O Thou of a thousand tongues and dialects, you hear ever prayer, every moan and groan of every soul … every sob and every curse … you know how hard it is to be human, to make the journey every day - you know how dusty we all are, O God, made by your hands from the dust of the earth, the very dust you created, and you filled us with the breath of life … you know full well how frail is our character, how fragile our hold on things … you know how strong we can be, how gifted we are, and capable, O God, capable of great things. You know us through and through.
You are the God of a mercy … a kindness beyond all kindness … a love greater than all love … a welcome-home kind of a God … a God of open arms and bright smiles … for the lost and the weary … the broken and the defeated … the lonely and the lovelorn … those at the top of their game, and those who’ve lost the whole deal …
Grant to us this day, we pray, the fire of your Holy Spirit … cleanse our thoughts and purify our souls … that we might hear the Good News of Christ our LORD … who gives us peace with eternity, and sees us through the days and nights of our distress, our hopes and dreams … your Christ, O God, who celebrates our victories and consoles us in our defeat … who encourages us to take one more step, to walk as fast as we can, to even run when possible, to finish the race set before us, and if we can’t run or walk any further, if one more step is impossible, to sit down beside us, until we catch our breath … to hold us in the arms of mercy … such is your great love.
Be with us, we pray, in the daily tasks of work and play … in the throes of our career, in the days of retirement, in the challenges of school … the thrill of first love or the love of many years … in the vigor of our youth, in the frailty of age … in every stage of life, O God, all along the way …
Be with our loved ones, we pray; shelter them in the care of your mercy … be with our nation in these days of trial and travail … bless those who govern; bless them with the wisdom of the ages and the compassion of angels … help us all, we pray, to work for the common good, to look upon our neighbors with kindness … to build the better world, to care for the Garden, to honor your holy creation, and all its creatures, great and small.
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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