.
We thank You
For all who have toiled for liberty and peace,
And have left us heirs of the opportunity they created.
Thanks be to You, O God, for the heritage You have given us. Amen.

Prayer for Peace of the World:

Eternal God, in whose perfect Kingdom no sword is drawn but the sword of righteousness, and no strength known but the strength of love: so guide and inspire, we pray, the work of all who seek Your kingdom at home and abroad, that all people may seek and find their security, not in force of arms, but in the perfect love that casts out fear, and in the fellowship revealed to us by thy Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Prayer for the Sick:
Have mercy, O Lord, upon all who are afflicted in body, mind our spirit; relieve their distress, comfort and cheer them in weariness or depression. Let Thy presence be near them by day and night; for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Prayer for the Suffering:

Lord God, You love us.
So we bring our prayers to You:
For those who suffer pain;
For those whose minds are disturbed, or have never matured;
For those who have not had the opportunity to realize their potentialities;
For those who are satisfied with something less than the life for which they were made;
For those who know their guilt, their shallowness, their need, but who do not know of Jesus;
For those who know that they must shortly die;
For those who cannot wait to die.
Lord God, Your Son has taken all our sufferings upon Himself and has transformed them. Help us, who offer these prayers, to take the sufferings of others upon ourselves, and so, by Your grace, become the agents of Your transforming love.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Prayers of Request:

May the strength of God pilot us.
May the power of God preserve us.
May the wisdom of God instruct us.
May the hand of God protect us.
May the way of God direct us.
May the shield of God defend us.
May the host of God guard us against the snares of evil and the temptations of the world.
May Christ be with us, Christ before us, Christ in us, Christ over us.
May Thy salvation, O Lord, be always ours this day and for evermore. Amen.