PRAYER

 

Prayer lies at the heart of what we do and what we are in the Kington Parishes. Prayer for the world, prayers for our communities, prayer for social and other events, prayer for those in need and prayer for the departed.
Prayer is a conversation with God, both bringing to Him our own concerns and those of others but also being attentive to what He has to say to us, believe me, He does speak to us, if we’re prepared to listen!!
Prayer can take many different forms. Sometimes using set formal prayers, of which the Lord’s Prayer itself is the supreme example, can connect us into the universal prayer of all creation and provide us with words that we don’t have to think about.
Prayer can also and should also be the spontaneous response of the human heart in intercession or thanksgiving to the God in whose image we’re created. 
Neither form of prayer is more or less valid or more or less valuable, they’re both responses to the call of God in our lives. Prayer can take place in many different places but sometimes sitting in a place set apart for prayer, whose walls are soaked with the prayers of the generations of those who’ve been before us can make prayer easier. Whatever you say and wherever you say it, the best prayer is the one that works for you at that moment.
On this page we’ll include prayers that we hope and pray will be helpful, they’re not a comprehensive list; none is, but we pray that they’ll be helpful for those who read them and use them. Please do email us, if you have a prayer which is special to you and you’d like to share with others. Above all, please pray with us and for us, as we do for you.

 

PRAYER (SUBMITTED)

Heavenly Father,

Thank you for sending Jesus, the Christ, 

to make a bridge back to you.

Thank you for the privilege of being sent into the world 

to be your disciples and messengers.

Protect us, empower us, equip us,

and fill us with joy in unity

to your glory, Amen

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PRAYER (SUBMITTED)

Heavenly Father,

Thank you for sending your Messiah among us.

Just as he turned the water into wine 

at the wedding feast in Cana,

So transform our lives by the power of

Your Holy spirit as we believe in Him.

Amen

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PRAYER FOR REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY

Almighty Father, whose will is to restore all things in your beloved Son, the King of all:  govern the hearts and minds of those in authority, and bring the families of the nations, divided and torn apart by the ravages of sin, to be subject to his just and gentle rule;  who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

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Let us pledge ourselves anew to the service of God and to our fellow men and women that we may help, encourage and comfort others, and support those working for the relief of the needy and the peace and welfare of the nations.

Lord God our Father, we pledge ourselves to serve you and all people, in the cause of peace with justice and freedom.  Guide us by your Holy Spirit;  Give us wisdom;  Give us courage;  Give us hope;  and keep us faithful now and always as we work for the relief of those in want and those who suffer.  This we pray in the name of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour.  Amen.

PRAYER (SUBMITTED)

Thank you Heavenly Father for the mountain peak of the Beatitudes -

 Beautiful, subversive, a land mark. 

Thank you for the promises that we are returning home, 

That the poor in spirit shall inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. 

Thank you that we are not alone; 

We pilgrim with the host of the saints and

The Comforter, your Holy Spirit.

Amen

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Prayer Card from The Revd Preb Nick Helm – ‘SUMMER’.

https://cofehereford.contentfiles.net/media/assets/file/summer_1_iBjttoH.pdf

Other Prayer Cards can be viewed at:

https://www.hereford.anglican.org/prayercandlecards/

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A PRAYER FOR ROGATION DAY (Submitted)

Heavenly Father,

Thank you that you taught us to ask so that we can receive.
Thank you that as our Father, you love to hear our prayers.
Thank you that as we pray, your Holy Spirit is transforming us
as a channel of your grace.   Amen

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Prayer For Ash Wednesday

Almighty and everlasting God,

you hate nothing that you have made

and forgive the sins of all those who are penitent:

create and make in us new and contrite hearts

that we, worthily lamenting our sins

and acknowledging our wretchedness,

may receive from you, the God of all mercy,

perfect remission and forgiveness;

through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,

who is alive and reigns with you,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever.  Amen

Common Worship

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Prayer (Submitted)

Dear Heavenly Father,
You care for the whole creation
yet you value each of us as your children.
You placed eternity in our hearts
and you know our needs intimately.
Help us to trust you by seeking first your kingdom
in our live, our families, our community.
Amen

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PRAYER (Submitted)

O High King of Heaven,

Light of the world,

by your unlimited grace

encourage us to be

salt where there is decay

and constant light

where there is darkness.

