Prayer Vigil for Good Friday

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This guide is designed to help guide you in your prayer time.  Use it for some, all or none of your time.  You will use your Bible so have it close by. 

• Begin with Adoration from Canticle of Light and Darkness UMH 205

Response – You are the Light of the World; be light in our darkness, O Christ.

We look for light but find darkness, for brightness, but walk in gloom.  We grope like those who have no eyes; we stumble at noon as in the twilight.  

If I say, “Let only darkness cover me, and the light about me be night,” even the darkness is not dark to you, the night is bright as day, for darkness is as light to you. 

Blessed be your name, O God, forever.  You reveal deep and mysterious things; you are light and in you is no darkness.  Our darkness is passing away and already the true light is shining.  

• Ask God to clear your mind from all outside distractions. Place your thoughts and your spirit with the Lord as you pray.  Be silent for a few moments in order to feel His presence with you.  Center yourself through the quiet.  Pray as if you are talking to your best friend, for you are! 
• Speak to God about his love for all of us. A love so deep and rich that Jesus was willing to give up his life on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins.  Read John 3:16 aloud and substitute your own name for the “world.”
• Pray to God a prayer of confession. Name your sins.  Confess honestly and openly about what you have done or not done.  God knows all of our thoughts, words and deeds.  God seeks honesty in who we are before him.  Denial is not a virtue that honors God.
• Sit still for a time and allow the Holy Spirit to speak to your heart and soul.
• Pray a prayer of confession regarding our church. Sins that we have committed or when we have failed to be an obedient church. 
• Pray for healing to come into our church as we confess our corporate sins together.
• Read Gospel versions of the suffering and crucifixion of Jesus. Matthew 26:47-27:65; Mark 14:43-15:47; Luke 22:47-23:56; or John 18:1-19:42. Speak to God as you are reading – be thankful for the sacrifice that Jesus made on our behalf.
• Pray forgiveness for ones who have hurt you unfairly or unjustly. Pray forgiveness for those who have rejected you.  Pray for yourself the times when you have been a voice in the crowd or acted as person committing sin against the innocent.
• Imagine what it might have been like to see Jesus being whipped, carrying his cross while bleeding, having his hands and feet nailed, being publicly humiliated on the cross. Pray for our Savior’s mercy and love for you.
• Pray in thanksgiving that Christ died for you, for your forgiveness, to save you from your sins. Thank God for the cross and the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. 
• Pray for those who mourn with grief and sorrow over the loss of a loved one. God The grief of the Father over the death of the Son left all of the heavens silent for a moment. 
• Sit in silence as we consider that all of creation mourned the loss of the Son. Consider how costly the sacrifice of Jesus so that we could be made one again with the Father.
• End with the Lord’s Prayer