Eternal Light, Everlasting Goodness, clear our minds, we pray, of the distractions and worries of the day … that we might be focused upon you … attentive to the gospel of our LORD Jesus Christ … sensitive to the moving of the Holy Spirit … ready to be engaged for the tasks of life, with all that we are, and all that we hope to be.
Strengthen our resolve, we pray, to be just in our thoughts and our deeds … to do the right thing … love in the face of hate, speak truth where lies abound … seek kindness and mercy … to think things through in the light of Christ, to be reasonable and patient … ready to lift up the fallen, help the discouraged, walk with the lonely, cherish the quiet ones, seek out those in the shadows …
Dear God, quite our fears, we pray … it’s easy for us to get lost in bewilderment and panic … to lose our bearings, lose our way … help us, we pray, to abide in Christ, trust his words … be at peace with our life, even as we strive for better days.
Wash our wounds, we pray; heal our sorrows, comfort us in our distress, walk with us upon the lonely roads we so often have to travel.
We lift up to you, or LORD, our families and friends … our neighbors and co-workers … help us to be present to them, mindful of their needs and sorrows … ready to offer the helping hand.
We pray, O God, for people of faith everywhere - mosques, synagogues, temples, and churches - wherever the truth is sought, wherever love is practiced, wherever the earth is honored, wherever your name, your many names, are hallowed.
We pray for our nation, O God: we pray for our President and Vice President; we pray for our Senators and Representatives; we pray for the Supreme Court and courts throughout the land. We pray for our school boards and teachers; we pray for city councils, mayors, sheriffs, police and fire fighters … we pray for the comfortable and those living on the streets … may those of privilege and power see the humanity in those who are weak and broken … may we all strive for justice … to preserve and purify the American Dream, and seek the highest ideals of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Help us all, O God, to live the Golden Rule, to give freely as been freely given to us …
All of this, 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.
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