🙏 Pray With Us Today 🙏

The Methodist Church in Cambridgeshire has offered this reflection and prayer following the stabbing of passengers on a train on Saturday evening.

The incident that unfolded at Huntingdon station on Saturday evening was a tremendous shock to our community. The hearts and prayers of everyone at Huntingdon Methodist Church, as well as the wider St Neots and Huntingdon Circuit and East Anglia Methodist District, are with those affected and we stand in compassion and solidarity with the victims, their families and those who supported them during the immediate aftermath of the attack.

This incident occurred without warning. We are grateful to all those in our community who responded with compassion and courage, the police and paramedics who brought calm to a chaotic scene and the many local residents who offered comfort and shelter to the victims. We are also grateful for the professionalism and bravery of the train crew that no doubt prevented a far greater tragedy and the passengers who acted selflessly to shield others.

As a church, we are committed to being a place of peace, prayer, and refuge. We invite anyone affected by this tragedy to reach out to us. Whether you need a quiet space, someone to talk to, or simply a moment of stillness, our doors and hearts are open.

Let us continue to stand together, to care for one another, and to be a light in times of darkness. A card for the train crew will be available to sign at Huntingdon Methodist Church that will be open 10am – 12noon on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday this week. Prayers will be said specifically on Wednesday morning at 9.30am during our Communion service.

Rev’d James Bamber
Methodist Minister
Huntingdon Methodist Church

A prayer offered to those affected by the incident between Peterborough and Huntingdon.

God of compassion and peace, we hold before you all who were caught up in the events on the LNER, London bound train last night.
For those who were injured, frightened, or traumatised bring your healing and comfort.
For the emergency services and railway staff who responded grant them strength and calm.
For the families waiting for news surround them with your love and reassurance.
And for all who travel today with anxiety or fear restore their sense of safety and trust.
May your peace, which surpasses all understanding, guard every heart and mind.
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.Pray with us today.

Gracious God, we look to you for wisdom, often we look in the wrong places, missing the opportunity to learn of you from others. Your word, as expressed in the Bible, can be difficult to interpret in this divisive world. Show us your way through those we encounter who exude your wisdom in their love for their neighbours, and who emanate your justice from the very depths of their souls. Teach us to engage with the needs of refugees, asylum seekers and immigrants, as all are our neighbours and all are precious people to you. In Jesus’ name we pray and for his sake, Amen.

Find more ways to pray at methodist.org.uk/prayer.

Dear Lord,
We pray for elderly, housebound individuals, who are often very lonely.
We praise and thank you for their carers, who come into their homes and brighten their days by showing tenderness, kindness, and giving much needed practical support.
Make us more sensitive to the needs of both groups and move our hearts and minds to seek ways in which we may become involved.
Increase our awareness of the conditions under which carers do their work; often earning so little for such a valuable contribution and help us seek social justice for them. amen

Find more ways to pray at methodist.org.uk/prayer.

God of all, we praise you for the life that you give us,
even when we cling to it by no more than our fingertips
and, in Jesus’ name, we protest the inequality created by human greed. Amen.”

Find more ways to pray at methodist.org.uk/prayer.

What does the Lord require of us?
To love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind,
and strength and to love our neighbours as ourselves.
What is love? It looks like Jesus.
Lord, help us to be more patient and kind, remove
jealousy, envy, anger and rage from us.
Let us not be boastful in ourselves and our possessions,
but to give away freely what we have freely received.
Love is not self-seeking, but looks after the needy, poor,
lonely, and the widows and orphans.
Love looks to forgive those who have hurt us and doesn’t
keep a record of wrongdoings. God is love and God’s love
always protects, trusts, hopes, and perseveres.
God’s love never ends. Amen.

Find more ways to pray at methodist.org.uk/prayer.

Through your infinite mercy, O God, may we be prevented from destroying your creation. With so many ongoing conflicts, Lord, it can sometimes be a challenge for many people to believe in your existence. Yet, in spite of centuries of violence and hatred, oppression and injustice, all spawned from humankind, it is a miracle indeed that the human race can still recover, and produce people who can, and do, overcome evil with good; hatred with love and greed with open-handedness. This, Father God, can only be possible by your outpouring of grace. Amen.

Find more ways to pray at methodist.org.uk/prayer.

Teach us, Lord, to seek your face in those who think they are faceless; your word among those who are voiceless; and your transforming presence among those who feel powerless. Draw us to yourself that we may be active contemplatives in the heart of your world, discovering afresh the presence of Jesus wherever it is disguised and honouring you in the face of the neighbour, the lowly appearance of bread and wine, and the walk of daily service, that we might follow where you lead and respond with warmed hearts and active hands. Amen.
(Inspired by Mother Teresa of Calcutta and Karl Rahner)

Find more ways to pray at http://www.methodist.org.uk/prayer.

Pray with us today for Remembrance Day

🙏 Loving God,
as we work for peace – give us wisdom,
as we strive for justice – give us courage,
as we tear down the walls that divide – give us strength,
as we care for those in need – give us compassion.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Shared by Revd Ian Brown (RAF chaplain).

Find more ways to pray at http://www.methodist.org.uk/prayer.

🙏 Loving Lord, who made me for your delight,
bless me with good use of the senses you created:
that I may use my sight to see the injustice in your world,
and respond with my heart;
that I may use my hearing to listen to the voice of suffering,
and respond with my heart;
that I may voice what is your will at all times, in all places
and respond with my heart.
Loving Lord, who made me for your delight,
bless me in your service. Amen.

Find more ways to pray at http://www.methodist.org.uk/prayer.

🙏 If we see the world through your eyes, Lord,
then we see a vision of our world as your love would have it:
a world where all who are weak are protected and none go hungry;
a world where your riches of creation are shared for everyone to enjoy them;
a world where mutual respect is expressed between different races and cultures and harmony descends;
a world where peace is built with justice, and justice is guided by love.
Give us the inspiration and courage to build it how you see it Lord!
That all may praise together and the only power exerted is the power of your love. Amen.

Find more ways to pray at http://www.methodist.org.uk/prayer.

🙏 You are the One, the Holy One,
who looks on all you have made, with love.
You gaze at me, and your faithful kindness overwhelms me.
I fall silent before you, my words stalling,
as my heart breaks open and pours out my thanks, my delight in you.
The more I gaze back at you,
the more I see through your eyes;
I am born again in your devotion to your creation.
Let my words fall before you,
but grant me the words and the acts of love
you long for me to have for your world. Amen.

Find more ways to pray at http://www.methodist.org.uk/prayer.

🙏 Loving God, help me feel connected to you so that you may use me where you have placed me. Help me draw close enough that I may see with your eyes, hear with your ears and think with your mind, because you are a just God and justice is a part of loving. Let me support victims who aren’t recognised and people excluded from the accepted circle. Enable me to help people who are suffering because others seek to increase their wealth. Empower me to advocate for children who cannot fulfil their potential or for those whose voices aren’t heard. Bring me out from my comfort zone. Stop me just acting in my own interests. Let me do right! Amen.

Find more ways to pray at http://www.methodist.org.uk/prayer.