A Prayer for Pentecost

Gracious Spirit of God, your presence ranges far and wide, and your loving embrace extends to all peoples, and all places, and through all times. So help us enlarge our own participation in the mission to which we have been called. May we find within ourselves a unity of spirit and purpose with the whole great communion of saints.

And so we pray, in solidarity with the great and the good, and the least and the lost, for the world to which we have been sent. May we be faithful messengers of gospel, may we be good news to a hurting and lost world. Strengthen us for this task, and anoint us for our part in the great commission. Breathe through us the breath of new life for all peoples.

Gentle, gracious Spirit of Christ, we look to you for guidance, and we look to you for strength. We ask you to come upon us, and lead and empower us in our lives. May we be anointed by your presence within us, that in all we say and think and do, we might live out the mission for which you have been sent:

May we be anointed as those who bring good news to the oppressed. It is an insult to all creation when one human being binds another in oppression, it is an affront to the kingdom of God when power structures are so constructed that they promote inequality. Help us as the Spirit-filled people of God to be those who see the value of each human life, help us to find ways of disrupting oppressive powers and restoring divine balance.

May we be anointed as those who bind up the broken-hearted. All creation suffers when one human being is destroyed through grief in their inner being. The kingdom of God is assailed when innocence and joy are ripped away. The brokenness of inexplicable loss is a burden too great for many to bear. Help us as the Spirit-filled people of God to be those who stand alongside those whose hearts have been broken, help us to face the darkness in unity with those who live in darkness, and into that darkness to bring a glimmer of light.

May we be anointed as those who proclaim liberty to the captives. All around us there are those who are held prisoner – some as a result of their own actions, others as a result of the actions of others. Some are physically incarcerated, others are imprisoned by the torment of their own minds and souls. Help us as the Spirit-filled people of God to be those who see restoration where others see vengeance. Help us to be those who see freedom as the goal of every human soul. Help us to not turn away from those who are hidden from us behind bars and walls.

May we be anointed as those who proclaim the year of Lord’s favour. Year on year we see humanity oppressed, broken-hearted and enslaved. Help us as the Spirit-filled people of God to share in the mission of the Spirit to see the world changed in the name of Christ Jesus.

Amen.

(By Simon Woodman)