Oasis of Peace is off for the summer so please use these prayers to think of those we have been asked to pray for. If you would like anyone added to the prayer list (or removed) please email joanne.baird@yahoo.co.uk or amackenzie@churchofscotand.org.uk

God of all times and all seasons,

we once again renew our trust in You,

as we know Your love remains strong and constant

and Your path brings hope into the world.

Help us to turn away from contemporary idols,

which promise much but deliver little

and often make things worse for everyone.

Keep us faithful and compassionate through this holiday time,

even through times of discord and trouble.

We offer you our prayers,

knowing that our words may not fully express what we mean,

that our thoughts and ideas can be inadequate or misguided,

that our wants may not match what we most truly need.

Guide us into the right paths.

Strengthen us to overcome bad habits.

Reveal to us our unconscious biases,

and help us see the world afresh, as if through Your eyes.

We pray for people enduring terror, war, conflict and violence;

for those who are in despair and fear every day;

for those who tend the injured and broken;

for those who have lost people they loved.

We think of Gaza, Lebanon, Sudan, Ukraine,

and the many other places where life has become a daily negotiation with death.

We pray for peace.

We pray for skilled diplomacy that can bring a lasting end to conflict

and build the foundation for greater justice in the future.

We pray You will bring selfish and acquisitive leaders down from their seats of power.

We pray You will remove habitual liars from office.

We pray You will open the eyes and ears of people who trust them.

We pray that people of integrity, those who seek a more equitable society,

will take their place and create a more peaceful and content world.

We pray too for the churches in Scotland.

Bless their work, and all their efforts to live as Your family,

bearing witness to You in their communities.

Where congregations are finding it hard to work together,

may they find common ground and respect one another’s differences.

May they find creative and effective ways forward.

And where congregations have already found positive ways of sharing,

bind them together in friendship and love,

and help them to build churches that meet the needs and longings

that grip people in the 21^st century.

We pray for people who are going through trouble,

those who aren’t well, those who feel an emptiness of spirit,

those who feel acute loss, those who feel confused.

Be near them and give them courage and hope.

We pray especially for:

Mary’s family, Peter, Cath,  Susan                                               

David, Margaret, Shirley’s family,

Ged, Jess’s family, Hendrik,

Murdo, Joy, Moira’s family,

Leigh, Raphael and family

Liz’s family, Eric, Catherine, Mary,

the Wexelstein family, Leona, and Irene.

And all others on our minds as this time…

Meet each of them, and us, where we are,

and lead us on to where You want us to be.

Each day, may we find ways of sharing Your good news

in word and deed, with generous hearts.

Each day, may we find something to thank You for

and gain strength from it.

We pray, through Jesus Christ our Lord,

Amen.