Prayer: Isaiah 58

Here’s a responsive prayer inspired by Isaiah 58.  It comes from the Housing Justice website.

The authors write: “Below is a scripturally-based prayer for seeking the fulfilment of God’s promise and the Church’s calling to be renewers (and rebuilders) of the world around us (refer especially to Isaiah 58 and Matthew 5:13-16). The prayer may be used with or without the congregational responses shown in italics.”

Prayer
(inspired by Isaiah 58)

Lord, we pray that you would renew our selfhood as the People of God – we are not to be the remains of a goal-less club, but rather, the Bride of Christ, the King who is over all things.

Father God, through your power and through your people,
Let your kingdom come.

Help us to show the world the true personality of your Church: by faithfulness to the Master; by love for him and his creations; by participating in his work of giving flavour to the world, in his humility.  

Father God, through your power and through your people,
Let your kingdom come.

We ask you to give us the privilege, through your grace, of regaining our role as renewers of our world, as the people who heal our society, who improve our surroundings, who improve circumstances.  

Father God, through your power and through your people,
Let your kingdom come.

Give us the power to obey your will for our lives, for each other, and for others, in acceptance that understanding comes by a spirit of obedience to you, and that the source of life is your light.  

Father God, through your power and through your people,
Let your kingdom come.

Let us learn to make neighbours and how to love them. Let us expect great things from you. Let us always learn; let us persevere through the process of extending and inheriting God’s kingdom; let us be called ‘repairers of the breach’ and ‘restorers of streets to be lived in.’  

Father God, through your power and through your people,
Let your kingdom come.

~ taken from The Trampled Vineyard: Worship resources on housing and homelessness edited by Christine Allen and Barbara d'Arcy and published by CHAS and UNLEASH in 1992. This title is now out of print.  Posted on Housing Justice. http://www.housingjustice.org.uk/pages/prayers.html#sthash.BnWj53WL.dpuf