Week 6
The Lambeth Conference Journey shares ‘Prayers of Hope for the World’. Featuring prayers from Anglican bishops - and the wider Lambeth Conference Community - this journey brings prayers from around the worldwide Anglican Communion.
To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.
“He committed no sin,
and no deceit was found in his mouth.”[a]
When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” For “you were like sheep going astray,”[b] but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
Week 6, Day 1
Sunday 14th February 2021
Prayers for proclaiming good news
Bishop William Mugenyi, Boga, Congo
My prayer for the hope of the world and the life of the Anglican Communion is that God restores the beauty and the wellbeing of his creation.
Each day of creation God saw the blessed creation and said: it is good!. After the fall, the creation lost its beaucoup, death and destruction came.
Jesus came to bring back that beauty, to give life and life in its fullness by calling all the nations to himself. The Anglican Communion has faithfully played that role in bringing the Good News of Jesus Christ to all the nations. As long as Jesus is Lord and Saviour of the world, there is and will still be hope.
We pray for peace in the world, we pray for unity in diversity within the Anglican Communion. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Sister Anne Alaha, Head Sister, Community of the Sisters of Melanesia
Almighty God you have called many to serve you in different kinds of ministries in your church. We pray for men and women throughout the Anglican Communion, called to be evangelists.
May they be inspired and strengthened by the divine power of your Holy Spirit. We pray that the mission work of the Church will continue to reach out to the world, so that, through their lives and teaching, your glory may be revealed. We pray, through the mighty name of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour.
Amen.
Week 6, Day 2
Monday 15th February 2021
Prayers about poverty
Eternal God, our world is on the run and there is no peaceful locations for farming and raising animals. Natural disasters are causing food insecurity and your children are hungry and sick.
We lack clean water and medicines. Father, give us peace in our nations, fertile lands for farming, good rainy seasons and wisdom to live peacefully and produce enough food for everyone.
As Isaiah says: ‘’He will also send you rain for the seed you sow in the ground, and the food that comes from the land will be rich and plentiful. In that day your cattle will graze in broad meadows.’’ (Isaiah 30:23)
Lord we ask this promise to happen through Jesus Christ your Son. Amen!
Bishop Bertin Subi, Diocese of Katanga, DR Congo
Week 6, Day 3
Tuesday 16th February 2021
Prayers for pandemic response
Bishop Shourabh Pholia, Barishal, Bangladesh
6Dear Lord, send your Holy Spirit and give us strength to continue our work for your Kingdom. Help us to be with those who are suffering, have lost their loved ones, jobs, hope to live and struggling to earn their daily livelihood, so that we can be a channel of peace and hope for many.
Let us also remember the front liners who are fighting to heal them who are affected by coronavirus disease.
Lord, in your mercy.
Hear our prayer.
Richard Bromley and Jacqueline Cottier - Intercontinental Church Society
Triune God.
We Rejoice in the joy that you bring to our lives together.
Inspire we pray the church spread around the Anglican Communion as beacons of hope to the communities they serve and witness to.
As we recover from Covid-19, may they reimagine ways to demonstrate your love, boldly declare your salvation, and creatively disciple children and young people in the desires of your heart.
May your church stand against injustice, be resilient in witness, and tender in the care of the environment that sustains us. May the churches prophetic voice be heard and effective as we proclaim, your kingdom come.
In Christ we pray,
Amen
Week 6, Day 4
Wednesday 17th February 2021
Prayers for people
A prayer for young people:
Lord our God: we thank you for the young people of this world, full of ideals, dreams and searching for purpose in life.
We pray that, as a church, we can awake them with curiosity to know you, discovering that Jesus is the strong foundation on which to build their life. May they serve you with the freshness, enthusiasm and passion of their age, so that your Kingdom may be established.
Bless them with the filling of your Holy Spirit to use the gifts you have given them to enlighten those around them and for your glory.
In the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Bishop Brian Williams, Argentina, Obispo Brian Williams, Argentina
God, Jesus, Holy Spirit, thank you for the gift of each other that together can shine the light and love from you.
Women and men, created in your image God, reflect the wonder of your beautiful creation.
Encourage and enable us to speak out and break the silence, shame and stigma when our sisters and brothers in Christ are abused and mistreated. Provoke us into action God and leave us transformed into a greater likeness of you in the process.
Amen.
