Intercessions in the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

Written by Alice Freeman, member of the Chapel of Christ Church, Oxford

These prayers were from College Communion (22.1.23), and were so beautiful I thought I’d share them with you…

In this Week of Prayer for Christian Unity we pray first for unity in our hearts – between our purpose and Yours, between our desires and our knowledge of what is right, between our aspirations and our will, between our intentions and our actions.

We pray that we may never set ourselves apart from the world or consider ourselves above others, and yet that we may never be pulled in by the crowd without recourse to our conscience. Instead may we recognise both our smallness in Creation and the greatness of your plan for us as we play our part in our families, in our communities, in our societies, in our nations and in the world as a whole.

Grant us peace in our hearts Lord that we may be strong enough to make peace with our neighbours, to recognise you in even those with whom we cannot agree and find hard to get along with. May we remember that we will find you in the most unexpected places.

While recognising the gravity of the disputes which divide us we pray for unity among Christians, that while standing by our principles we will never cease to question and check ourselves when necessary, and that we will meet other’s points of view not with kneejerk judgement and shrill condemnation but with a calm, tolerant and genuine desire to understand.

We pray for unity among all faiths. Celebrating the beautiful diversity of faith traditions around the world, we pray that religion will become increasingly a force for selflessness, kindness and peace, and not a front for ego, greed, ostracization, abuse and violence.

We offer our prayers for those who profess to have no faith. May all who struggle with religion at least keep faith in the goodness of life itself. Likewise, may religion itself never be an obstruction to faith in the goodness of life. And at our own times of doubt, a simple yet heartfelt prayer offered by a soldier in a trench as a missile flew over his head: “Please God, exist.” And when we still doubt you, may we at least live as though you do exist.

Finally we offer our prayers for the whole world – for ourselves, for this Chapel group here in the present moment, for the Cathedral and College of Christ Church, for the Diocese, University and City of Oxford, for our families and friends, for those whom we love, for those whom we struggle to love, for those who are sick, those are have departed, for those who are yet to come, for the 8 billion humans currently living on the planet, and for every being: from the largest elephant on the land, to the longest siphonophore at the depths of the sea, to the tiniest bacteria within our own bodies with whom we may struggle to recognise our unity – may all Creation be well and happy, and manifest Your plan to Your praise and glory.

Amen