Intercessions and Closing Prayers

O God, make speed to save us . O Lord, make haste to help us. Send your Holy Spirit upon us , and clothe your people with power from on high. Hallelujah . Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation, to you be glory and praise for ever . Raised to your right hand on high , the ascended Christ shows the Prince of Land and bestows on us the gifts of grace . As your Spirit renews the face of the earth, may we bring forth the fruit of the Spirit, and reveal your glory in all the world. Blessed be God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit . Blessed be God for ever . That this evening may be holy, good, and peaceful, let us pray with one heart and mind . As our evening prayer rises before you, O God, so may your mercy come down upon us to cleanse our hearts and set us free to sing your praise now and for ever . Amen . Psalm one hundred and thirty nine . Search me out, O God, and know my heart . O Lord you have searched me out and known me . You know my sitting down and my rising up you discern my thoughts from afar . You mark out my journeys and my resting place . And are acquainted with all my ways for there is not a word on my tongue , but you, O Lord know it altogether . You encompass me behind and before , and lay your hand upon me . Such knowledge is too wonderful for me . So high that I cannot attain it . Where can I go then from your spirit ? Or where can I flee from your presence? If I climb up to heaven you are there . If I make the grave my bed, you are there also , if I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea , even there your hand shall le ad me . Your right hand hold me fast . If I say, Surely the darkness will cover me , and the light around me turn to night . Even darkness is no darkness with you, the night is as clear as the da y . Darkness and light to you are both alike , for you yourself created my inmost par ts . You knit me together in my mother's womb . I thank you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made . Marvellous are your works, my soul knows well . My frame was not hidden from you . When I was made in secret and woven in the depths of the earth , your eyes beheld my form, as yet unfinished Already in your book were all my members written , as day by day they were fashioned , when as yet there was none of them . How deep are your counsels to me, O God ? How great is the sum of them ? If I count them, they are more in number than the sand . And at the end I am still in your presence . O that you would slay the wicked , O God , that the bloodthirsty might depart from me , they speak against you with wicked intent Your enemies take up your name for evil . Do I not oppose those, O Lord, who oppose you ? Do I not abhor those who rise up I hate them with a perfect hatred . They have become my own enemies also search me out, O God and know my heart . Try me and examine my thoughts . See if there is any way of wickedness in me and lead me in the way everlasting . Search me out, O God, and know my heart . Let us pray . Creator God, may every breath we take be for your gl ory. May every footstep show you as our way , that trusting in your presence in this world, we may be on this life still be with you, where you are alive and reign for ever and ever . Amen . The first reading is from the book of Juteronomy, beginning at chapter 32, verse 15 . Jacob ate his fill. Jeshu im grew fat and kicked. You grew fat, bloated, and gorged. He abandoned God who made him, and scoffed at the rock of his salvation. They made him jealous with strange gods, with abhorrent things they provoked him. They sacrificed to demons not God to deities they had never known to new ones recently arrived whom your ancestors had not feared you were unmindful of the rock that bore you, you forgot the God who gave you birth. The Lord saw it and was jealous. He spurned his sons and daughters. He said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end will be, for they are a perverse generation, children in whom there is no faithfulness. They made me jealous with what is no God, provoked me with their idols , so I will make them jealous with what is no people, provoke them with a foolish nation. For a fire is kindled by my anger, and burns to the depths of Sheol , it devours the earth and its increase, and sets on fire the foundations of the mountains. I will heap disasters upon them, spend my arrows against them, wasting hunger, burning consumption, bitter pestilence . The teeth of beasts I will send against them, with venom of things crawling in the dust, in the street the sword shall bereave, and in the chambers terror, for young man and woman alike, nursing child and old gray head. Thought to scatter them and blot out the memory of them from humankind, but I feared provocation by the enemy, for their adversaries might misunderstand and say, Our hand is triumphant, it was not the Lord who did all this . They are a nation void of sense. There is no understanding in them. If they were wise, they would understand this. They would discern what the end would be . How could one have routed a thousand, and two put a myriad to flight, unless their rock had sold them, the Lord had given them up? Indeed, their rock is not like our rock. Our enemies are fools. Their vine comes from the vine stalk of Sodom, from the vineyards of Gomorrah. Their grapes are grapes of poison, their clusters are bitter, their wine is the poison of serpents, the cruel venom of asps . Is not this laid up in store with me, sealed up in my treasuries, vengeance is mine and recompense for the time when their foot shall slip, because the day of their calamity is at hand, their doom comes swiftly. Indeed, the Lord will vindicate his people. Have compassion on his servants. When he sees that their power is gone, neither bond nor free remaining. Then he will say, Where are their gods, the rock in which they took refuge, who ate the fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine of their libations? Let them rise up and help you. Let them be your protection . See now that I, even I, am He . There is no God besides me. I kill and I make alive, I wound and I heal, and no one can deliver from my hand . For I lift up my hand to heaven and swear, as I live for ever, when I wet my flashing sword , and my hand takes hold on judgment, I will take vengeance on my adversaries, and I will repay those who hate me. I will make my arrows drunk with blood , and my sword shall devour flesh