#MorningPrayer Fill us, O God, with the same faith that inspired and enabled Mary and Joseph to present their son to you, that his life may be fully open to your wisdom, guidance, leading and purpose. May we too offer our own lives to you, in the joy of your love, in Jesus’ name.

#MorningPrayer Guide us, Lord Jesus, as we build your Church on the foundation you have laid; may our life together witness to your love, our relationships witness to your grace, our priorities witness to your love, and our mission be the revealing of your kingdom and your glory.

#MorningPrayer When we fall from your way, Lord Jesus, give us the confidence to open ourselves to you, to turn to you in penitence and faith, facing not condemnation but the love by which you came to save us, the healing by which you renew and restore us, and set us right again.

#MorningPrayer Strengthen our faith, Lord Jesus, that our lives may witness to your presence, our attitudes witness to your wisdom, our words witness to your grace, and our actions witness to your love. Keep us true to the way you call us to walk, that your light may shine in us.

#MorningPrayer Deepen our relationship with you, Lord our God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, that we may live to your glory. Keep us from taking the agenda into our own hands instead of following your call. Keep us from using our ways rather than following your path, your guiding.

#MorningPrayer You call us, Lord Jesus, to give ourselves to prayer, to listening for your wisdom and guidance, to seeking your will for our lives, staying alert to your call. So often, we find that life and our human weakness get in the way of our openness to you. Keep us awake.

#MorningPrayer Nourish and sustain us, Lord Jesus, by the sacrament of your body and blood, that in our communion with you and by your presence in us by your Holy Spirit, our faith may be deepened and strengthened. Keep us faithful to your call on our lives, to sharing your love.

#MorningPrayer Lord Jesus, may our confidence, be not in those things we create for ourselves or achieve for ourselves; not in accomplishments or image, not in status or riches, not in the adulation or praise of others, not in our own self-belief, but in your grace and your love.

#MorningPrayer Shine upon us the light of your love, Lord Jesus, that we may see clearly the way in which you call us to go. Shine the light of your peace into our hearts, that we may see and know others as you do and recognise your image in one another. Lead us ever in your way.

#MorningPrayer Lord God, Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer, you look not upon our merit, our achievements, or our efforts, but upon your love for us and our need of you. May we, like the Good Samaritan, respond with love to your image in all others, especially those who need our help.

#MorningPrayer Lord God our Father, you bless us with the fruits of the earth, with the gift of life, and with the indwelling of your Holy Spirit. Guide us to use all that we are, and all that we have, our time, talents, and treasures, to honour your name and reveal your kingdom.

#MorningPrayer Help us, Lord Jesus, to remain attentive in our relationship with you, to be awake to your presence and alert to your guidance, that we may be ready, willing and able to hear your wisdom, know your calling, and follow where you lead, shining the light of your love.

#MorningPrayer Take from us, Lord Jesus, the sense of complacency and carelessness that pulls us away from your priorities of peace, justice, mercy and love, and makes us seek the comfortable and the familiar before the challenging and the right. Give us a share in your passions.

#MorningPrayer Grip our hearts, Lord Jesus, with your love and longing for your church to be one; may our prayers for unity foster our relationships and friendships, and help us remember that your love binds us together, more strongly than any difficulty or difference can divide.

#MorningPrayer Strengthen the foundations of our lives, Lord Jesus, that they may be built upon you, the cornerstone of the kingdom. Let us put our faith not in the structures we build for ourselves, nor in those who proclaim their own image and strength, but in your way of love.

#MorningPrayer Lord Jesus, help us follow your call, to know what we seek: instead of our own empire, may we seek your kingdom; instead of our own agenda, may we seek your will; instead of our own power, may we seek relationship; instead of our own comfort, may we seek community.

#MorningPrayer Keep from us, Lord Jesus, the temptation to rely merely on our own wisdom, understanding and cleverness in our thinking, reflecting, planning and choosing. Keep us open to your leading, guiding, challenging and calling; help us to follow in the way of your kingdom.

#MorningPrayer Lord Jesus, you call us to give ourselves to your mission: to give what we should to our communities and societies, contributing to the wellbeing and welfare of all, working to build relationships of justice and peace, sharing your love to draw others to new life.

#MorningPrayer You invite us, Lord Jesus, to the banquet of your kingdom, to be nourished by a feast of peace and justice, mercy and grace, communion and love. Encourage, equip and enable us to share this feast with the world and draw all people into the fellowship of your table.

#MorningPrayer Lord Jesus Christ, cornerstone of the kingdom and foundation of your church, give us the faith and faithfulness to build our common life on you, our solid rock; root us and ground us in your love and grace. In you, may we produce a fruit of blessing for all people.

#MorningPrayer Make us fruitful in faith, Lord Jesus, and let us bear a great harvest for your kingdom. May your way, your will, your call and your challenge lift us and nourish us, strengthen us and inspire us, that we may respond to you joyfully, and live out your love for all.

#MorningPrayer Inspire us, Lord Jesus, that we may praise you in all that we are and all that we do. May we show your love in our care for our neighbour. May we show your grace as we seek to transform conflict, building relationships of peace and purpose. May we shine your light.

#MorningPrayer At your baptism, Lord Jesus, the Spirit descended and the Father’s voice spoke: ‘This is my beloved son, in him I delight’. Remind us that in our baptism we become part of your body, that we receive the same spirit, and are held with the same love as we follow you.

#MorningPrayer Inspire us, Lord Jesus, to focus not on our own image in the eyes of others, but on your image, present in every person; on the revealing of your kingdom in our communities and our world; not on building our own empires for our own gain and glory, but on your love.

