CALL TO PRAYER: SUNDAY 6th September 2020 Prayer @ 7pm Print version
We live in a time in which we have had to adjust to restrictions in the manner in which we gather as the people of God. The restrictions, for good reasons, have necessarily limited the numbers of those who can gather together for prayer and worship. This has presented many challenges and the challenges are ongoing.
The limitation on the numbers who are able to gather might, at times, give the sense that our gatherings, whether virtual or actual, are in some way diminished. If so, the words of the Gospel of Matthew encourage us to think along a different path. Jesus says: ‘For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them’. (Matthew 18: 20) Wherever we gather and however we gather; whether together or in our own company, Jesus is present and he will never leave us or forsake us. We are not alone. We pray:
Living God,
You gather us together
From across the face of the earth,
That we might worship your holy Name Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
Living God,
We gather together in strange times,
Whether virtually or actually,
And ask that you will accept our worship of your holy Name. Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
Living God,
You gather us together
In the company of those who have gone before us.
Hold us safe in your keeping and watch over us as the people of God.
Lord, in your mercy, Hear our prayer.
Living God,
We come in the assurance
That, where we gather in the name of Jesus, He is there among us.
Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
Living God,
Whether we gather in twos or in threes,
Or whether we come to you in our own company, Never leave us or forsake us.
Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
Living God,
We come, in the company of all your people,
And together we confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, To the glory of God the Father.
Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
Signed by:
- Rt. Rev. Dr Martin Fair, Moderator of the General Assembly, Church of Scotland
- Most Rev. Leo Cushley, Archbishop of St. Andrews and Edinburgh, Roman Catholic Church
- Most Rev. Mark Strange, Primus, on behalf of the College of Bishops, Scottish Episcopal Church
- Rev. John Fulton, Moderator, United Free Church of Scotland
- Rev. Dr David Pickering, Moderator, United Reformed Church (Scotland)
- Rev. Martin Hodson, General Director, Baptist Union of Scotland
- Rev. Mark Slaney, District Chair, Methodist Church (Scotland)
- Rev. May-Kane Logan, Chair, Congregational Federation in Scotland
- Lt. Col. Carol Bailey, Secretary for Scotland, Salvation Army
- Adwoa Bittle, Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)
- Rev. Jim Ritchie, District Superintendent, British Isles North District, Church of the Nazarene
- Pastor Chris Gbenle, Provincial Pastor, Province of Scotland, RedeemedChristian Church of God
- Bishop Francis Alao, Church of God (Scotland)/Minority Ethnic ChurchesTogether in Scotland (MECTIS)
- Rev Fred Drummond, Director, Evangelical Alliance (Scotland)