Congregational Lent Reading - Week Two

REFLECTION & POINTS FOR PRAYER
(based on Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16, Mark 8:31-38; Romans 4:13-25)
Prepared by the Congregational Prayer Group
St. Columba’s, Pont Street, & St. Andrew’s, Newcastle.
Sunday 28th February 2021, Second Sunday of Lent

Prayer of Confession
Gracious God, you reached into Abraham and Sarah's lives
and asked them to dream the impossible dream—
that you would transform what appears to have been
a barren and lifeless situation
into one overflowing with promise and hope—
and, through faith in you, they believed your promises.

Forgive us, O God,
if we never get beyond thinking of your call on our lives
as an impossible dream or even as an unwelcome interruption.

Faithful God,
the apostle Paul emphasizes Abraham's complete trust and faith
in your promises
and how he grew ever stronger in faith,
fully convinced of your ability to fulfil what had been promised.

Forgive us, O God,
when we find it hard even to hear your promises
above commercial assurances of transformation—
promises tempting us to trust the newest
and trendiest product to realize our dreams.

Merciful God,
Jesus revealed the great depth of your love
in his determination to defeat evil
even when this meant giving up his own life.

Forgive us, O God,
when we allow the power of evil to flourish
because we fear that taking up one's cross
would be just too costly an exercise.

Gracious and loving God 
forgive our lack of trust in you;
have mercy on us and forgive us.
Help us when we hesitate,
and strengthen us when we are weak.
Breathe your Spirit afresh into our hearts and minds - our lives -
so that we have the courage to follow Jesus 
wherever he takes us. Amen.

Assurance of Forgiveness 
Faith was reckoned as righteousness...to us who believe 
in the One who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, 
who was handed over to death because of our sins 
and was raised for the sake of our righteousness. (Based on Romans 4:20-25)

Hear and believe these words about God's amazing grace,
grace experienced through Jesus' sacrificial love,
as forgiveness of sins. Amen
Thanks be to God! 

Prayers for others
O Lord, we give you thanks for the example of Abraham 
and for all the saints who have gone before us – 
for those who waited in patience for your promises to come to pass – 
for those who lived in hope 
while around them it seemed to be only darkness, 
for those who witnessed to you 
when it was not considered the proper thing to do, 
for those who forgot their own selves 
in their desire to obey your commands 
and respond to your call upon their lives. 

Help us today, O God, to examine the level of our faith – 
to look seriously at our resistance 
to talk about the cross and about sacrifice; 
and to consider in prayer our reluctance 
to give up the things of this world – 
to risk our reputations, our comfort, and our security 
for the sake of following you – 
for the sake of witnessing to you – 
for the sake of obeying you .... 
Lord, hear our prayer, and in your love, answer. 

We pray, O Lord, that you would make us bold in our faith. 
By our self-forgetting, our self-denial, 
help us make visible to all our brothers and sisters 
the reality of your power and care – 
that power and care that is so often made evident 
when we confess our weakness – 
and so often concealed from others, when we are strong.... 
Lord, hear our prayer, and in your love, answer.

We pray, O Lord, for those people 
whose names, or faces, or needs are resting upon our hearts – 
for the members of our church whose health is failing as they age – 
for those believers whose families 
are struggling to deal with teenage rebellion 
and adult confusion and uncertainty – 
for those who have little or no faith and who seem to be lost 
even though your light shines around them 
and your word is close to hand.... 
Lord, hear our prayer, and in your love, answer.

We pray, O Lord, for those in our family, 
our church, our community and our world 
that you bring to our hearts and minds at this time – 
and we hold them up to you with the words of our lips... 

All these things we pray to, through your Son Jesus, 
who died that we might live, 
and who lives that we might never die. Amen.

A Sending forth, for the Second Sunday of Lent
Go, in God’s power that moves through acts of faith.
Open your ear to God’s divine revelations.
Depend on God, who is wise beyond the laws of this land.
Do all of these things, 
so that all that is right and good 
permeates each day until we meet again.