In the hard places of life, O God, when mortality presses in upon us, when life takes a turn to sorrow, when our losses mount up, and our gains diminish, help us, we pray, to seek your council, to find consolation in the good things that remain, to be patient in tribulation, to trust your goodness in all moments of life, to work with all our might for the better world … to use our talents in the time and place where we find ourselves … to bring joy to another by hearing their story … to plant a garden, make some soup … craft a poem, paint a portrait, build a birdhouse, tell a joke, join a reading group, read more Scripture, pray more deliberately and pray more mindfully … O God of work and rest, help us to rest in Christ that we can work well in our world.
We pray for our nation … give us leaders to reflect the best in our story - and honestly admit the worst of it … help us we pray to cherish the best, and to challenge the worst … to never cease working for the better day, for liberty and justice for all.
We pray for the people of Ukraine, O God … we pray for the earth, water, and air of that lovely land … for the animals and the people … so much suffering, sorrow, and loss … we pray for a just resolve, the end of armed conflict, and peace at the last.
We pray for Westminster Presbyterian Church … grateful the Tower still stands …
We pray for our families and friends, our neighbors and co-workers … keep them safe and sound in their comings and going … help us all, dear God, to live with compassion, kindness and constancy.
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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