April 3, 2022, Prayer of the People, Westminster Presbyterian Church, Pasadena

 Prayers of the People, 4.3.22

Westminster Presbyterian Church

Eternal Spirit, LORD of all realms, seen and unseen … 

You are the Alpha and the Omega, 

The beginning and the end.

You are the love that holds us close, 

The grace that sustains our strength.

You are the mercy that sees us through the worst of times, 

The impulse of hope that awakens us to new ideas and fresh possibilities … you help us rethink who we are and what we must do … you guide us all along the way.

Eternal God, we pray this day:

For the poor and the lonely.

For the angry and the frustrated.

For the proud and the powerful

For the tired of body and the broken of spirit.

We pray for ourselves, O God - 

Life doesn’t let us get away with much - we know our frailty, of body and soul; we know the edgier stuff of our life, dear God - we want to be more than we are, and often turn out to be less than we want. Have mercy, we pray, that we might continue to serve you, and be a blessing to our neighbors.

We pray for our families, our friends, our nation.

We pray for our church, and the church around the world.

We pray for Pasadena, Los Angeles, and the nation.

We pray for the women and men of other faith traditions, their priests and imams and rabbis … for those who lead and those who teach … those who serve and those who build.

We pray for the girls and boys who dream and hope and laugh and play … 

Help us all, we pray, to protect the children of the world, so they can grow up into lively and loving human beings, even as they receive from our hands the baton of life, the baton we give to them, to continue the race of life, to keep on running, when our lap is finished.

Help us, we pray, Dear God, to embody the love and purpose of Christ … that we might be the light of the world and the salt of the earth … that we might play a pivotal role in the transformation of our nation’s life - that our words would ring true, our compassion be evident, our wisdom reflect the prophet’s call to justice and peace, that we be bold in our visions, and brave in our actions, kind in our words and deeds, daring to take the next step, to boldly go where’er the Spirit leads.

All of this, dear God, in the name of our LORD Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray, saying:

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors; and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever. Amen.