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Prayers

St. John’s Episcopal Church is a praying community with a strong tradition of praying for others, known as intercessory prayer. We have a prayer box with pencils and paper in the entrance to our church. Write your request and leave it in the box, if you visit our church. If you would like our church to pray for you or someone you know, you can also send a message to priest@stjohnsharpersferry.org and ask for prayer. Please tell us if you want us to put the prayer here on our web page, so that others outside our church can pray for you, or if you would prefer to have it read at church services, or both.

Current prayer requests

  • Please pray for soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.
  • Please pray for the safety of Gerard Gallucci the U.N. Representative to East Timor, in the nation of Kosovo. Please pray for peace between Kosovo and Serbia.
  • Please pray for the safety of Ambassador to Pakistan Anne Patterson.
  • Please pray for the health and safety of Ambassador to Peru Michael McKinley.
  • Please pray for the mission and safety of West Virginian the Rev. Zach Drennen in Kenya.
  • Please pray for West Virginian Stephen Day, and his mission in Tanzania.

Prayer for Appalachian Trail Hikers

May the angels of the Lord camp around you,
And may you commit your way to the Lord.
May you walk in integrity,
Sure as the feet of deer in high places.
May you know in your heart
That all the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth.
May you be led beside still waters,
As well as along rocky paths.
May the Lord make your mountain stand strong,
And be your rock and your fortress.
May he strengthen your heart,
And teach you his paths.
May God be your salvation and glory,
And may you find water when you are thirsty.
May you finish your journey in peace,
And live in the habitation where his honor dwells.

~~The Rev. Georgia C. DuBose, and the congregation of St. John’s Episcopal Church, Home of the Appalachian Trail Water Ministry (Prayer phrases taken from the Psalms of David)

Prayer Attributed to St. Francis

Lord, make us intruments of your peace. Where there is hatred, let us wo love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, union; where ther is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkeness, light; where ther is sadness, joy. Grant that we may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be undertsood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen

The Book of Common Prayer, p. 833

For the Human Family

O God, you made us in your image and redeemed us through Jesus your Son: Look with compassion on the whole human family; take away the arrogance and hatred that infect our hearts;

Break down the walls that separate us; unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, in your good time, all nations and races may serve you in harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The Book of Common Prayer, p. 815

For Recovery from Sickness

O God, the strength of the weak and the comfort of sufferers: Mercifullay accept our prayers, and grant to your servants the help of your power, that their sickenss may be turned into health, and our sorrow into joy; through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.

The Book of Common Prayer, p. 458

For those who mourn

Almighty God, look with pity upon the sorrows of your servants for whom we pray. Remember them, Lord, in mercy; nourish them with patience; comfort them with a sense of your goodness; lift up your countenance upon them; and give them peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

For those in the Armed Forces of our Country

Almighty God, we commend to your gracious care and keeping all the men and women of our armed forces at home and abroad. Defend them day by day with your havenly grace; strengthen them in their trials and temptations; give them courage to face the perils which beset them; and gran them a sense of your adiding presence wherever they may be; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Book of Common Prayer, p. 823

For Guidance

Direct us, O Lord, in all our doings with your most gracious favor, and further us with your continual help; that in all our works begun, continued, and ended in you, we may glorify your holy Name, and finally, by your mercy, obtain everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Book of Common Prayer, p. 832

 
       
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