Llandaff Diocese Wave of Prayer 2023

Wave of Prayer 29th– 31st January 2023

Transformation continues………

Leader:

We light a candle to remind us of God’s presence in this place and to recognize that the Wave of Prayer has reached us.

Reader One:

On every day of the year there are Mothers’ Union members leading a Wave of Prayer which spans the whole globe. We pray for the deanery that has sent us this wave and the one which will receive it at the end of this time together.

Reader Two:

Mothers’ Union is our family, and we are all part of it. We especially hold in prayer Llandaff’s linked dioceses.

DIOCESE           COUNTRY         PROVINCE

MASVINGO      Zimbabwe        Central Africa

KIBONDO          Tanzania           Tanzania

NEBBI                Uganda             Uganda

BIDA                  Nigeria              Nigeria

KANYAKUMARI India                South India

We pray for stability of family life in these places and throughout the world.

Reader Three:

God Gives Us His Spirit.

“For God gave us a spirit not of fear, but of power and love and self-control,” 2 Timothy 1:7.

God gives us three important parts of himself to transform us. He gives us power to live for him, a love that motivates us to choose his ways, and self-control over our selfish impulses. Often the wrong kind of fear rules us because it is a fear that drives us to please men rather than God. Or it’s the fear that prevents us from trusting God when he calls us to step into something new. We become transformed when we know that God’s power resides within us, his love flows from us, and his self-control guides us.

Mary Sumner Prayer

All this day, O Lord, let me touch as many lives as possible for Thee.

And every life I touch, do Thou by thy Spirit quicken,

Whether through the word I speak, the prayer I breathe, or the life I live.

Amen.

Reader Four:

God Guides Us into Truth.

“When the spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come,” John 16:13.

God’s spirit helps us understand God’s truth in order for us to live righteous lives. His heart is written on ours as we read the Bible and meditate on the truths within the pages. God will guide us into right-living because we are righteous in God’s eyes. Let him guide you, one step, one experience, one moment at a time. Let your days be marked by tiny moments of transformation as you follow him forward into his principles.

Reader Five:

God Brings Us from Darkness into Light.

“Again, Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life,’” John 8:12.

In order to be a light in the world, we must be transformed. If we attempt to stay in the dark while living for Christ, we’ll end up conforming to the world rather than being transformed into the like[1]ness of Jesus. Transformation brings us from dark[1]ness to light and in turn causes us to be lights in the darkness around us. It enables us to choose love and kindness over hatred and slander.

All:

Loving Lord, we thank you for your love so freely given to us all. We pray for families around the world. Bless the work of the Mothers’ Union as we seek to share your love through the encouragement, strengthening and support of marriage and family life. Empowered by your spirit, may we be united in prayer and worship and in love and service reach out as your hands across the world. In Jesus’ name. Amen

Reader Six:

God Gives Us Wisdom.

“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach and it will be given to him,” James 1:5.

What does wisdom look like, and how does it affect whether we are transformed or conformed? God’s wisdom looks different from the worlds. If you follow the world’s wisdom in trying to live like Christ, frustration and futility will be your result. God’s wisdom is pure, peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial, and sincere (James 3:17). This type of wisdom will transform you from the inside out.

Leader

Fix Your Eyes on Jesus.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God,” Hebrews 12:1-2.

If we want to be transformed and not conformed, then we must fix our eyes on the right thing. The world is not right for us. Jesus is. Our eyes need to be so fastened on him that all we see is his love, his faithfulness, his concern, and his promise to never leave you or forsake you. He will guide you, carry you, and make a way as you fix your eyes on him.

We say together the prayer that Jesus taught us:

Our Father……………

Hymn Suggestions As we are gathered /What a Friend we have in Jesus.

Let us say the Grace together

The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Love of God and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all evermore Amen