These are the intercessions we prayed during last week’s Zoom Evening Prayer:
Please join me in prayer for the church and for the world, for our community and people close to us.
The response to ‘Lord, in your mercy’ is ‘Hear our prayer’.
Lord, we thank you for bringing us together once more on this Saturday evening – allowing us to be together even though we still have to be physically apart. We think of those from our community who cannot join us in this form. Help us to find different ways to reach out to them and show them that they have a community to rely on. We especially pray for those who have to stay at home due to sickness or because they have to care for a sick loved one. Lord, comfort them and support them in these difficult times.
Lord, in your mercy
Hear our prayer
We also continue to pray for everyone affected by the ongoing pandemic. Whether they suffer from the virus themselves, have lost loves ones to it or are on the front line as healthcare professionals. Whether they fear for their existence due to the economic crisis or risk their health every day by working in essential industries that keep our society running. We also pray for everyone working hard every day on finding a cure or a vaccine. We ask you to watch over them and their loved ones.
Lord, in your mercy
Hear our prayer
Lord, during this time we also think particularly of people around the world suffering from and fighting institutional racism and prosecution and living in fear of it every day. And while current events in the United States are in our focus now and it would be easy to look at this as something happening far away from us, always help us to remember that there are still too many people suffering from this worldwide, including within our own city. Lord, help the ones among us who are lucky enough to not know what is feels like to face xenophobia and racial persecution in our own country to open our hearts and really listen to those who have, so we can understand what they are going through. Give us the words to speak up in support of them, and guide us and also leaders and people in power across the world to forge a better society for all your children.
Lord, in your mercy
Hear our prayer
Finally, we ask you to guide our church in the process of finding our new chaplain. We pray for everyone directly involved in this process – please empower them to help us find the person who is truly called by you to fill this position here in Hamburg.
Lord, in your mercy
Hear our prayer
Then participants were invited to share their own prayers if they wished to do so.