Listen to or read a short service of prayer for Friday 15 May 2020.
Preparation
O God, make speed to save us.
O Lord, make haste to help us.
If I climb up to heaven, you are there;
if I make the grave my bed, you are there also.
Praise
Risen Christ,
your wounds declare your love for the world
and the wonder of your risen life:
give us compassion and courage
to risk ourselves for those we serve,
to the glory of God the Father.
Amen.
Psalm 57:8-12
My heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready;
I will sing and give you praise.
Awake, my soul; awake, harp and lyre,
that I may awaken the dawn.
I will give you thanks, O Lord, among the peoples;
I will sing praise to you among the nations.
For your loving-kindness is as high as the heavens,
and your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens,
and your glory over all the earth.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning, is now and shall be for ever. Amen.
Reading
Jesus said to his disciples: ‘This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.
John 15:12-17 (NRSV)
This is the word of the Lord.
Prayers
Let us pray to God in the love that he has shown and commanded.
Grant that your faithful people, chosen by your grace and sealed in baptism, may always proclaim your greatness by their deeds of love. Bless and guide those who are working for the spread of the Gospel throughout the world.
May the power of love overcome the anger and bitterness that divides peoples and nations. Send your Holy Spirit to heal all divisions and to make know the love of the Father which is revealed in Jesus Christ.
Make us gracious and loving in our relationships, that we may show ourselves to be those whom Jesus calls his friends. Keep our families faithful to follow his commandment of love.
Have mercy on those who cannot love because they have never known love. Visit with new life the outcast and neglected of our society. Give us compassion and understanding when the will to love grows cold.
We give thanks for those who were called to be followers and friends of Jesus Christ in this world. Receive them into eternal life with that divine love which they partly knew through the gift of human love.
Rejoicing that Christ has called us to be his friends, we make our prayers through him.
Almighty God,
we thank you for the gift of your holy word.
May it be a lantern to our feet,
a light to our paths,
and a strength to our lives.
Take us and use us to love and serve
in the power of the Holy Spirit
and in the name of your Son,
Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Gathering our prayers and praises into one,
let us pray with confidence as our Saviour has taught us
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done;
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power, and the glory
for ever and ever.
Amen.
The Conclusion
May the risen Christ give us his peace.
Alleluia. Amen.
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