ICF - Prayer Focus

Those who work with the vulnerable in our society

Paid and voluntary workers in the fields of alcohol and drug abuse, legal advice, benefit rights, housing need, marriage and divorce, supporting the physically and mentally impaired, the elderly frail living alone, gamblers, children and adolescents estranged from their families, exhausted carers for relatives and friends, the racially harassed, the suicidal, persistent offenders, victims of crime, the destitute and refugees. Staff of Citizens' Advice Bureaux and official help lines.

Our tender and compassionate God, in Jesus you give us a picture of your own vulnerability. You come to us as a refugee escaping violence, as a stranger with no place to call home, as a common criminal condemned to die. You discard power and authority to be alongside those who experience brokenness and need. So we pray for all those who today live out that same commitment to being with, and offering help to, those in our communities who are most vulnerable. Give perseverance, encouragement and wisdom to the many voluntary and paid workers who seek to assist those who are caught up in addictive habits, whose minds are deeply disturbed, who feel they have reached the limits of their own endurance, whose lives are blighted by frailty, loneliness and fear. And may our whole society learn that the measure of its worth is in the care it shows for those who are the weakest members. Amen.

Regular prayer for the world of work can be a significant feature in Sunday services. ICF seeks to provide a variety of resources to help those who prepare these. Prayer of this nature is important because:

• It encourages Christians to see their working lives as part of their Christian Identity
  
  
• It helps those involved in the world of work, particularly when their job makes it difficult to participate in church activities, to feel affirmed and valued.
  
  
• It is a vital part of our intercessory responsibility to the community around us.
  
  
• It communicates a faith that is relevant to real issues to those who visit our churches
  

Each week, we highhlight different groups of workers and encourage our members and followers to particularly pray for people who work in that sector. We also encourage local churches to include regular prayers for the world of work

As you pray, Consider what might be said in the context of thanksgiving, confession and intercession, both for the workers concerned and for those present.