Prayers
A promise of hope
I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
– St Paul’s Letter to a church in Rome (Romans 8:38-39)
A prayer
Support us, O Lord, all the day long of this troublous life, until the shadows lengthen and the evening comes, the busy world is hushed, the fever of life is over and our work is done.
Then, Lord, in your mercy grant us a safe lodging,
a holy rest, and peace at last; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen. Father, you know our hearts and share our sorrows.
We are hurt by our parting from (person’s name) whom we loved:
when we are angry at the loss we have sustained,
when we long for words of comfort, yet find them hard to hear,
turn our grief to truer living, our affliction to firmer hope, in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Heavenly Father, you have not made us for darkness and death,
but for life with you for ever.
Without you, we have nothing to hope for;
with you, we have nothing to fear.
Speak to us now your words of eternal life.
Lift us from anxiety and guilt to the light and peace of your presence,
and set the glory of your love before us;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
A few Bible readings
Psalm 23: The Lord is my shepherd
The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not lack.
He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
and leads me beside restful water.
He revives my soul and guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no harm; for you are with me;
your rod and staff, they comfort me.
You spread a table before me in the presence of those who trouble me;
You have anointed my head with oil and my cup shall be full.
Surely, goodness and unfailing love shall follow me all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
John 6:25–40: Jesus is the bread of life
Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”
John 14:1–6: Jesus is the way, the truth and the life
Jesus said, “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. And you know the way to the place I am going.”
Thomas said to him, Lord, we know not where you are going; how can we know the way?”
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no one can come to the Father except by me.”
Revelation 21:1–7: The new heaven and the new earth
I, John, saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘See, the home of God is among mortals.’
He will dwell with them; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.’
He said to me: ‘It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children.