with the blood of the slain and the captives from the long-haired enemy . Praise, O heavens, his people, worship him all you gods, for he will avenge the blood of his children and take vengeance on his adversaries. He will repay those who hate him and cleanse the land for his people Moses came and recited all the words of this song in the hearing of the people, he and Joshua son of none. When Moses had finished reciting all these words to all Israel, he said to them: Take to heart all the words that I am giving in witness against you today. Give them as a command to your children, so that they may diligently observe all the words of this law. This is no trifling matter for you, but rather your very life. Through it you may live long in the land that you are crossing over the Jordan to possess . The Spirit of the Father, who raised Christ Jesus from the dead, gives life to the people of God . Alleluia . The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set us free from the law of sin and death . All who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God . For we have received the Spirit that enables us to cry. Abba, Father . The Spirit Himself bears witness that we are children of God . And if God's children, then heirs of God . If heirs of God, then fellow heirs with Christ , since we suffer with him now, that we may be glorified with him . These sufferings that we now endure, are not worth comparing to the glory that shall be revealed . For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God . Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and shall be for ever . Amen . The Spirit of the Father, who raised Christ Jesus from the dead, gives life to the people of God . The second reading is from the first letter of John, beginning at chapter 4, verse 1 . Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God . For many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God . Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God , and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God . And this is the spirit of the Antichrist , of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world . Little children, you are from God, and have conquered them, for the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world . They are from the world, therefore what they say is from the world, and the world listens to them . We are from God . Whoever knows God listens to us, and whoever is not from God does not listen to us. From this we know the Spirit of truth and the Spirit of error When you send forth your spirit we are in your face of the When you send forth your skin is we are created you in your face Oh Lord, come manifold thy almost in which you have made more renew the things of the Glory to our father and to with our son And to the sleep when you sent forth your spiritu al How excellent is your name in all the world! You have set your glory above the heavens Alleluia My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour. He has looked with favour on his lowly servant . From this day all generations will call me blessed . The Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. He has mercy on those who fear him , from generation to generation . He has shown strength with his arm , and has scattered the proud in their conceit , casting down the mighty from their thrones, and lifting up the lowly . He has filled the hungry with good things , and sent the rich away empty . He has come to the aid of his servant Israel to remember his promise of mercy , the promise made to our ancestors, to Abraham and his children for ever . Glory to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now and shall be forever. Amen . How excellent is your name in all the world! You have set your glory above the heavens. Hallelujah . Let us pray for the church and the world, and let us thank God for his goodness . This evening, as on every evening , the Church invites us to pray for peace and for those individuals on our hearts and minds, and their needs . And as we await the day of Pentecost, we continue to pray in particular for God's royal priesthood, for empowerment by the Spirit . For those who wait on God , that they may find renewal . For all people, that they may acknowledge the kingdom of the ascended Christ for the earth, for productivity and for fruitful harvests , and for all who are struggling with broken relationships . And we continue to pray as part of the global wave of prayer, for more people to come to know Jesus Christ . In the words of the collect for thy kingdom come . Almighty God, your ascended Son has sent us into the world to preach the good news of your kingdom . Inspire us with your spirit and fill our hearts with the fire of your love, that all who hear your word may be drawn to you through Jesus Christ our Lord . Amen . Let us turn to the risen Lord, who gives us the Spirit to make all things new, saying, Renew us in your love . O Word of life, one God with the Father and the Spirit , renew us in your love . O eternal light, who through the working of the Holy Spirit received from the Virgin our human nature Renew us in your love . O crucified Redeemer, by the eternal Spirit you offered yourself to the Father for us . Renew us in your love . You breathed on the apostles the Spirit of your love , that sinners might come to know the mercy of God . Renew us in your love . You are seated at the right hand of the Father, from whom we receive the gifts of the Spirit renew us in your love . Through the power of the Holy Spirit, you wash away our sins in the waters of baptism and open our hearts to the guiding hand of the Father . Renew us in your love . O God, the King of Glory , you have exalted your only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven. We beseech you, leave us not comfortless, but send your Holy Spirit to strengthen us, and exalt us to the place where our Saviour Christ is gone before, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God now and for ever . Amen . Being made one by the power of the Spirit, as our Saviour taught us, so we pray. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us to day our daily bread, forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us . Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from e vil . For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours now and for ever . Amen . May the Spirit kindle in us the fire of God's love . Amen . Let us bless the Lord. Alleluia. Alleluia . Thanks be to God. Alleluia.