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Prayer for
Parish Diocese and the World
Lord Jesus, Son of the most high God, Thou hast been with and a part of the Father since time began, and will be a part of Him for time everlasting. Thou wert here to see the creation of all that is, and thou wilt be here to see the judgment that will be passed on mankind, as foretold in thy scriptures and God’s Holy Book.
In all the turmoil of the past, Thy presence has been here on the earth, watching, helping, guiding, until our Father deemed it necessary that Thou wert needed here with us. You came amongst us bringing with you a message for all time, the message of love, a message unchanging for all generations.
I thank Thee for the sacrifice that Thou hast made for me Lord Jesus. I thank Thee for the blessing that Thou hast been to me on my journey, for I would have been a ship without a rudder if it was not for Thy guidance and Thy help.
For this I thank thee, I thank Thee, I thank Thee Lord.
Amen
O King enthroned on high,
Thou comforter divine,
Blest Spirit of all truth, be nigh
And make us thine.
Thou art the source of life,
Thou art our treasure-store;
Give us thy peace and end our strife
For evermore.
Descend, O heavenly Dove,
Abide with us alway;
And in the fullness of thy love
Cleanse us, we pray.
8th century, tr. J. Brownlie |
Scripture
Praise ye the LORD. I will praise the LORD with my whole heart, in the assembly of the upright, and in the congregation.
The works of the LORD are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein.
His work is honourable and glorious: and his righteousness endureth for ever.
He hath made his wonderful works to be remembered: the LORD is gracious and full of compassion.
He hath given meat unto them that fear him: he will ever be mindful of his covenant.
He hath shewed his people the power of his works, that he may give them the heritage of the heathen.
The works of his hands are verity and judgment; all his commandments are sure.
8They stand fast for ever and ever, and are done in truth and uprightness.
He sent redemption unto his people: he hath commanded his covenant for ever: holy and reverend is his name.
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever.
Psalm 111 KJV
There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band,
A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway.
He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius.
And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, What is it, Lord? And he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God.
And now send men to Joppa, and call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter:
He lodgeth with one Simon a tanner, whose house is by the sea side: he shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do.
And when the angel which spake unto Cornelius was departed, he called two of his household servants, and a devout soldier of them that waited on him continually;
And when he had declared all these things unto them, he sent them to Joppa.
On the morrow, as they went on their journey, and drew nigh unto the city, Peter went up upon the housetop to pray about the sixth hour:
And he became very hungry, and would have eaten: but while they made ready, he fell into a trance,
And saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending upon him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth:
Wherein were all manner of fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air.
And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat.
But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean.
And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.
This was done thrice: and the vessel was received up again into heaven.
Now while Peter doubted in himself what this vision which he had seen should mean, behold, the men which were sent from Cornelius had made enquiry for Simon's house, and stood before the gate,
And called, and asked whether Simon, which was surnamed Peter, were lodged there.
While Peter thought on the vision, the Spirit said unto him, Behold, three men seek thee.
Arise therefore, and get thee down, and go with them, doubting nothing: for I have sent them.
Then Peter went down to the men which were sent unto him from Cornelius; and said, Behold, I am he whom ye seek: what is the cause wherefore ye are come?
And they said, Cornelius the centurion, a just man, and one that feareth God, and of good report among all the nation of the Jews, was warned from God by an holy angel to send for thee into his house, and to hear words of thee.
Then called he them in, and lodged them. And on the morrow Peter went away with them, and certain brethren from Joppa accompanied him.
Acts Ch10 v 9-2 KJV |
Extract
When we think of what has been made available to us in the Bible, we probably give little thought to the fact that there are a number of books and part books called The Apocryhpha which may be worth a first, or even second visit.
It is a title that has caused varying degrees of debate over the past millennia or two, but whatever conclusions have been reached, study of the writings reveals a strong relationship between God and the individual from many walks of life.
This relationship with God and the depth of this relationship on our lifelong journey, determines what God in His wisdom will supply us with as we continue along the path to an ever-increasing bonding between Him and us. It is with this bonding of Father and child that communication, one to one through the Lord Jesus, is a necessary element.
Throughout the ages, prayer has begun with us. As we read through the writings of The Apocryhpha, we see that whether we present ourselves before God in joy, sadness, or humility, from these three, distress, praise, favor, homage, help, justice, repentance, forgiveness and deliverance are all sought after.
We are not strangers to these subjects. When we look at our human nature, what affected our ancestors has parallels that affect us today.
As each prayer is unique to God, and each one of us is unique to Him, so it follows that each reply to prayer will be unique to each one of us.
Although all the prayers in the writings are individual, we are shown that the answer that God gives may go beyond individual reply.
In 2 Esdras we see that God looks favorably on him by sending the angel Uriel and revealing to him the future and what it holds for mankind.
In Tobit we find God interacting and creating all the elements needed to answer the prayers of two people with two different burdens.
Thirdly, we see in Daniel and Susanna, God answering Susanna's prayer by guiding a devout young man named Daniel to intercede for her, and placing him on the path to become one of His greatest servants.
God answers all prayers, at all times and in all places. If we do not perceive an answer to prayer, we can be sure that He has taken the necessary action and as we move along the path, He will reveal to us in time or in hindsight, what He has done for us.
It is for the unknown that we place our faith and trust in God. For all the obstacles, dangers and tribulations that are in front of us, we pray for His help and guidance, knowing that He is charting our course, and providing what we need for the journey.
How good it is to know that when we do arrive at the end of our journey we will not be talking to Him in his presence, we will be talking to Him face to face.
Roger Harris
A.F.P.
A.F.P. Executive committee, gathering for a tri-annual meeting in Toronto this past October. |
