Join the Kirk in prayer this Sunday

This Sunday (13 June), Christians across the country – and further afield – will join together in prayer and reflection at 7pm in response to the pandemic.

As with previous weeks during lockdown, 15 Christian churches and organisations across the country, including the Church of Scotland, have co-signed the letter calling for prayer.

Scottish Christians have been continuing to answer the call to pray at the same time each week, and the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, Lord Wallace, is taking part alongside them.

"We should always be mindful for the wisdom handed down to us from past generations; much of it learned the hard way, from mistakes made and consequences suffered," Lord Wallace said.

"So, too, we are grateful for the richness that comes to us from living alongside people of other traditions. In our day and generation we must surely allow our minds and hearts to be open so that we can risk getting to know them and learning from them.

"In this pandemic, our responsibility is to come together and offer our prayers for all the many diverse expressions of our Christian faith that enrich life, as we have done for many months now.

"A pattern has been set for us, lived out in Jesus Christ, made possible by the Spirit. May we follow in His way, and be guided by the one over-riding rule of love in all that we say and do."

This week's letter accompanying the prayer, which is also available in Gaelic, states:

"‘Seeing is believing!' The saying is one that we are all familiar with and it finds expression in music, film and everyday speech. In essence it means: To see is to believe.

"However, the reality of life is that we see so much that it becomes increasingly difficult to say we believe simply on the basis of what is before our eyes. The multiplicity of images and information that are presented to us threaten at times to overload the senses.

"The Apostle Paul offers us a way of seeing things differently. Instead of saying: ‘Seeing is believing!', it is almost as if he reverses this and says: ‘Believing is seeing!'

"Paul was very conscious of the challenges he faced and of the passing nature of what he saw around him. In facing the reality of this in his daily life, he is confident that he has found a way to live that is not dependent solely on what he sees. Rather, he affirms: ‘we walk by faith, not by sight'. (2 Corinthians 5: 7)

"Paul looks ‘not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen', and by faith he ‘sees', beyond the temporary, the way that God has marked out. (2 Corinthians 4: 18) In our daily lives, we seek to see the world through eyes of faith."

We pray:

Everlasting God,
Whose way is known to those who live by faith,
Grant us that we might walk by faith
And so live for you
That our lives reflect the glory of God.
Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.

Everlasting God,
Whose way is known to those who live by faith,
Grant us the assurance that, as we walk by faith,
We are not alone
And that we walk in the company of your Son.
Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.

Everlasting God,
Whose way is known to those who live by faith,
Grant us the knowledge
That we walk in the company of your people
And in the community of your Spirit.
Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.

Everlasting God,
Whose way is known to those who live by faith,
Grant us that we might see
The complexity of this world
Through eyes enlightened by faith.
Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.

Everlasting God,
Whose way is known to those who live by faith,
Grant us to see, by faith,
The image of God
In each life shaped by your hand.
Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.

Everlasting God,
Whose way is known to those who live by faith,
Grant us that, at the last,
We will come into your presence
And share in the life everlasting.
Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.

Signed by:

• Lord Wallace, Moderator of the General Assembly, Church of Scotland
• Most Rev. Leo Cushley, Archbishop of St. Andrews and Edinburgh, Roman Catholic Church
• Most Rev. Mark Strange, Primus, on behalf of the College of Bishops, Scottish Episcopal Church
• Rev. Dr David Miller, Moderator, United Free Church of Scotland
• Rev. Neil MacMillan, Moderator, Free Church of Scotland
• Rev. Paul Whittle, Moderator, United Reformed Church (Scotland)
• Rev. Martin Hodson, General Director, Baptist Union of Scotland
• Rev. Mark Slaney, District Chair, Methodist Church (Scotland)
• Rev. Thomas R. Wilson, Chair, Congregational Federation in Scotland
• Lt. Col. Carol Bailey, Secretary for Scotland, Salvation Army
• Adwoa Bittle, Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)
• Rev. Ruth Turner, District Superintendent, British Isles North District, Church of the Nazarene
• Pastor Chris Gbenle, Provincial Pastor, Province of Scotland, Redeemed Christian Church of God
• Bishop Francis Alao, Church of God (Scotland)/Minority Ethnic Churches Together in Scotland (MECTIS)
• Rev Fred Drummond, Director, Evangelical Alliance (Scotland)