Prayer Weekend

Friday, August 31 - Sunday, September 2

"Do not worry about anything,

but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving,

let your requests be made known to God.

Philippians 4.6

A Prayer for our Diocese

O Lord, who has not stopped forming us

since the hour of our beginning;

Who has come among us to save us from ourselves

and to teach us to love;

Who dwells beside us and within us

and below us and above us,

Give us the grace to think again.

May we know the joy of true discipleship;

May our relationships with you and with each other

be real and deep;

May we have the courage to give our best for the least.

In the name of Jesus our Lord. Amen.

Focus for Prayer

For the Diocese: Ministry Units/Parishes/Churches

in every part of Otago and Southland, and locally.

For renewal and re-direction,

for the gift and wisdom of the Holy Spirit.

For Bishop Kelvin: as he works with the challenges of

and to reshape our structure and administration.

For Clergy, Lay Ministers, the Diocesan Office Staff

and all who exercise leadership.

Synod, meeting in mid-September.

For wise stewardship and use of resources

in the service of the Kingdom.

For wise discernment as we consider the coming implications of

the earthquake-worthiness and insurance of our buildings.

For imagination and faithfulness, for vision and voice

to be effective bearers and sharers of Good News.

That we will be open and responsive:

to what God will do

with and for us;

to what God would do

through us,

to what God will speak and shape

in us.

God of opportunity and change,

praise to you for giving us life at this critical time.

As our horizons extend, keep us loyal to our past;

as our dangers increase, help us to prepare the future;

keep us trusting and hopeful,

ready to recognise your kingdom as it comes.

Amen.

Draw your Church together, O God,

into one great company of disciples,

together following our Lord Jesus Christ into every walk of life,

together serving him in his mission to the world,

and together witnessing to his love on every continent and island.

We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Diocese of Dunedin