Prayers of Church & Community, Dec. 15, 2024
Westminster Presbyterian Church
Teach us how to pray, O LORD … we want very much to do it well …
Give us the courage to pray … to bow our hearts before your glory … to open wide our minds to your will …
Give us eyes to see those moments in our daily journey when prayer is needed … give us pause in the midst of our busy lives, to breath the words of thanksgiving … give us ears to hear the songs of life … songs of sorrow and songs of joy … make us sensitive to the ebb and flow of your Holy Spirit, we pray …
We can do so much on our own, O LORD, but only so much - we need your grace to complete the day … to finish what we begin, repair what we break, heal our wounds, cleanse our souls, restore what is lost, refresh our resolve.
Today, O God, we celebrate Mary … you gave yourself unto her, and through her, you were born into this world … she walked with you when you took your first steps, she fed you in the middle of the night, she bathed you with tender care … she heard your first words … she and Joseph took you to Jerusalem, and there to see the Temple, your Father’s house … your beloved mother wasn’t always sure what you were up to … but she stayed the course, and in the end, she stood by your cross and watched you die … she was at the tomb on the day of your Resurrection … and in glory, she shines with you and all the Saints.
Blessed is her name, O God … and blessed is her courage, and her faith … by her example, teach us how to say “Yes!” to the great things of life … teach us that it’s ok to be afraid, to be uncertain … helps us to see the angels who visit us, the moments of opportunity for life and for love … and within the womb of our own soul, dear God, come and make a home with us … and help us, then, to birth your love into the world.
This day, O God, as Mary prayed for her world, so we pray for our time and place … mindful of Syria, Israel & Palestine, the Koreas, Ukraine and Russia, the nations of NATO, and our neighbors to the north and south … may the vulnerable be respected … may the powerful be mature … may goodness and peace be the highest priorities … may the church be faithful to Christ.
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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