Intercessionary prayer
Having gathered in this Oasis of Peace: having come from many places and with many differing thoughts: we pause in the quiet to reflect on our lives, and to offer to that which we find most holy our worship and our prayers – our hopes and our dreams – our confessions – our thanks for the blessings we have received.
We pray for a better world – more peaceful and more caring, and we ask for the strength and the courage to do what is needed to fulfil our dreams. We confess that so often we fall short of our own ideals, and we remember Jesus’ saying that the one who is without sin should cast the first stone. For all our mistakes, we pray for forgiveness, and we pray too that we may find it in our hearts to forgive the mistakes of others.
May we have the power of vision to look past both the specks in our own eyes and the outward appearance of other people in order to see that divine spark of life – that of God – which is present in all human beings.
We pray today particularly for those who are marginalised within our society – those whose inherent divinity is so often unrecognised – and for those who live or work in conditions we ourselves could not accept. For them, and for all people who find life difficult, we pledge ourselves to the task of helping to make this world a better place – even if it is simply by a smile or a welcoming word.
As we pause now in the quietness of our own thoughts, let us consider both the blessings and the trials of our lives, and dedicate ourselves to sharing our blessings and to doing what we can to ease the trials of others.
We pause in the shared good silence …
Amen
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