Everlasting God, the Father of all mercies, the Mother of all hope, we cry out to you in lament and in love …
we cry out to you for the sake of the earth, and all its creatures, great and small …
we cry out to you for the sake of loved ones, friends and families …
we cry out to you for the sake of colleagues who share with us the burdens and demands of responsibility …
we cry out to you on behalf of the dying and those who care for them …
we cry out to you, O LORD, for the leaders of nations, for scientists and health workers, for all who labor long and hard for the welfare of this earth …
We cry out to you, O LORD, as your people have always done in times of distress and need … trusting in your great promises to be at work in all things for good … trusting in your great promises that every prayer is heard and well received, and every prayer answered according to your gracious will and eternal purposes.
You have seen us through thus far, O God … through the wilderness of disease and confusion … you have seen us through thus far, O God, with manna in the morning and water from the rock … by pillar of cloud and column of fire … you have seen us through thus far …
And with steps of faith, taken slowly and wearily, and steps taken with delight and fresh energy, too, O LORD our God, we march on in the name of Christ. With the saints behind us, the cloud of witnesses around us, and the Promised Land ahead of us, O LORD, we promise with might and main that we will not fail you … through Christ our LORD we pray … Amen!