Mandy Marshall,
Director for Gender Justice for the Anglican Communion
Week 6, Day 5
Thursday 18th February 2021
Prayers for our planet
Rev. Rachel Mash, Green Anglicans, South Africa
Creator God, you have woven us into your wonderful web of life. We have become alienated from creation, we have violated the living oceans and devastated the garden earth.
Unite our Anglican family in lament; as we hear the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor. Pour down your Spirit upon us to work together to renew the face of the earth. Challenge us with the prophetic voices of the young and guide us with indigenous wisdom.
Inspire us Creator God to act now with compassion and urgency, knowing that we are the ones we have been waiting for.
Amen
Bishop Julius N. Wanyoike, from the Diocese of Thika in Kenya.
Prayer One:
Almighty God, we pray that all shall discern and hear your voice; encounter your presence in your call and service in different vocations; we give thanks for the gift of environmental science and its role in a healthy neighborhood.
Eternal God, we pray that all may proclaim your word in a hurting world; and that each of us shall reach out to our neighbors with the transforming gospel of Christ. Amen
Prayer Two:
Gracious God, enable us to remain proactive in environmental justice; and that each of us shall never tire as we seek to reverse the chaos of environmental pollution wherever we are.
Merciful God, enable us to remain steadfast in our witness for a safe environment and that those in our neighborhood shall be conscious for a just world as a haven for a healthy environment for future generations.
Week 6, Day 6
Friday 19th February 2021
Prayers for peace
Hello, my name Jane Namurye, I am part of The Archbishop of Canterbury’s Reconciliation Ministry. I serve as the coordinator for Women on the Frontline here at Lambeth Palace in the UK. Let’s pray together for the peace of the world.
Prayer:
Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for the gift of love, joy and peace. We pray for humanity and all those living in conflict and post conflict countries. May they find hope in Christ and safety in these situations. Lord transform and open the way for the global church and the Anglican Communion to reach out in love and witness to those affected and displaced by violence and civil unrest. May we know your peace in a divided and conflicted world. Strengthen the Ministry of peace and Reconciliation in your church and make this world a better place for all. Amen.
Jane Namurye, Archbishop of Canterbury’s Reconciliation Ministry, and Lambeth Conference Spouse's Planning Group
Week 6, Day 7
Saturday 20th February 2021
Prayers for hope
Emma Ash - COSA Alumni (Community of St Anselm, Lambeth Palace)
The Lord's Prayer
Pray then like this:
'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
Amen.
Sally Smith, Coordinator of the Anglican Communion Health and Community Network
This year from the Yorkshire Dales I have been working to support the Anglican Communion re-establish a health and community network and the Anglican Alliance in the response to Covid-19. These prayers are for all who have been providing care in the context of this pandemic.
CROSS VIGIL
The Cross of Christ
Upon this place,
The Cross of Christ
To give it grace.
The Cross of Christ The Cross of Christ
With arms out wide, Upon your brow,
The Cross of Christ The Cross of Christ
That his love abide. Protect you now.
The Cross of Christ
Upon your voice,
The Cross of Christ
Make you rejoice,
The Cross of Christ
Upon your heart,
The Cross of Christ,
Set you apart.
The Cross of Christ
On your body whole,
The Cross of Christ
To save your soul.
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THE LORD COMES
Lord you come to us in another,
In a sister or a brother,
In a stranger or a friend,
Lord, in them you descend.
You come, Lord in their need,
In the challenge to our greed;
You come knocking at our door
As a child or as the poor.
You come in every cry or plea,
As we respond we give to thee.
Have we met you as a friend?
You will tell us in the end.
Angels still with us share
When we show our love and care.
Holy Beings fill the place
Where we show love and grace.
Let us not be unaware
Of the moment rich and rare
When the heavens do descend
Coming in a new-found friend.
Lord, let us see that you come
And seek entrance to our home.
Give us eyes and heart to see
You visit us eternally.
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And a Dales Blessing
May the Fathers’ grace abound in you as the flowing water of the beck,
May the Son’s love and hope invigorate you as the rising slopes of fell and dale,
May the Spirit’s companionship be with you as the glory of the golden meadows.
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‘The cross vigil’ and ‘The Lord comes’ are taken from the Fire of the North, An Illustrated Life of St Cuthbert. (SPCK). Copyright David Adams 1993. SPCK Holy Trinity Church Marylebone Road London NW1 4DU. ISBN 0-281-04698-0. (Copywright- written permission required from the publisher)
The Dales Blessing is taken from the Parish of Upper Wharfedale and Littondale. UK"