We gather in this place and by our computers and TV … you bind us together, O God, in one great fellowship of faith, the church of Jesus Christ …
We give thanks, O God, for those who came before us … they tackled their problems with faith, hope, and love … they did their best … they made mistakes and learned from their errors … they got on their knees and prayed with tears … they paved the way, they paid the way … they built a church, and raised a tower … they did their best, dear God, and to that purpose, we set ourselves, as well …
Equip us with your Holy Spirit … shape our souls toward the image of Christ … there is much in ourselves that needs adjustment … we’re not innocent in the ways of life, nor are we without fault. Deliver us, we pray, from all that deceives … the allurements of cheap trade and easy gain … the enslavement of the Immediate and the Now, and our neglect of the future.
We pray for our loved ones, O God … we pray for our church and spiritual houses of faith all around the land and across the world … we pray for our nation, and the nations of the world … especially where war rages, hunger threatens, poverty engulfs, dictators bluster, inept politicians play loose and free with the truth … help us, dear God, to seek the truth, to reach for love, to learn the Gospel, to be evermore faithful in the things of Christ.
Bless us now, we pray, in the remains of the day … give us rest for mind and body, courage of spirit and soul … help us count our days to be wise in our living … to be mindful of our mortality and the reality of eternity. Help us, we pray, to count our blessings to see what you have done … to reach high for faith, hope, and love … grace, mercy, and peace.
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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