August 2020 Prayer Diary
This month’s prayer diary, written by Hilary Prescott, is below.
SAT 1 Heavenly Father, we bring before you the ministers and congregations of the Offa Mission Area, and give thanks for their continuing steadfastness in faith and mission during the past months. We pray that your blessing will rest upon them and guide them all in the months ahead as they seek to do your will.
SUN 2 Lord God Almighty, we commend to your loving care all who are recently bereaved. Help them to cope and to know your light-filled presence in their darkness and your promise of eternal life. Help us to know how best to bring comfort to those who mourn.
MON 3 O Lord, we pray for the management and workers of our local industries, that they may be able to continue production in confidence. Be with any people who have had to lose their jobs or have wages adjusted because of the effects of the virus.
TUES 4 Thank you, Creator God, for the blessing of our gardens, places we have perhaps taken for granted before: for the flowers, shrubs, trees in their colourful variety and beauty; for the health-giving vegetables we can grow. We commit to you all gardeners, amateur and professional as we and they seek to nurture our environment and bring beauty and joy. We do pray too for all who do not have a garden and who might miss its benefits.
WED 5
Thine arm, O Lord, in days of old was strong to heal and save;/it triumphed o’er disease and death,/o’er darkness and the grave…..Be thou our great deliv’rer still,/thou Lord of life and death;/restore and quicken, soothe and bless,/’with thine almighty breath;/to hands that work , and eyes that see,/give wisdom’s heav’nly lore, that whole and sick and weak and strong,/may praise thee evermore.
THURS 6 THE TRANSFIGURATION
Father in heaven, whose Son Jesus Christ was wonderfully transfigured before chosen witnesses upon the holy mountain, and spoke of the exodus he would accomplish at Jerusalem: give us strength so to hear his voice and bear our cross that in the world to come we may see him as he is; who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen
Collect for the day
FRID 7 Heavenly Lord, we ask that your Holy Spirit will guide the governments of the United Kingdom and the world as they seek to restore confidence, health, well- being and prosperity to their peoples. We pray for all people who live in countries where there is tyranny and corruption in those who rule and so suffer oppression as a consequence.
SAT 8 Loving Lord God, we ask for your healing spirit to rest on all whom we know , and all in our area, who are ill, especially those facing the possibility or certainty of serious illness and unpleasant treatment; we pray for those who have debilitating chronic conditions, and for those who are fearful because of delays in appointments, diagnosis and treatments.
SUN 9 O God our Father, we pray for all members of the congregation of St. David’s, Fron, that you will bless and guide them. Grant them wisdom as they seek to know your will for the effective running of the church in the year ahead.
MON 10 Lord, we pray for all who are facing difficulty because of unemployment or temporary loss of benefits. May they receive the support they need. We also pray for the poor and homeless in the world- those affected by climate change, natural disasters, conflict or neglect. May they too receive the help they need and may those working to bring help also be granted the resources they need.
TUES 11 Lord, may your blessing rest on all who live in Black Park.
WED 12 Thank you, O God, for those acting as our church treasurers, especially at this time when church funds might be in a precarious state. Bless and guide these people as they deal with a key area of our church life.
THURS 13 Heavenly Father, we know that we can communicate with you wherever we are, but we value our churches as places where prayer and worship over the years have soaked into the walls and so made them special places dedicated to you. We pray for the success of the opening of St Mary’s for private prayer on a Thursday and ask that all who come along might find the peace and comfort they seek. Thank you for everyone who has worked so hard to ensure that the opening can happen and in a safe way.
FRID 14 Loving Heavenly Father, we know that it is easy to lose self confidence when we have not done something for a long time; protect and encourage and support all those people who for a long time have had to stay at home or not venture far because of shielding or self isolation. May they gain the confidence they need. Thank you that no one has to don a mask or practice social distancing in your Holy presence.
SAT 15 BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
Almighty God, who looked upon the lowliness of the Blessed Virgin Mary and chose her to be the mother of your only Son; grant that we who are redeemed by his blood may share with her in the glory of your eternal kingdom; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord. Amen (collect for the day)
Collect for the day
SUN 16
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are.
Romans 12 14-16
MON 17 Heavenly Father, we pray that the members of St. Mary’s Standing Committee and the church committees of our two churches will be blessed and guided by your Holy Spirit to make the right decisions about the worship and mission of our communities.
TUES 18 Loving Lord God, we give thanks for Chirk Court and its care for the residents there; we ask you to bless richly the staff and these residents. We also commit to you the family and friends of the people who live there, especially those who might be feeling anxious or sad about their loved ones having to be in care.
WED 19 Lord, we ask that your blessing will rest upon all who live along the Holyhead Road in Fron.
THURS 20 Almighty God, we pray for the success of the various businesses in our area and ask that they will receive plenty of local support for their ventures as well as from visitors.
FRID 21 Thank you, O God, for the continuing work of the St. Mary’s Churchyard Group members as they seek to maintain the place as a beautiful haven for both people and wildlife. May they be blessed in all they do.
SAT 22 Today we are called to remember the victims of violence based on religion, so let us ask God that there might be better understanding of the different ideas and practices of religious beliefs and so a greater willingness to see the links between faiths. Let us pray for all innocent and loyal people who are suffering persecution for their faith.
SUN 23 On the Slavery Memorial Day, Lord, we commit to you all who even today are subject to slavery of different kinds and pray for those who are endeavouring to release and support them.
MON 24 O Lord God, as the Coronavirus pandemic has affected the financial stability of our churches and our ability to carry out your work as you might wish, we pray that people will be ready to support our churches generously and that you will guide us as how best to use our resources.
TUES 25 Let us thank God for the beneficial impact which sport and exercise have in our lives, and pray that sport in our area might be able to flourish again in the coming months, and Chirk Leisure Centre offer valuable support to its customers.
WED 26 Let us pray for the staff and volunteers at Chirk Castle as they work hard to welcome and help visitors. May the National Trust be guided in its efforts to support their properties and all people who visit them.
THURS 27
The real and important world is the world inside us, not the world outside.
Revd David Watson English Anglican evangelist
There is nothing negative or killjoy about holiness.
FRID 28 Holy Lord, we pray for the staff of our local hospitals, hospices and Health Centre, asking that you will bless and empower them in their vital work. Be with all the patients they are treating so that your healing power might bring the wholeness of body and mind.
SAT 29 Almighty God our Father, we commit to you the ministers and congregations of the different churches in Chirk and ask you to guide and sustain them in their worship and work. Thank you for the strong links between the local churches and help us to work together even more enthusiastically for the good of our faith and of our local community.
SUN 30 Heavenly Father, we give you thanks for the congregation of St. Mary’s and ask that your presence will be with its members. Help us to maintain our prayer life effectively even if we do not meet as we used to do, and may we all witness to our faith in you as we go about our daily lives in loving and caring for all around us.
MON 31 Let us ask God to help all who are blind or poorly sighted, that they might be granted the support and encouragement they need. May He give courage and peace of mind to all who face increasing loss of sight , and provide the necessary resources and opportunities to those people and organisations working to help the blind.