Revd Bennett Spong leads both Morning and Evening Prayer this week, in the season of Lent (marking the 40 days Jesus spent in the desert). Morning Prayer – Bennett reads a passage from Hebrews, Chapter 10, verses 19 to 25. This scripture gives us hope and encouragement through Jesus; “…let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful. And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
We pray for the people of Ukraine and Russia and for world peace. We pray for wise decision-making and for the moral integrity of all world leaders in the face of evil – most especially this morning.
Photograph with permission from St Olav’s Kirke, The Norwegian Seaman’s Church, Albion Street, Rotherhithe, London SE16 7JB, circa 1926.