Eternal God, creator of the Heavens and the Earth, your hand is upon us, in ways both gentle and firm …
Where’er life should take us, you are there … in our tears and in our laughter, in the rising of the sun for a glorious day, in the storm clouds of loss and death …
So we give thanks, dear God … for your abiding presence, your ceaseless mercies, woven in the darkest fabrics of time and experience - woven in every broken heart, into every lost dream, into ever tear of despair, into the darkness of grief and fear …
We lay our lives before you, Gentle Mother of our souls … you see the darkest stuff of our imagination, you know the contours of every loss and all our rage … and never do you turn us away, never do you close the door of hope … and always you help us along the way.
In your mercy, you remind us of our pride and our anger, our foolish decisions and improper thoughts - these souls of ours, O God, can be a storm of raging self-love and violence. So we pray for mercy - not that your mercy is ever withheld, but that we’re too blind and stubborn to touch your mercy. Forgive us, we pray; don’t give up on us; stay with us, for as long as it takes.
With hope and fear, O God, we pray for Ukraine and Russia … China and Taiwan … Israel and Palestine …
We pray now for our loved ones … [prayers, as noted ….]
We pray for our communities and those who lead them … we pray for Westminster Presbyterian Church, for the Presbyterian Church, our colleges and our seminaries … in these changing and uncertain times, give us the vision of Christ, that we might more thoroughly devote ourselves to his purpose, and be gentle and gracious in our ways … knowing full well, O God, that we can only do so much, but in so doing, what we can, you add the deeps of eternity to whatever we undertake in the name of your beloved Christ, because this church is important to you, and each one of us, O God, the apple of your eye, and to you we belong, now and forever more.
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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