Prayer @ 7pm Print version
‘Here I am’. In these simple words, we hear a presence revealed and an identity disclosed. When we hear these words spoken by someone that we know, we know that the intention behind them is that they will inform us that another human presence is with us. In saying these words, the speaker knows that we will recognise their identity because their identity is known to us. Nothing else needs to be said. There is, we might say, a communion shared between the person who speaks and the person who hears.
In the Book of Exodus, it is the living presence of the Lord who is revealed and whose identity is disclosed to Moses. The revelation and disclosure takes place on ‘holy ground’ as Lord speaks out of the bush that burns but which is not consumed. Moses does not yet recognise the identity of the One who speaks and the divine name of Lord is not yet fully disclosed. Moses asks that he might know the identity of the One who speaks to him. In response, the Lord says: ‘I AM WHO I AM’. (Exodus 3: 1-15) The presence of the Lord is revealed to us in the depths of the human heart as the Lord speaks to us. There is, we might say, a communion shared between the One who speaks and the person who hears.
We pray:
Living God,
Speak to us that we might sense your presence
And know your Name this day.
Speak into the depths of our lives
Out of the depth of your life divine.
Lord, hear us.
Lord, graciously hear us.
Living God,
Reveal your Name to us
As you revealed your Name in ages past.
Reveal your Name to us
For we long to know you that you are with us now.
Lord, hear us.
Lord, graciously hear us.
Living God,
You have made yourself known to us
And invited us to share in your life.
May we share our lives with others
And know them as our family and our friends.
Lord, hear us.
Lord, graciously hear us.
Living God,
As we share in the life of the world
May we better hear the voices of those around us.
As we hear their voices
May we better know the depths of who they are.
Lord, hear us.
Lord, graciously hear us.
Living God,
You make known to us your identity
In the communion of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
May we hear you speak, in the place where we are,
That we might share in living communion with you this day.
Lord, hear us.
Lord, graciously hear us.
Signed by:
- Rt. Rev. Dr Martin Fair, 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. John Fulton, Moderator, United Free Church of Scotland
- Rev. Dr David Pickering, Moderator, United Reformed Church (Scotland)
- Rev. Martin Hodson, General Director, Baptist Union of Scotland
- Rev. Mark Slaney, District Chair, Methodist Church (Scotland)
- Rev. May-Kane Logan, Chair, Congregational Federation in Scotland
- Lt. Col. Carol Bailey, Secretary for Scotland, Salvation Army
- Adwoa Bittle, Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)
- Rev. Jim Ritchie, 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)