A Service of Prayer
Epworth United Methodist Church, Elgin, IL
Cast your burden on the Lord, and God will sustain you.
(PSALM 55:22)
INTRODUCTION TO THE SERVICE
WORDS OF GRACE
The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
Hymn # 2193 ?Lord, Listen to Your Children Praying?
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
Lord Jesus Christ, you are the way of peace.
Come into the brokenness of our lives and our land
with your healing love.
Help us to be willing to bow before you in true repentance,
and to bow to one another in real forgiveness.
By the fire of your Holy Spirit, melt our hard hearts
and consume the pride and prejudice which separate us.
Fill us, O Lord, with your perfect love, which casts out our fear,
and bind us together in that unity
which you share with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Hymn # 697 ?My Country ?Tis of Thee?
FOR THOSE WHO HAVE DIED
Scripture Psalm 55:1-7
Prayer
God of us all, we thank you for Christ's grace,
through which we pray to you in this dark hour.
Innocent lives have been torn from us.
Expectations the years once held have vanished.
The mystery of death has stricken us.
O God, you know the lives we live and the deaths we die?
woven so strangely of purpose and of chance,
of reason and of the irrational,
of strength and of frailty, of happiness and of pain.
Into your hands we commend the souls of those who died in the tragedies that have befallen our nation today.
No mortal life you have made is without eternal meaning.
No earthly fate is beyond your redeeming.
Lead those who died today from strength to strength,
and fit them for love and service in your kingdom.
Into your hands also we commit our lives.
You alone, God, make us to dwell in safety.
Whom, finally, have we on earth or in heaven but you?
Help us to know the measure of our days, and how frail we are.
Hold us in your keeping. Forgive us our sins.
Save our minds from despair and our hearts from fear.
And guard and guide us with your peace. Amen.
Hymn #117 (vs. 1, 5 & 6) ?O God Our Help In Ages Past?
FOR THOSE WHO ARE INJURED
Scripture 2 Corinthians 1:3-7
Prayer
Almighty God, shield of the oppressed,
hear us as we pray for injured and the hurting.
Be merciful to those who suffer, in body or in mind,
to those who are in danger or distress, and who have suffered loss.
Let your love surround the infirm and the helpless.
Be especially near to those who may yet pass through the valley of death.
May they find eternal rest, and light at evening time;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Hymn # 378 (vs. 1,3 & 4) ?Amazing Grace?
FOR THE HELPERS AND CAREGIVERS
Scripture Acts 5:12-16
Prayer
Merciful God; by your power people are healed.
Give strength to doctors, nurses, technicians, ambulance drivers, paramedics, and those who care for the ill and injured;
Bless with your mercy all fire and police personnel, soldiers and others in military service and those who watch over the public safety.
Make them brave to battle the devastation of terrorist attacks,
trusting in your power to overcome death and pain and crying.
Keep them in touch with all the signs of health you give,
and may they remain humble before the mystery of mending grace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Hymn # 578 (vs. 1,3 & 4) ?God of Love and God of Power?
FOR HOPE THROUGH CHRIST
Scripture Romans 8:31-39
Prayer
God of all the ages,
in your sight nations rise and fall, and pass through times of peril.
Now when our land is troubled, be near to judge and save.
May leaders be led by your wisdom;
may they search your will and see it clearly.
If we have turned from your way,
reverse our ways and help us to repent.
Tame all the forces that defy control or shock us by their fury.
Keep us from calling disaster your justice.
Help us, in good times and in distress,
to trust your mercy and yield to your power, this day and for ever.
Give us your light and your truth, let them guide us;
through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of this world, and our Savior.
As He taught us, so now we pray?
The Lord?s Prayer
Hymn # 2197 ?Lord of All Hopefulness?
