33B*
A Call to Worship
Easter 3B 2012
Psalm 4

We come listening God, hear our prayers today!
Please listen to our urgent needs, and answer us.
We gather together, O God, to worship and praise
you especially for the security you give to us all.


O God, we pray that you will heal us of our distresses,
and all that upsets us when we come to worship you.
Loving God, may your people to made conscious
of God’s warmth and welcome of your presence.


Joy-giving God, your joy is more fulfilling than any
of life’s abundances that we have ever experienced.
Gracious God, you are our security and our peace,
and we rest quietly in your abiding presence. Amen.



Prayers of Petition
Easter 3B 2012
Psalm 4

We gather, O God, to share in the worship of you,
as we seek to discover answers to life’s problems.
We live in a world filled with conflict, both locally
and internationally, arising from people’s experiences
and hurts; and each of us seek a strategy to solve
these various concerns. We ask you, O God, “How
long will this endless conflict last?”
Reputations are
being shredded in this conflict, and ideas scorned that
differ from others. O God, hear our concerns today
for our world and our small part of that greater world.

Reliable God, one thing we do know, is that our God is
dependable and that God responds with love and mercy
to all who seek to walk in God’s holy ways, and to follow
God’s commands and decrees. Listening God, we give
you thanks that we can always rely on your presence
and your care, and that God guides us in our decision
making if we open ourselves up to God’s way of love
and compassion. We ask, O God, that our quiet reflection
on God’s ways and wisdom will enable us to choose the way
we should live our life, and in the way we relate to people.
May we always respond to our God’s guidance with
thanks and praise for God’s continuing goodness to us all.

Peace-loving God, you come quietly and gently into our
living, offering us rest and peace as we relinquish all
those things that hold us back from you. Empower us
to see and respond to the warmth of God’s loving presence
as we bow in worship before our God; and at the end of
each day, may we go to our rest in the peace and quiet joy
that comes from the security of God’s merciful presence. Amen.


A Personal Meditation
Easter 3B 2012
Psalm 4

Loving God, I am in deep distress because of all the lies and
innuendoes, that flourish and grow and about me and my
character. You know, O God, that they are not true, and I seek
your reassurance that you still trust in me and my commitment
to you. Listen to my anguished plea, O my God, and give me
the courage and strength to go on with the life that I believe you
called me to live; despite the harm these lies are doing to my
reputation, and to my peace of mind. Hear my cries I pray, O God.

Creative pause: O God, help me to keep going despite those lies.


It is so reassuring to know that my God knows me through and
through, and that there is never any possibility of surprises or
deceptions with my God. No matter how far away God may seem—
because of my distress, I do know that God is right beside me,
because God loves and forgives all those who seek to follow in
God’s ways. As I reflect on my life with all its ups and downs; its
joys and sorrows; its defeats and so-called successes; I know
that I can trust in my God and that my Merciful God will generously
accept all my offerings of love, service, prayer and commitment.

Creative pause: It is reassuring to know how well God knows me.


People seem to search so diligently for happiness, pleasures,
success and the “good things” of life, but do they really know
what they are looking for? Do they ever realise that the deep
longing and yearning within them is really a hunger for God?
Do they ever know and understand that the empty feelings they
experience deep within their beings is a longing for God’s love
and acceptance? Thankfully, I finally did recognise that need,
that yearning for God, and as a result, God floods my life with
grace and joy, blessings and challenges; and each night, I am
able to rest in God’s love and peace, which keeps my soul secure,
and which enables me face the future with confidence and hope—
only because of the warmth of God’s smiling presence in my life.

Creative pause: The natural yearning within each of us for God’s nearer presence.



Acknowledgements:
Unless stated otherwise, all Bible readings and extracts used in these weekly Prayers and Meditations are from
‘The New Revised Standard Version’ Copyright © 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council
of the Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

*The additional weekly numbering is from the Revised COCU Indexing Scheme
COCU = ('Consultation on Church Union'); as it offers an easy sequential numbering
for the Revised Common Lectionary for the Church Calendar.

If any part of these Prayers and/or Meditations is used in shared worship, please provide
the following acknowledgement:
© 2012 Joan Stott – ‘The Timeless Psalms’ RCL Psalms Year B. Used with permission.

jstott@netspace.net.au

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