Prayers Intercession Sunday 5th July

 The prayers are based on one of the passages for this Sunday from Roman's

5th July 2026 Intercessions

Our New Testament reading posed the every day question ‘Why is it I end up at time choosing to do things which are unhelpful and fail to do that which I know is good’?

The excuse is 'something else controls me', yet God gifted to us free will. So we journey through life everyday with the struggle to walk more closely in the footsteps of Jesus, sometimes we succeed more than other times, and God understands. 

So let us pray for ourselves, people of faith and none, and for God’s creation.

We  thank you God for our amazing and diverse world which has the capacity to sustain all life, including our own. Yet though we know this, we still ignore the science that shows we are destroying our planet. The voices that are greed driven cry drill more, 

when we know every drop of oil, every ton of coal, every therm of gas heats up our world, creating chaos to the seasons, destroying harvests, so hunger, flooding and drought haunt the planet. 

Forgive us God and so we pray for leadership that will tend the planet and encourage us all not to be crazy consumers who are addicted to our own destruction. May we never lose sight of the small changes we can make in our own living which can contribute to the healing of nature, plant a tree, use water sparingly, create through a garden or a window box a haven for wildlife. Give us the wisdom to do the right things.

Lord in Your mercy

Hear our prayer

We acknowledge our world is diverse, the way countries are governed vary from so called democratic to authoritarian. We always think we are better than others and are grateful that we are free to protest and can chose our leaders. Yet we see all around the world and within our own society, how when under stress, people allow themselves to fall for the trap of blaming others when things are going badly. We know that in Jesus there is both diversity and unity, for you our God revel in the richness of your creation, and you do not chose to create barriers rather to break them down. Jew and Samaritan, male and female, slave and free, black and white, rich and poor, Christian and Muslim, Palestinian and Israeli. Give to all people including ourselves insight that we may see the other as you see them, so we can never exclude, victimise or blame, which we use as a way of holding onto power.

Lord in Your mercy

Hear our prayer

So as we now pray for the church, help us again to stop thinking that’s its all about us and only we are the answer. The message of Jesus was the breaking in of God’s Kingdom, God’s rule, God’s Love, not the church, for we are called always to point to God though the revelation of Christ and in the power of the Spirit. For the Kingdom is larger than the church.

Loving God give to us eyes that see your Love at work in our world and celebrate it with you. Scripture and Jesus tells us there is nothing to be gained by all our ceremonies and offerings if we do not Love Justice and Mercy and live them out. So we repent of the churches collusion with the powers of the world, with those within the church and outside it who proclaim a prosperity gospel, those who would claim that only the church has all the answers. For each day we have a choice to walk in the footsteps of Jesus, so guide us to do so, pick us up when we mess up, and keep revealing the way you would have us travel even if it’s uncomfortable. 

Lord in Your mercy

Hear our prayer

In the light of our prayers and our willingness to be faithful to you and knowing our desire to make the right choices means we won’t always get it right

We now pray for an end to violence in Sudan - that means some nations stopping supplying weapons to the RDF and the arms industry loosing money.

We pray for the down fall of the Russian regime - that means many nations imposing real sanctions and yet sadly having to continue to supply weapons to Ukraine.

We pray for and end to the taking of land by Israelie Settlers - that means the IDF no longer protecting this violence.

And finally we pray for our own country that we might stop believing the rhetoric that all our problems stem from refugees, rather we pray for a willingness to  truly share the nation’s wealth

to finally build the homes that are needed

to renew our NHS and staff it fully

to enable all children to have a well funded education

to find ways to rehabilitate prisoners that they no longer reoffend

that when we meet our creator

we know we chose 

to clothe the naked, 

fed the hungry, 

cared for sick, 

visited those in prison

For in doing so we did it for and to Jesus.

Accept these prayers Good Lord

offered in Love and honesty 

that in the praying of them we are reshaped by Your Love.

Amen

(c) Mark Goodhand