Presbytery Prayer Point
You are invited to pray with fellow Presbyters at 12 noon on Wednesday 20th May 2020
Lord, keep us under the shadow of your mercy in this time of uncertainty and distress. Sustain and support the anxious and fearful, and lift up all who are brought low; that we may rejoice in your comfort knowing that nothing can separate us from your love.
Lord God, as the current situation continues many of us are becoming more tired and wearisome of it all; we crave for an end to all that is happening and we know that if we lay our burdens at your feet you will provide us with relief and we do that now. We pause for a moment of silence and enjoy the calm around us … pause …
Lord, in that moment of peace and serenity, you were there, your soothing balm upon our brows as thoughts and worries and concerns race through our minds. With this calm frame of mind, we present our prayer to you at this time.
We pray for all those who are working to defeat the devastating effects of the virus. We especially remember those whose daily work places them at direct risk and we thank them for all that they do on our behalf and we pray your protection upon all of them as they sacrificially do all that they can to comfort and care for those afflicted and who desperately need their help at this time. Lord, we hear daily of those on the frontline of caring who have succumbed from the disease themselves and we weep for their families and friends that they have left behind. We give grateful thanks for their sacrifice and for their willingness to face the challenge of the virus directly on our behalf. Lord, whilst we want the effects of the virus to come to an end and be forgotten, we must never forget the ultimate price paid by brave nurses, doctors, and other healthcare workers during this time. We pause to remember those faces that come to mind or of anyone we know personally, who has died on the frontline …. Pause… We pray your richest blessing on all those we have remembered.
At this time when the General Assembly should be meeting, we bring our church to you in all its forms. We pray for the Right Reverend Dr Martin Fair, the new Moderator who faces a unique challenge in holding the church and nation together at such a crucial moment in the life of the church in Scotland. We know that you will imbue him with a sense of grace and wisdom to discern a path through the coming months so that he might serve the church in a way that ensures its continued presence in the new world that stands ahead of us. We pray too for all those responsible for maintaining the church in its current and future form. We pray for the Principal Clerk, The Right Reverend Dr George Whyte and his team, working tirelessly in the background to sustain some semblance of normality and we pray for the many unseen people performing tasks on a daily basis to ensure that future. We earnestly pray that they are able to maintain a zeal and a focus for the difficult tasks in hand and that when they have those tired and wearying moments, that you sustain and uphold them.
Lord, we bring to you the church here in Argyll in all its forms. We bring to mind the people who make that church what it is and whose company and presence we miss on a Sunday morning and on other occasions. We pray your comfort and protection on all those we bring to mind in a moment of calm … pause… Lord, lift the spirits of those who are weary and tired and sustain them to run the race to the end so that one day, we will meet to worship and glorify your name in the pews and other places across Argyll. Until that day comes, sustain us on the road, lift those burdens and worries and embolden us with a belief that there is a tomorrow and one day that tomorrow will be a day when we return to the life that we recognise and love.
We are not people of fear: we are people of courage.
We are not people who protect our own safety: we are people who protect our neighbours’ safety.
We are not people of greed: we are people of generosity.
We are your people God, giving and loving, wherever we are, whatever it costs
For as long as it takes wherever you call us. Amen.