#MorningPrayer Lord Jesus, help us to see. Restore our vision that we may see as you do and promote your gospel of peace, justice, and grace. Restore our understanding, that we may know all people to be made in your image. Guide us to see and follow the way on which you lead us,

#MorningPrayer Lord Jesus, take from our hearts any preoccupation with our own image, status, position, title, or acclaim. Fill our hearts instead with a longing to know and to follow your will, to engage in your mission of grace and peace, to share your love through all we are.

#MorningPrayer Keep us ready, Lord Jesus, to hear and answer your call upon our lives, whenever it may come, that we may follow faithfully and labour lovingly in the work of your gospel. May our response to your grace help others lift their gaze to your glory, and know your love.

#MorningPrayer Lord, you led the Magi to worship your Son by the light of a star, that he may be revealed to the nations. Let the light of your love and grace shine in and through us, your disciples and your church, that many may be led to worship, to wonder, to walk in your way.

#MorningPrayer Inspire us, Lord, to devote ourselves to prayer; not simply to making our own intercession, but to prayer as your church, together in you, rejoicing in our relationship with sisters and brothers around the world. Keep us alert to your leading, attuned to your love.

#MorningPrayer Console with your love and presence, Lord Jesus, all who are oppressed or afflicted in the world today. Be with all who cry out for peace, all who work for healing, all who toil to build relationship and reconciliation. May we be led by your star of grace and hope.

#MorningPrayer You raise us to your new life, Lord Jesus, and you reveal to us your glory that we may reflect it into the world. Take from us all selfishness, envy, greed, hatred, and our propensity for division and discord; grow in us rather your love for all, for all are yours.

#MorningPrayer We descend into the waters of baptism, Lord Jesus, that our old nature may die and our new nature be born as a gift of your grace. May we hold fast to you in our journey of faith and life, listening for the voice of your wisdom and following the light of your love.

#MorningPrayer Lord Jesus, as we begin a new calendar year may our resolution be to walk more closely with you day by day, to follow your lead in all our ways. May we offer to you a true circumcision of our hearts and spirits, that all we do, say and are may be full of your love.

#MorningPrayer Fill us, Lord Jesus, with a love for one another, echoing your love for us. Help us reveal, through who we are, a self-giving, compassionate and caring spirit; building up our neighbours, investing in our communities, deepening our relationships, being your church.

#MorningPrayer You raise up your Church, Lord Jesus: your Body, with you as our Head. Keep us always attuned to your presence, your voice, your guidance, your will, your calling upon our lives. Lead us in our ways, our works, and our words, that we may reveal your kingdom to all.

#MorningPrayer You call us, Lord, to be your disciples, and you call us to follow where you lead. As we remember this day your servant Thomas Beckett, give us the grace and courage to speak your truth to the powers of this world, to work for the good of all people, and for peace.

#MorningPrayer Save us, Lord, from the ways of self-centredness and megalomania which ordered the massacre of the holy innocents in Bethlehem. Wherever self aggrandisement and arrogance arises, in us or in others, help us reject it, and lead us instead to choose your way of love.

#MorningPrayer As we celebrate today, Lord, your apostle John, grant us his dedication to remain with you and faithful to you, as you remain with us and faithful to us. Open our lives to reveal the light of your Spirit, of your love, that all may see your way and be drawn to you.

#MorningPrayer Inspire us, Lord Jesus, as your disciples and as your church, to seek, to listen for and to follow your guidance and calling upon our life together as your people. May we serve one another, our communities, and the world by shining the light of your love and peace.

#MorningPrayer Saviour, whose birth we celebrate this day, stir up in us your promise of life, your power of love, and the gift of your peace, now and always. May this Christmas be filled with your glory, Emmanuel, God-with-us; the true light, which the darkness cannot overcome.

#MorningPrayer As we journey with Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem, Lord, inspire us to make room in our hearts for you, that you may be born anew in us this Christmas. You were laid in a manger; nourish our souls with your love. Help us work for peace for all, throughout your world.

#MorningPrayer #OEmmanuel Of ourselves, Lord, we cannot attain the heights of holiness, so in your love you emptied yourself to embrace our humanity, that we might be raised to your divinity. Come, Emmanuel, God-with-us, and draw us to your heart, your love, your way, your peace.

#MorningPrayer #ORexGentium Come, King of Nations, Creator of the Cosmos, with the peace of your kingdom; still the raging storms of our turbulent world. You form us from the clay; may we be moulded by your will and in your image, that we may shine the light of your love for all.

#MorningPrayer #OOriens Come, Morning Star, heralding the new dawn of your kingdom; shine your guiding light into the darkness of our world and of our ways, that we may be drawn by the hope you set before us, opening our hearts and lives to the refining fire of your love for all.

#MorningPrayer #OClavisDavid Come, O Key of David: release us from our bonds to sin and self, to greed, pride, vanity and hypocrisy; lead us from the darkness we so often choose, to the light of your kingdom, to the fullness of your life, to the joy of your light shining for all.

#MorningPrayer #ORadixJesse Come, Root of Jesse; revive your church, drawing us together from all corners of the earth, all cultures and communities, to witness to your grace and glory. May all who lead and rule, all who make choices, do so in your way of love, justice and peace.

Recording this was so much fun! We’re going to be playing it and another two hours of metal carols at three gigs over the weekend!

#MorningPrayer #OAdonai Lord, Leader of your people, Lawgiver for your kingdom, write in our hearts your law of love, liberate our souls by your law of grace, loosen our anxieties and fears by your rule of peace; help us open ourselves to you, O Adonai, and shine with your light.

#MorningPrayer #OSapientia Come, Wisdom, living Word of God, brood over the chaos of our lives and our world; create in us pure hearts, aligned with and attuned to your love; heal our spirits by your presence in us and with us. Help us to discern your way, and follow it joyfully.