I — INCREASE IN HIS STRENGTH

Father, every good and perfect gift comes from You. You give daily bread, breath, strength, wisdom and grace. You gave the Son for us all, and with Him You have opened the riches of Your household. Lord Jesus Christ, our Great High Priest, You have passed through the heavens and opened the throne of grace to us. In You we draw near with confidence to receive mercy and find grace for timely help (Hebrews 4:14–16).

Holy Spirit, Lord and Giver of life, You dwell with and within Your people. You are not a force to be mastered but the personal presence of God among us. You unite us to Christ, bring us into the Father’s love, illuminate the Word, sanctify our desires, form communion and empower witness. We adore the one God — Father, Son and Holy Spirit — whose own life is the fountain from which Christian formation flows.

Father, we thank You for creaturely provision. Thank You for food, sleep, shelter, work, medicine, friendship and every ordinary means by which You sustain life. Teach us to receive daily bread without embarrassment, as creatures who depend upon Your generosity. Thank You for the hands through which provision comes and make us attentive to those whose daily bread is uncertain.

We also thank You that Scripture joins human nourishment to every word that proceeds from the mouth of God (Deuteronomy 8:3; Matthew 4:4). Thank You for the written Word, bread for faith and a lamp to our feet. Holy Spirit, thank You for teaching, reminding and illuminating what Christ has spoken (John 14:26). You feed us through the Word, strengthen us by what God has said, and guide our path by the truth You inspired.

We remember that our dependence does not leave us far from God. In Christ we have been raised and seated with Him in the heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6). Our life is held within His victory. Our Great High Priest has opened the way, and the throne before us is a throne of grace. We come as the Father’s household, not as spiritual beggars without a home.

We remember that the Spirit who descended upon Jesus is given to the Church for holy life and mission. Presence comes before performance. The Spirit forms Christ among us before He displays gifts through us. His power does not pull us away from communion; it deepens our participation in the Son and makes that life fruitful for others.

Father, today we remember Oil. Samuel poured oil upon David and the Spirit of the LORD came upon him (1 Samuel 16:13). Jesus announced good news in the power of the Spirit, declaring that the Spirit of the Lord was upon Him because He had been anointed (Luke 4:18). James tells the elders to pray for the sick and anoint with oil in the Name of the Lord (James 5:14).

Oil gives us a biblical sign of consecration, healing, gladness and Spirit-given vocation. We do not control the Spirit through a substance or ritual. The sign points to the Giver. Water has received us into Christ; Oil reminds us that those received are consecrated, healed and strengthened for priestly service; the Table will gather, feed and send that anointed people. Keep this rhythm living within us.

Forgive us, Father, for treating dependence as weakness. Forgive us for working until exhaustion while neglecting prayer, for asking Your Word to confirm plans we have already decided, and for speaking about the Holy Spirit while depending upon personality, technique, money or organisation. Forgive us where we have sought power without holiness or valued giftedness more than love.

Forgive us also for passivity that calls itself humility. We have sometimes expected little because disappointment felt safer than asking. We have neglected gifts that could have strengthened others. We have been reluctant to pray for healing, reluctant to risk encouragement, reluctant to speak, serve or offer what You have placed within us. Bring us into confident dependence.

Give us hunger for Scripture without making the written Word a substitute for the living God to whom it bears witness. As we read, let the Spirit lead us to Christ. Let commands become paths of obedience, promises become grounds of trust, warnings become mercy, stories become remembrance and wisdom become light for today. Feed the household so that its strength is Scriptural, Christ-centred and alive in the Spirit.

Where Your people are called into particular service, confirm vocation with humility, community and fruit. Let anointing never become a private claim to importance. Consecrate teachers to teach faithfully, carers to serve patiently, leaders to protect and equip, intercessors to carry others, evangelists to speak clearly, and every member to offer the grace entrusted to them for the good of the Body.

Remember churches with little money, few workers or long seasons of discouragement. Feed them with the Word, renew prayer, send needed gifts and teach them to recognise the grace already present among ordinary members. Let smallness never be confused with abandonment. Give enough strength for the work You have actually given, and enough love to refuse the exhausting work You have not.

We renounce self-reliance, spiritual performance and every attempt to reduce the Holy Spirit to a method. We renounce celebrity that mistakes visibility for anointing and pride that treats gifts as rank. We renounce the fear that hides what could bless the Body. We renounce a powerless inwardness that speaks of presence while expecting no help from the living God.

We confess that there is one Spirit and many gifts, one Body and many members. The manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good (1 Corinthians 12:7). The weaker members are necessary. Love governs every gift. The Spirit who heals is the Spirit who forms patience; the Spirit who gives bold speech is the Spirit who forms gentleness; the Spirit who gives power is the Spirit of the crucified and risen Christ.

Holy Spirit, fill us afresh. Feed us through the written Word until Scripture becomes bread within us and light upon our path. Bring the sayings of Jesus to remembrance. Give understanding where we have read without seeing. Correct us where familiarity has dulled obedience. Strengthen us by promises that are true even when circumstances are hard.

Anoint Your people for the work You have given. Give wisdom, faith, discernment, prophecy, healing, encouragement, generosity, mercy, leadership, service and every gift needed for the common good. Strengthen the weary beyond their present reserves. Give courage to those afraid to witness. Heal bodies and minds. Bring deliverance where people are oppressed. Let the power of the coming resurrection break into present need according to Your mercy.

Father, we carry the sick before Your throne of grace. Remember those living with pain, disability, chronic illness, mental distress, exhaustion and diagnoses that have rearranged ordinary life. Give wisdom to clinicians and carers. Give endurance without resignation and hope without pretence. Lord Jesus, stretch out Your hand to heal. Holy Spirit, sustain where healing is not yet seen.

We pray for congregations that have become spectator communities. Restore mutual ministry. Let teachers teach, servants serve, encouragers strengthen, intercessors pray, givers give and those with gifts of healing or mercy use them with humility. Honour hidden faithfulness. Protect those who are easily overlooked. Let every member learn both to give and receive.

In the Name of Jesus Christ, we resist fear, exhaustion, accusation and every pressure that would persuade Your people to abandon their calling. Where the journey is too great for us, give bread for the next stage. Where courage has failed, strengthen the inner person by Your Spirit. Where darkness confuses the path, illuminate the Word. Where ministries have become dry, renew love before increasing activity.

We contend for a Church in which Presence and Power remain joined: people deeply at home in the communion of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and therefore free to serve with courage. Let power take the form of holy love, gifts build the common life, healing point towards resurrection, and witness carry the Name of Jesus rather than the reputation of the minister.

Father, we offer You the strength You give us. We refuse to hoard gifts, knowledge or grace. Holy Spirit, show each of us whom we can strengthen today. Make our homes, workplaces and congregations places where Your gifts become bread for others. Teach us to receive another person’s ministry without needing always to be the strong one.

Water received us. Oil consecrates, heals and strengthens us. Soon the Table will gather and send us. Keep the whole movement inside the life of the Trinity: from the Father, through the Son, in the Holy Spirit, within the household and towards the world. To the Father who gives, to the Son who opens the throne of grace, and to the Holy Spirit whose Presence forms and whose Power enables, be glory for ever.

Amen.