Here are prayers we used on Aboriginal Sunday 2026. They are based on the Norther Territory version of the Lord’s prayer from A simple holy communion.

The Lord’s prayer

Our Father who is in heaven, 

Your name is sacred.
We want you to be boss of all the world.
Please make this world how you want it to be,
The same way heaven is.
We ask you to give us all we really need today.

We have done wrong things. 

Please forgive us
the same way we forgive other people when they hurt us.
Help us when things are very hard. 

Save us from all that is evil.
We pray this because you have all the power and you are boss of all things. 

You are the only true God, now and always. Amen.

_________________________

Our Father who is in heaven,

We thank you that you are eternal and dwell in the highest heavens, yet you have created this world in which we live, and given us a way home so that we can live with you forever. 

Your name is sacred. 

Help us to hold you in reverence, never to belittle your name or to misuse your name or to live in ways that dishonour your name. Help us to show by the way we live our lives, that we worship you. As your church here in Brunswick West, help us to raise up your name in our community so that others may come to know and love you too. 

We want you to be boss of all the world.

Thank you that you are high above all earthly authorities; you are sovereign, and ultimately all will be brought under your rule and your justice. There are so many powers and personalities who battle to control our world. Please remind them, if need be humble them, to realise that they need to exercise their power for the good of others, not to subjugate or oppress but to serve and build up. Help world leaders to rule with equity and goodness, not to be self-seeking or self-aggrandising. Help nations who are less powerful to cooperate and stand together with conviction against those who would dominate and destroy. 

Please make this world how you want it to be, the same way heaven is.

Help all of us who live in this world you have created to strive for the wellbeing of all the earth; to replenish resources rather than plunder them, and to strive towards good stewardship and a healthy future. Help us to value sustainability over profit, and each in our own ways to do what we can to foster the common good. 

We ask you to give us all we really need today.

Please Lord, protect us from greed and needless consumption, and instead enable us to be content with what we have and thankful that you meet our daily needs. For those in our nation and in our world who don’t have even their basic needs met, we pray for a more equitable sharing of resources, and for those who can give to support others, grant us generosity. At this time we especially think of those who have lost homes and livelihoods through recent fires. We ask that government aid would reach them quickly, that insurance claims would be processed promptly and fairly, and that the slow work of rebuilding would be able to get underway. We pray for protection in vulnerable communities as the temperatures soar again this week, and we pray for safety for fire fighters and emergency services.

We have done wrong things. Please forgive us the same way we forgive other people when they hurt us.

At this time we call Australia Day, we are mindful that it is a fraught day, representing pain and injustice to our indigenous brothers and sisters even as we acknowledge the blessings and accomplishments of this land in which we are privileged to live. Help us to continue to strive for reconciliation and unity; protect us from division, disunity and discrimination. We continue to uphold the families of those murdered in the Bondi shootings, and we stand with them against anti-semitism and racial hatred in all its forms. 

Help us when things are very hard.

We struggle with many challenges in our daily lives, and we thank you that you promise to be with us and to enable us to live lives of faith in the midst of our struggles. We take a moment to bring our private concerns to you, and name before you those whom we care about who are suffering hardships.

Save us from all that is evil.

Lord, evil is real and the Evil One schemes to wreak his havoc in this world and in our lives. Help us to stand firm in prayer and in the power of your Holy Spirit against his wiles. Thank you that you did not give us a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power and of love, and of a sound mind. Keep us in this strength we pray. 

We pray this because you have all the power and you are boss of all things.

We rejoice that you are our Lord and God, our Saviour and our Friend.

You are the only true God, now and always. Amen.

  • Prayers by Alison Flynn