Prayers for 29th November

PRAYER SPACE
DIOCESE WINTER SHELTERS
Give thanks for those winter shelters which are able to operate this year despite the pandemic. Pray that resources will be provided, particularly with the extra Covid protocols which need to be met, and that the guests will gain self-respect and be productive. Pray that all involved will be safe from Covid and other harm. Where shelters no longer operate within church buildings, pray that churches will still want to be involved, to ensure a powerful witness to the guests. Pray That guests will come to faith and find a family within the church. Pray that communities will see the shelter as an expression of our love to God and the difference He is making in our lives. That with the very intense pressure we face, we never lose sight of why we are doing this – to show those sleeping on our streets that they are deeply valued.
(Prayer written by Carl Whitewood co-ordinator of the Thanet Winter Shelter)
MAIDSTONE DEANERY Those parishes in interregnum as they manage their churches during the time of vacancy and develop their Parish Profiles as they look to a new incumbent.
St Paul’s and All Saints with St Phillips & St Stephens
RESIDENTS Station Approach, St Lawrence Ave., St Leonard’s Rd., Fountain Lane, Freshland Rd.
COMMUNITY Allington Knights Beaver Scout Colony
CHARITY OF THE MONTH Tearfund
SICK & ANXIOUS Tanay, Dawson, Kirsty, Paul Middleditch, Betty Hildebrand, Gordon Lorimer, Amy Bates, Connie Davies, Alan & Rosemary Watson, Jonathan & Sue Veira, Pauline, Kathie Rose, Martin Smith, Betty Chantler, Pauline Holbrook, Arthur Pilbeam, Emma, Heather Lewton, Betty King, Belinda Pearce, Freda Pearce, Jenny White, Finley
BEREAVED Jean Taylor, Brian Austin, Ian Anderson
If you have a particular need you would like us to pray for please use the following contact details;

ST NICHOLAS CHURCH
Email: Prayerstnicholas@outlook.com
Telephone: 01622 758641

ST ANDREW’S CHURCH
Email: johnesweetman@blueyonder.co.uk
Telephone: 01622 728233

If you wish to add a name to the Prayer Space please ensure that you have their, or their family’s permission. Our prayer space provides a ‘cycle of prayer’, throughout the year, around church, local community and beyond.

WEEKLY PRAYERS
Lord, we come to you, Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. We wait for your return, keeping watch because we do not know the day or the hour. We hear of wars and rumours of wars and we know that such things must and do happen- famines and earthquakes, signs in the sun and the moon, birth-pangs of the new age; all creation yearns for the freedom of the children of God. Lord, false prophets appear and we need your discernment. The love of many grows cold: help us to stand firm in our salvation! Yet the Gospel of the kingdom is being preached to the whole world- as a testimony to every nation; the leaves of the tree are sprouting and we know that your summer is near. For this, O Lord, we praise you: heaven and earth will pass away but your word stands for ever and ever. AMEN (From Matthew 24).

Lord this year due to Covid our preparations through Advent for Christmas will be different. We pray for your guidance for our Church leaders and helpers in their preparations for celebrating the birth of your Son. We ask you to guide families who wish to meet together over Christmas. We pray too for traders and businessses who are affected by the current lock down and restrictions. We pray for all whose businesses or jobs are at risk of being lost. We pray too for the many people who are suffering from the virus that your comfort and your grace may be with them and with all who care for them. In Jesus name, we pray. AMEN.

Loving Lord, in these 16 days of activism for gender abuse, we pray for all who suffer abuse at home, at work or at school. We pray too for all the efforts being made through the Mothers Union and many other organisations to break the chains of abuse suffered by so many women and men of all races. In Jesus name, we pray. AMEN.

Dear Father God, we come to you with many requests. In our weakness we ask that we be enabled to walk more closely with you. We know that you have a plan for each one of us, for now and in the future. Lord God, make us receptive to your voice, open deaf ears, soften hard hearts, concentrate distracted minds, deepen shallow emotions, send your Holy Spirit, Lord, that your word may take root and grow in us so that we may flourish in your service to the glory of your name. AMEN