Prayers of Thanksgiving, Intercession, and Petition

Shared during Sunday Worship on January 25, 2025.

Holy Creator, whose warmth sustains us through the deepest cold: we thank You and praise You for the gifts of creation, redemption, and daily provision. We acknowledge Your presence here and everywhere—Your constant generosity, Your enduring love, and Your sovereignty over the source and purpose of all things.

We rejoice in the joy found in Your presence, for it is a joy that becomes our strength. We are grateful for the light of Christ which has dawned upon us, revealing Your grace and truth. Thank You for the diversity of gifts You have poured out upon this congregation, allowing us to reflect Your glory in many beautiful ways.

We thank You for the guidance that planted Brick Church in 1767. We remember with gratitude the people of God who found a way to spread the teachings of Jesus Christ in the early days of New York City. We thank You for the strength You provided to help build this nation; we thank You for endowing us with the truth that all are created equal and for the blessings of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

We praise You for the pillars of this church, both literal and metaphorical. For the generations of families who have sustained this home of faith, we give You thanks. Our children and their parents thank You for their fellowship, their schooling, and their teachers. We bless You for our directors of music, our staff, and the leadership of our music ministry, choirs, volunteers, elders, deacons, and trustees.

For the simple blessings of this week—for breath, for community, and for the promise that Your Spirit of Love is always at work—we offer our praise.

God of Mercy, we lift up the world You love. We pray for the universal church, that we may live as one body—suffering when one part suffers and rejoicing when one part is honored. We pray for those struggling with honesty, those who deny the reality of sin, or those acting in self-interest. We pray for lost souls, that they may find salvation and turn from actions that cause harm.

We continue to pray for those on our Prayer Matters list. We remember those struggling with:

• Physical Affliction: Cancer, injuries, surgeries, heart attacks, chronic pain, and limited mobility.

• Challenges of the Mind and Spirit: Dementia, Alzheimer’s, vertigo, and the frustration of forgetfulness or limited speech.

• The Weight of Isolation: Loneliness, loss of hearing, and the deep grief of losing loved ones.

  
  

We especially pray for children who are abused, bullied, or ostracized. We remember with heavy hearts those in our neighborhood schools who have recently lost their lives to suicide. May they feel the embrace of this community and the profound comfort of the Holy Spirit.

Finally, we intercede for those Jesus came to serve: the poor, the imprisoned, the blind, and the oppressed. Grant the leaders of all nations the wisdom to seek truth, the courage to act with justice, and the heart to pursue peace.

In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.