Amen

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PRAYER FOR CANDLEMAS

Come, and with divine songs let us also go to meet Christ and let us receive him whose salvation Simeon saw.  This is he whom David announced:  this is he whose words the prophets uttered, who for our sakes has taken flesh and speaks to us in the law.  Let us worship him.

O God, whose only-begotten Son was this day presented in the temple in our flesh, grant that as we joyfully receive him for our Redeemer, so we may with sure confidence behold Him when he shall come to be our Judge.

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PRAYER FOR EPHIPHANY

Now do we celebrate a holy day adorned by three miracles:  today a star led the wise men to the manger;  today water was made wine at the wedding feast;  today Christ vouchsafed to be baptized of John in Jordon that he might save us, alleluia.

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Lord, you have warned us that a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand:  hear us as we pray for the healing of divisions in the life of our nation.

Help us to recognize that the things we have in common are of greater worth than those on which we differ. 

Deepen our understanding of one another’s needs and our respect for one another’s opinions;  and unite us in the common cause of justice, truth and freedom, for the honour and glory of your name.            Frank Colquhoun

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Almighty God, whose Son our Saviour Jesus Christ is the light of the world:  grant that we and all your people may shine with the radiance of his glory, that he may be known, worshipped, and obeyed to the ends of the earth;  through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever.   Episcopal Church,USA

Almighty God, who by the light of a star

  led wise men to Jesus:

by the light of your Word lead us and all

      nations to him,

  the Saviour of the world;

that together we may bring him our best gifts,

  and pay homage to him as our King.

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Lord Jesus, may your light shine upon our way,

as once it guided the steps of the magi; 

that we too may be led into your presence

and worship you,

  the Child of Mary,

  the Word of the Father,

  the King of our nations,

  the Saviour of mankind;

to whom be glory for ever.

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Father in heaven, who at the baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan proclaimed him your beloved Son and anointed him with the Holy Spirit:  grant that all who are baptized into his name may keep the covenant they have made, and boldly confess him as Lord and Saviour;  who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting.        Episcopal Church, USA

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13. Pied Beauty (Submitted)
GLORY be to God for dappled things—
For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;
For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;
Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches’ wings;
Landscape plotted and pieced—fold, fallow, and plough; 5
And áll trádes, their gear and tackle and trim.

All things counter, original, spare, strange;
Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)
With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;
He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change: 10
Praise him.

Prayer : Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844–89). Poems. 1918.

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PRAYER

Dear Heavenly Father,
Lord of time and history,
Lover of justice and truth,
give us courage and wisdom
and humour this new year
to stand up for justice
and be a blessing to all whom
you give us to love and care for.
Amen


Heavenly Father,
Please enter our lives in a new way at the start of this year.
Thank you that you shared our burdens and redeemed our lives.
Thank you that your Holy Spirit enables and transforms us.
Thank you for loving us and speaking to us in our daily walk with you.
Amen

 

PRAYER FOR ADVENT

Almighty God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the armour of light, now in the time of this mortal life, in which thy Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come in his glorious Majesty to judge both the quick and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal, through him who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, now and ever.                                              

Book of Common Prayer (1662)

 

Loving Father,
We thank you for the gift of your Son,
Whose birth at Bethlehem
We now prepare to celebrate.
May our hearts and our homes
Always be open to him,
That he may dwell with us for ever.
And we may serve him gladly all our days,
To the honour and glory of your name.                                    

Roger Pickering

 

PRAYER FOR CHRISTMAS

God our Father,
Whose Word has come among us
In the Holy Child of Bethlehem:
May the light of faith illumine our hearts
And shine in our words and deeds;
Through him who is Christ the Lord.

Common Worship

 

We praise you, Lord God, for the good news of Christmas:
For the coming of your Son to redeem humanity.
Let it be good news for each one of us at this time
As we open our hearts to your love
And welcome Jesus as our Saviour.
Then show us what we can do
To pass on the good news to others,
That they may share our joy
And give thanks with us for your unspeakable gift
Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour.

Frank Colquhoun (adapted)

 

If you would like to submit a prayer, please email here