The service of prayers for healing and wholeness is being held at St John’s, Llandudno, at 1.45pm today, led by me, Rev Bev. The service and reflection are also available below.
‘My grace is sufficient for you,
For my power is made perfect in weakness’ (2 Cor 12:9)
In the ministry of Christ healing was a sign of the presence of God’s kingdom, bringing renewal and wholeness of life to those who turned to God in their need. Jesus commissioned his disciples to proclaim the kingdom and heal the sick (Luke 9:2). The Church believes that the healing power of Christ is exercised through medical and related professions, through faith and prayer, and the care of the Christian community.
God desires wholeness for all people. We bring to God our frailty and brokenness – felt not only in physical illness, but in guilt, anxiety, and all the burdens which weigh us down. We also bring our concerns for others and for the world. We come to God who knows our needs before we ask, and whose love revealed in Jesus Christ is stronger than suffering and death.
To start, take some time to bring yourself into an awareness of the presence of God. If it helps, imagine yourself sitting in your church alone, resting in the prayerful atmosphere.
We meet to offer our prayers for healing & wholeness in the certain presence of God in Jesus Christ. God is powerful and loving; anyone who dwells in love dwells in God. Our prayers for ourselves and for others are that we and they may abide in Christ.
Let us now open our whole life to God, who loves us, and seek his help for all those for whom we have come to pray.
Let us lay before God all that would prevent us really meeting him in our prayers. Let us offer to God our cares and anxieties, pain and distress, doubts and fears, and our concern for others. As we place ourselves in the care of God, we can trust his grace and be assured of his love, from which we cannot be separated. We join together our prayers with those of Christians everywhere, seeking the healing of Jesus Christ.
Jesus said, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you.” (Luke 11:9)
O Lord God, we thank you that you are the giver of life; renew us by your Spirit as we pray. We declare your goodness, generosity and kindness every day.
Eternal God and Father of all –
Together we worship and adore you
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God and Saviour of the world –
Together we worship and adore you
Holy Spirit, always with us and in us, Comforter of all in need –
Together we worship and adore you
Lord God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we acknowledge your greatness and love, and seek your healing power and touch.
Amen
Let us confess our weakness and sin, and in so doing, seek God’s forgiveness and healing.
Lord God, we confess disharmony in our lives;
the times of hurt and unhappiness;
the pain we have caused others;
our failure to love and care as you do;
our harbouring of bitterness and unwillingness to forgive;
our selfishness and lack of generosity of time and possessions;
the parts of our lives which deny health and the wholeness we most desire;
our neglect of people and of you, Lord;
our busyness and failure to make time for you.
By your cross and sacrificial love, heal us of all that spoils the image of Christ within us.
Forgive us and help us to forgive others, in the name of Jesus our Saviour. Amen.
Almighty God, who promises forgiveness and new life to all who truly repent, have mercy upon us,
pardon and deliver us from all our sins
and keep us in life eternal,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Reflection:
Someone was talking to me on the phone at the beginning of this week. They were telling me that they were struggling with their health and that sometimes it was burdensome. But they also said, “Even Jesus needed help to carry his burdens.”
I came away from that conversation very thoughtful. I went to look up what she had been referring to.
It was this – Mark 15:21
“A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country, and they forced him to carry the cross.”
Simon of Cyrene had just come into the city by chance. He hadn’t planned to see anything of the crucifixion or the humiliation of what preceded it, the march through the streets of the condemned criminals carrying their own means of execution.
He certainly hadn’t wanted to get involved and even less get as involved like this. Carrying a criminal’s cross for them!
Why would he have been roped in to do this? It could only be because Jesus was already exhausted to the point of collapse, unable to continue along the road with his burden on his shoulder.
So Simon was roped in and carried it for him.
“Even Jesus needed help to carry his burden.”
I am always fascinated by this small verse. We are told that Alexander and Rufus are the sons of Simon. It’s almost as if we are being reminded of people we should already know. And if that is so then what does that mean? It can only mean that Simon was so profoundly affected by the experience of carrying Jesus’ burden that he became a follower, a disciple. That’s why his sons are known to the readers.
We may think we have to carry our burdens alone. But we do not. Others are there to help us. Yes, God’s Spirit is there, I know that. But I mean ordinary human people like you and me too.
Some days it might be us who need help with our burdens. Others it might be us helping someone else who is weighed down.
That’s as it should be.
We bear one another burdens. Just as Simon of Cyrene did for Jesus.
“Even Jesus needed help to carry his burden.”
So we need never be ashamed of needing help to carry ours.
Nor of offering support to those who need help in carrying theirs.
Amen.
———-
We continue in prayer.
Lord God, hear our prayers for others whom we bring in the name of Jesus. Bless the whole Christian Church that, by our worship, fellowship and life, we may be a healing community. For all who minister through the church in any way, we ask your blessing. Govern and direct your church; fill it with love and truth; and grant through the power of your Holy Spirit that it may be a vehicle of your healing presence in the world.
Lord, in your mercy Hear our prayer
We pray for the world in all its struggles and frailty, for those who suffer as a result of war or conflict, famine or poverty.
Lord, in your mercy Hear our prayer
We pray for all concerned with health and healing; all in the medical profession and those trained to bring harmony and healing into people’s lives. We pray for all who seek to help people with broken lives and relationships; for all who are encouraging young people to whole and creative living; for those who care for the elderly and housebound.
Lord, in your mercy Hear our prayer
We pray for those who seek to bring compassion, understanding and help to people. Strengthen all who comfort and help the faint-hearted. Raise up the fallen, and grant to the lonely, the bereaved and the oppressed your gracious care.
Lord, in your mercy Hear our prayer
We say the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples:
Our Father in Heaven
Hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial
and deliver us from evil,
For the kingdom, the
power and the glory are yours,
now and for ever. Amen
Together, let us bring to the Lord those for whom we have been asked to pray….
Peg T
Margaret B
David & Carolyn S
Zandra
Take some time now to bring your concerns to God. If it helps, try saying them out loud. Feel yourself held in God’s safe hands.
Lord God, Jesus has taken upon himself our sufferings and, through his transforming power, made a way of perfect peace. We ask you to minister to all for whom we have prayed. May the blessing of your Spirit be theirs.
And may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all, now and for evermore. Amen.
May the Lord go with you and grant you the joy of Jesus Christ. Amen
Some material included in this service is copyright © WGRG, Iona Community
