Saturday 5 January 2013

Intercessions for the Feast of the Epiphany


Just what it says on the tin... some Intercessons for the Feast of the Epiphany (6th January).If you use them in a service, that's fine... if you print them, just give me a mention!


God of revelation
open our eyes to see you and our hearts to worship you

Through the revelation of the star, the Christ child was found and worshipped
-          we give thanks for all who are alive and awake to the signs of the times and spirit of the age, revealing the gospel and finding ways to worship that open to us all new ways of discovering Christ to be alive in our life
-          we pray for all ministers of the Gospel – ordained and lay – that all Christians may be committed to the work of the revealing the kingdom

God of revelation
open our eyes to see you and our hearts to worship you

By the gift of gold, the kingship of the Christ child was revealed and worshipped
-          we give thanks for the rule of Christ in our own lives, praying that we may be given humility to subject ourselves to his just and gentle rule
-          we pray for all in authority, that they may be open to the spirit of God, and that this might guide them to peace and equity
-          we pray particularly for the people of the Sudan, of Nigeria and the Congo, for Palestinians and Israelis and for peace in Northern Ireland

God of revelation
open our eyes to see you and our hearts to worship you

By the gift of incense, the divinity of the Christ child was revealed and worshipped
-          we give thanks that God took human form and came among us, allowing us to witness his great power and great humility through the taking on of our nature
-          we pray for a right honouring of all humanity throughout the world, and a release from bondage for all

God of revelation
open our eyes to see you and our hearts to worship you

By the gift of Myrrh, the humanity of the Christ child was revealed and worshipped
-          we give thanks for our own physical being, and that this is made perfect in God’s sight through the death of his son
-          we pray for all whose human frailty is revealed – through illness of mind or body, by name remembering…
-          and we also pray for all who, like Christ, have entered the heavenly realm where ‘death shall be no more’, by name we pray for the repose of the souls of…

God of revelation
open our eyes to see you and our hearts to worship you

Those who visited the new born Christ gave witness to his kingship, his divinity and his humanity – may we too bow down and worship.

God of revelation
open our eyes to see you and our hearts to worship you