Pastoral Prayer - Pentecost (Holy Spirit)

Holy Spirit,
You were there on the waters, the means through which God’s Word of creation formed all things. You were the breath of God that breathed into us and made us alive. You have been moving through all the ages, continuing to uphold and direct all things according to the Father’s wise decrees.

Spirit, You are the agent of our re-creation. When we were far off it was You that sought us, that worked new birth in our hearts and gave us faith and repentance. You are the tether by which God binds our hearts to His, the means through which we experience our union with Christ, and the seal of assurance that reminds us, when we are afflicted and uncertain, that we are in truth children of God.

Holy Spirit, You are the agent of our sanctification. It is You who are working in us to call us to do all that is pleasing to the Father. May we be attentive to Your workings, turning from sin and half-heartedness to live the flourishing lives of mature disciples. Convict us of our compromises with the world, and call us out of the world to live as citizens of the Kingdom of God. Teach us to love others, to rejoice, to live at peace, to forgive, to be kind, to seek others’ good above our own, to be faithful, to be gentle, and to exercise self-control.

Spirit, You are also the one who gives us good gifts with which to build up Christ’s body. Help us to recognize the talents and abilities You have given to each one of us. Help us to recognize in them their gifted quality. Teach us to use them to build each other up so that together we might become Your new humanity in this dying age.

Holy Spirit, as You work in us, so work through us to bring healing and good news to the world. Make us agents of God’s peace, seeking to mend what is broken by sin. Make us ambassadors of Christ’s gospel, proclaiming the hope we have in His death and resurrection to restore us to what we were made to be. Be moving in our communities and world, calling people to truth in the Father through the Son.

Spirit, as You are the Comforter, God drawn near and in us, we especially remember those who are heavy-hearted or mourn this morning. Be to them a balm, a spring of strength, and a hopeful promise of the glory that awaits those who You have joined to Jesus Christ.

Spirit, we pray all of these things to You, giving You thanks and praise, along with the Father and the Son, in whose name we come.

AMEN