Prayers of Church & Community, June 2, 2024
Westminster Presbyterian Church
Holy God, Eternal Light …
We give thanks for this moment of time, to step aside from the rush of life, pause for a moment and catch our breath, remember who we are in Christ, that we might more ably return to our world, refreshed in spirit, and ready to make our mark.
Remind us, dear God, our prayers count … our thoughts and tremblings, our tears and our dreams … prayers hurriedly said, or hardly said … prayers said in anger and fear … prayers poorly framed and more selfish than not … prayers of glory, and prayers of frustration … prayers full of faith, and prayers barely able to lift their heads … O LORD, our God, we are what we are, in our Sunday best, and in our Wednesday worst … we rise up to serve Christ, we turn away in casual disregard … we are saints, and we are sinners … all jumbled up together … but we pray, O God, because your Spirit within us calls out to you … your voice within us is our voice to heaven … you help us all along the way, you are mindful of our frailties, our faults and failings … you know us through and through … and here in this place, your Spirit encourages us to find our bearings, discover your image within our souls … to see how gifted we are: strength, virtue, courage, love, talent, ability, intelligence, mercy, gentleness … we have it all, O God, and your Spirit leads us into the light of Christ, to see ourselves more clearly, to see one another more dearly, and to serve the cause of Christ more thoroughly.
We pray for the grieving families in Papua New Guinea … those stricken by midwestern storms … those with long covid … those held in the hard grip of grief and sorrow.
We pray for the peoples of Palestine and Israel … Ukraine and Russia … for the nation states of Africa …
We pray for our nation, dear God … from sea to shining sea … … we pray for our leaders: members of Congress, the White House, and the Judiciary …
The world is so large, O God, our prayers so small … but we send them from our heart to your heart … we send them in love and care … we will not cease in prayer, O God, because even a smidgen of love is amplified by your grace … to move mountains and calm troubled waters.
Holy God, Eternal Light, we pray for ourselves … for loved ones … for Westminster and our communities … for mayors and city officials, those who bear the burdens of leadership in a troubled world …
We pray because Jesus prays … we pray because the saints pray … we pray because it’s in our DNA, O God … we pray because our soul years for it.
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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