Good Friday Prayer Vigil Suggestions and Prompts for Prayer and Petition A list of those to lift up in prayer and petition: • Our country, state, and town • Missionaries • National, state, and local governments/officials • Pastors • Those in the military • Congregations • First responders • Those who don’t have a relationship with God • Medical personnel • Those who are suffering from anxiety • Teachers and students • Those who are suffering from depression • Children in abusive homes • The Christian community – local, national, • Adults in abusive relationships global • Those that have lost their jobs or are • Those in leadership positions unemployed • Those under leadership • The homeless • Those who have lost a loved one • Those in jail/prison • Those in nursing homes • Those who live alone • Those on the Salem Lutheran Prayer Concern list Suggested focus on silent prayer/meditation • Consider your current relationship with Jesus • Meditate on what Jesus’ work on the cross means to your life • Ask to be aware of God’s love, forgives, and offer of relationship with us • Ask God to help you meditate and pray • Reflect on your favorite scripture passage(s) o Why does it stand out to you? What makes it important to you? Tell God about it. o Ask God to reveal something new about the passage(s). His word is alive and breathing. o God, what does this passage say/reveal about You? o God, what are you asking of me in the text? o God, what are You inviting me to do? o God, what part of my life needs this word? o Tell God what you experience when you read the passage(s) Sing or read your favorite hymn(s) and/or worship song(s) • Take it one verse at a time and do the following for each verse: o Reflect on the words o Tell God the thoughts that come to your mind as you sing/read the words o Tell God what you experience as you sing/read the words Scripture readings with prayers From Isaiah 53:9 - He was assigned a grave with the wicked and with the rich in his death. From Luke 23:32-33 - Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals--one on his right, the other on his left. From John 19:38-41 - Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jews. With Pilate's permission, he came and took the body away. He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. Taking Jesus' body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs. At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. Prayer: Father of the crucified Christ, now that the deed has been done, His body laid to rest temporarily, according to your Word. During this time of silence and darkness may we ponder how our Savior was obedient even unto death and how much he suffered on our behalf. We thank you that this is not the end of the story. Forgive us when we forget the glorious news of what is yet to come on Sunday. Through your Holy Spirit may we spread the good news. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. From Isaiah 53:10-12 -Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand. After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light [of life] and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. From Luke 24:25-27 - He said to them, "How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?" And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. Prayer: Father, Creator of the universe, who is the architect of all plans, we might not know your plan but we can take confidence in knowing that you have laid out all things in history - including the pain and death suffered by your only Son. Lord, may your Holy Spirit open our eyes to what your Son's actions on the cross means to our lives and may we use this knowledge to spread your love throughout the world. In your crucified, buried and risen Son's name. Amen. From John 19:31-33 - Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jews did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. From Exodus 12:21,46 - Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, "Go at once and select the animals for your families and slaughter the Passover lamb... Do not break any of the bones." From Psalm 34:20 - He protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken. From Psalm 51:17 - The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. Prayer: Father of the whole and the broken, who would not allow your Son's bones to be broken, but wants our spirits broken, may we hear your call in our hearts and acknowledge Jesus as our sacrificial lamb for our sins. May we humble ourselves in the realization that your Son has laid His life down for us. Let your Holy Spirit guide our lives to be examples to others of what Christ has done for us. In the name of the Holy Lamb of God we pray. Amen. From John 34-37 - One of the soldiers pierced Jesus' side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe. These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: "Not one of his bones will be broken," and, as another scripture says, "They will look on the one they have pierced." From Luke 23:48 - When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away. From Zechariah 12:10 - "And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son. Prayer: Father, as you pour your Son out onto us, may we receive the full grace that Jesus offered on the cross. As we accept this grace, may we not forget our actions for putting him there. But we thank you for the forgiveness we ask for and that you grant us. In His precious name we pray. Amen From Psalm 22:6-8 - But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people. All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads: "He trusts in the LORD; let the LORD rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him." From Luke 23: 35-36 - The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, "He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One." The soldiers also came up and mocked him. From Psalm 22: 9-11 - Yet you brought me out of the womb; you made me trust in you even at my mother's breast. From birth I was cast upon you; from my mother's womb you have been my God. Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help. Prayer: Father of the scourged Savior, may we endure the pain and suffering during our trials as your Son showed by His example on the Cross. Let us always be aware of your presence in our lives, that we may be strengthened by knowing you are there in times of need. In Jesus Christ's Name we pray. Amen. From Luke 23:46 - "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit." From Ecclesiastes 12:7 - and the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.