Prayers of the People - September 13, 2009

Prayers of the People – September 13, 2009

We thank you, O God, for our faith …

The work of your Holy Spirit,

Calling us to Christ.

Making each of us a part of Christ,

And imparting the grace of Christ to each of us!

One and all.

We thank you, O God, for our faith!

Once we lost, but now we are found.

Once we were blind, but now we see.

You came to us when we were lost …

You found us in the wilderness of sin …

You took us home to Christ.

You touched our eyes, so that we might see.

The wonder and the glory of Christ himself.

In your light, we see light.

LORD Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God,

Be patient with us, we pray, as you were patient with your disciples.

Teach us about God the Father.

Teach us how to pray.

Teach us how to carry our cross and give our lives for your sake.

Today, O God, we pray for the moderator of the Presbyterian Church, the Rev. Bruce Reyes-Chow and our vice-moderator, the Rev. Byron Wade …

We pray for the Rev. Linda Culbertson, our Presbytery Executive … we pray our Presbytery committees and all our churches.

We pray for our pastors, O God, our seminary professors and our missionaries far and wide.

Help us, we pray, to remember the larger church.

To see beyond the walls of Covenant on the Corner,

because we belong to a great Presbyterian Family, O God,

A rich and faithful heritage.

And more than that, O God,

We belong to the whole church of Jesus Christ,

Stretching back to the very first disciples,

Reaching forward to heaven’s gate.

Help us, we pray, to remember the larger church!

Today, O God, we remember those who lost loved ones in the fall of the Twin Towers … be merciful to them, we pray.

We pray for our nation today.

We pray our President and our Senator and Representatives, and for our Supreme Court …

We pray for our governors and our mayors, state legislators and council members, for you have called them all to public service …

We pray for our soldiers and those who command them.

We pray for our nation, O God.

Help us, we pray, as followers of Christ, to be peacemakers.

To offer wise counsel and sage advice.

To look to Christ in all things …

To live above and beyond the immediate claims of nation and state, city and home … for we are, O God, your people – your people in the midst of the nations … we have a citizenship in heaven, by your grace, and that’s where our treasure is – and where our treasure is, that’s where our heart is, too … for we would be Christ in all things.

Help us, O LORD, to keep our heart in the right place.

To be the light of the world and the salt of the earth.

To love you greatly, and

To love our neighbor ethically.

To be beholden to none, because we owe everything to you.

To owe no one anything except the debt of love.

Forgive us, we pray, for our sins are many.

Heal us, we pray, for our hurts go deep.

Lead us, we pray, for we are lost on our own.

Use us, we pray, for we are yours.

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

All glory, laud and honor, to you, O God.

Now and forever more.

World without end.

Saying together as our LORD taught us, Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven …