You are God on high, set above us in the heavens, Lord in power and in grace over all of your creation. You are infinite in strength and wisdom, in love and justice. You never sin, you never do wrong. You are pure and perfect in every way. We honour you for being holy.
You do not hide away on your heavenly throne. You don't separate yourself from us, in fear of being contaminated by our sin. Instead, you come down to us, and you purify us. As Jesus Christ, you walked with us, taught us, mourned and laughed with us, and gave your life for us. You don't turn your back on us, but instead you sanctify us by taking the punishment of our crimes against you upon yourself, even though you are completely innocent of all wrong. Then you raised Christ from the dead, showing that you are not bound by death. We honour you for being holy.
You are close to us, dwelling within us by your Holy Spirit. You transform us into your likeness, so that each and every day we can be more like you. You uphold the humble, you exalt the lowly. You cleanse us of our sinful ways, and give us a new life. You call us your children, and bring us into your family. You heal the sick, you feed the hungry, you minister to the broken, you bring life to the dead. Nothing bad sticks to you; everything good comes from you. You have done everything well. We honour you for being holy.
You came to serve, and you want us to serve. You call us to stand up for the oppressed and the marginalised, to be there for the sick and the sorrowful, to call for justice against the greedy and the wicked, to show grace to the lost and the foolish, to love each other as family. And so we pray now for all of these people: we pray for Rohingya Muslim refugees, fleeing persecution, trapped on boats with nowhere to go, because no-one wants them. But you want them, Father. We pray that you will give them a home. We pray for those suffering from sicknesses that cannot be easily seen: depression, anxiety, attention deficit, post-traumatic stress. We ask you to give them hope and clarity, and give understanding, patience and acceptance to our society, as we seek to be there for them. We pray that you will bring justice to those around the world causing death and destruction; bring justice to those who oppress the poor and the weak, who accept bribes and make shady backroom deals in the name of financial gain. We ask you to please work in the hearts of those who are far from you, who deny you and work against you, so that they might admit their wrong, repent and turn from it, and come to you for forgiveness. And we pray for those who we call brother and sister in Jesus Christ who are sick, who are weak, who are tired, who are struggling, who need help. Please give them strength and comfort, and use us as your hands and feet to minister to their needs. We honour you for being holy. Help us to be holy, because you are holy.
By the authority and power of Jesus we pray these things, Amen
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