Prayers of Church & Community, October 20, 2024
Westminster Presbyterian Church
O LORD our God, ever-faithful to your creation, at work in all things for good, deliver us we pray from the confusions of the day, that we might more clearly see your glory in Christ, and in Christ, see our hope and our dreams.
Help us, we pray, to be the church of Jesus Christ … not the church of Lake Avenue, or the church of the Presbyterians, not even the church where the tower still stands, but the church of Jesus the Christ, first and foremost, a church faithful to him, his words and his work … faithful to his cross and his resurrection …faithful to his commission to love one another … faithful in prayer and worship, sacrifice and service, duty and devotion … faithful in the things that count. Save us, we pray, from weak religion, and the self-centeredness of the day … that we might be free to serve Christ, and be seekers of truth, in a time of lies, half-truths, and fabrications.
We pray for peace … we pray for the warring factions to come to their senses … for the powers of death to be countered by the powers of life …
We pray for loved ones, dear God … our families, our friends … the world we know, and the world we love … we pray for our children and grandchildren … we pray for our parents and grandparents … we pray for uncles and aunts, and our cousins … protect them, one and all, we pray, from bodily harm and emotional injury … keep them safe and sound, we pray, in all of their endeavors … where there is sorrow, may your Spirit bring comfort … where there is disease, may your Spirit bring healing and health … where there is death, may your Spirit bring the everlasting consolation of Christ … to confirm in our souls that we belong to him, in life, and in death, no matter what, no matter where, there is no power over us greater than the power of his love.
Though our prayers seem small, dear Jesus, remind us that your cradle was small, and your cross not much bigger … remind us, we pray, that small things count .. in the breath of prayer is the breath of our Creator, your Father in heaven … in our little words there is the Eternal Word of Salvation … our little prayers are joined by the prayers of heaven and its angels, the prayers of all the saints who’ve gone before … the prayers of little children, and all the small deeds of love that hold this world together.
In the name of our dear Jesus, 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.
No comments:
Post a Comment