Prayer

Lord, already listening and loving,
leaning in close to hear us, You astonish us,
That You don’t just listen,
waiting for something more important to come along;
You don't just listen, in the hope we’ll get it all perfect this time;
You don't just listen, suffering our stammerings;
You lean closer, closer, tenderly, joyful to hear all prayers from the hearts of Your children!

You watch us with eyes of pure love,
Delighting to see us toddling or stumbling forward into Your arms!
No hesitation, now Lord,
We come with everything we have and all we are
into Your awesome presence.

So many things distract us,
So many worries we won't leave with You
Because although deep down we know we can't,
We imagine we can carry all our heavy burdens in secret from You!

Lord, we confess:

Prayer changes things
And change is so scary!

Life creator,
Life changer!
Father, we creep closer, under Your wings,
In the stillness, we feel Your heartbeat,
Transforming our own, pacing us, protecting us
May our hearts beat right now with the rhythm of Your Holy Spirit

Gathered into Your graciousness,
What a privilege to pray together!
Gathered and blessed, together
We adore You!
We need more of You!
Precious Lord Jesus,
We want to want more of the things You want!
We'd so love to love more of the things You love!
We desire to desire what You desire!
Help us through prayer to build Your future with You!
Fill us, freshen us,
Help us see Your breathtaking world from Your point of view,
To see everything as Your gift, Your grace, Your challenge, Your opportunity!

God of lonely places and loud ones!
God of safe places and sticky ones!
God of the bouncy and the battered!
God of the difficulty and the dream!
God of each and every one of us,
We praise you, and open our lives for your transforming touch
More than special to share!

Gently seek whatever stands between us,
And unblock our lives with the sweep of Your Spirit!

As we feel and celebrate here Your power of prayer pulsing through our world, Your kingdom,

Awesome Saviour,
As Jesus taught us, so we pray together: [Lord's Prayer]

All that is lovely

Heavenly Father,
True, honourable, just and pure,
Lovely, gracious and excellent,
You are worthy of all praise and glory!

You call us to study the things that reflect Your heart of love:
True things that can strip away what’s false in us,
Honourable things, that show us how to live,
Just things, that show us who to fight for, to win them justice
Pure things that wash us in Your Spirit’s light,
Lovely things, that teach us of Your love,
Gracious things, that flood lives with Your grace,
Excellent things, that teach us what to push towards,
The things that You have blessed are worth our praise!

Transforming Spirit of Jesus,
You are the Truth, the Life and the Way,
You are the Truth that sings through the words as we study,
You are the Spirit that dances through the rainbow and symphony of Creation as we observe it,
When we seek You, You promise we will find You.

Studying Your truths, Your wisdom untangles us
From half-truths, wrong answers and all our pig-headed blindspots.
Re-align us, Lord, transforming our minds and notions.

Father, we confess our stubbornness, asking now for the flexible fire of Your Spirit;
Lord Jesus, we confess our shaming narrowness, asking now for the limitless vision of Your accepting love;
Holy Spirit, we confess our shallowness, asking for quiet understanding to plunge deeper into You.

Lord, we thank You and pray,
That in studying You,
Your lamp that is a light to our feet,
May keep us out of pits and potholes;
Your whisper that calls us to question and explore
May switch on the little light-bulb above our heads
And humbly have us beaming with Your radiance;
Liberating Lord,
Free us from our fears and foibles, habits and hang-ups,
To put a toe in the ocean of the knowledge of You,
So we can swim unafraid through the fountain of Your deepest blessings!

Guidance

Guide me, soul-searcher Spirit,
Lead me, by guiding grace
Into the way You’ve woven,
Intuitive whisper of truth!

Where we stumble on through consensus or pressure
Where we swerve or backpedal through drifting or driving
Align our actions to Your will

In meetings where we love our own sassy voices,
In gatherings where we control or ossify
In cliques where we self-select alliances,
In rooms where we rush to crush, dismiss or diss
the opposition, the awkward, the outsider;
Deliver us from dawdling,
Save us from straying away.

How to know Your will, Lord?
Right or wrong?
“Only one way to find out – fight!”
“Ip-dip-dip-my-little–blue-ship”
“Heads or tails”…

As we walk the walk Your way,
So talk the talk, sweet Spirit,
Compass and Sat Nav of purity,
Tracking our path
Nudging to true our travel

Open the skylight to Heaven, the mind of Christ!

Spirit-saturated and empowered
May we seek and follow
Tracing through cloud and fire our shared life’s journey
Obedient to the Shepherd’s tones of love.