Today’s element of God’s character in focus at the Sanctuary’s centre is ‘gracious’ and our morning worship was dominated by praise for who God is, for all his amazing grace has done and is doing every day, and for the second piece of news to reach us this week of people who had been trafficked into the UK being set free from situations of modern-day slavery…
A day celebrating God’s grace is the kind of hope-filled perspective we desperately need when praying for issues such as trafficking and modern day slavery.
So to finish and publish our first collection of written prayers responding to this issue felt timely to do today, as well as to be ready for the 21st of this month, when we will again have a special focus on this issue at the Sanctuary’s centre – 21 for freedom.
If you’re local, do join us at 9-10am on Monday.
But wherever you are, you can download these written prayers from our new and topical resources page now.
Here’s one of the prayers, inspired by John Newton’s Amazing Grace:
Amazing Grace – Jesus Christ –
How sweet the sound of your name
And your saving work which made a way for me.
I thank you and praise you
Because I stand here before you –
Forgiven, freed, loved –
Liberated from the slavery of sin,
Able to live in freedom and to bring your freedom to others.
Amazing Grace – my Lord Jesus Christ –
I know the full words of this song
And the truth that suffering will not end until the end itself.
But I – like you – am not satisfied with waiting till then
For freedom to come to those who are slaves,
To rescue, and speak love to all who know the shame of being owned.
I cannot wait. I will not wait.
Like you I seek your kingdom here – now – for them.
Amazing Grace – my suffering King –
Come quickly now and save
Into brothels and boardrooms, governments and labour camps
And turn over the tables in them all.
For the sake of men bent double with physical weights they can barely carry
And the burden of unpayable debt they can never pay.
And of women stolen, sold and abused for men’s pleasure.
And God most of all for the children….
Amazing Grace – who promises good to me – and them,
Let your word secure this hope.
That your kingdom would come
And your will would be done.
That your freedom would come
And your justice be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
Till slavery becomes what I used to think it was – history.