4/18/2021
Prayer by Karen Kaufmann
Please join me in prayer, for the church and for the world. When I say “Lord in your mercy,” will you say “hear our prayer”?
O Holy One, source of all insight, we thank you for this time apart, for worship, prayer, reflection, renewal. We give thanks for those who, weekly, guide our worship and reflection: pastors, readers, musicians, technicians, hospitality hosts; and all who participate, in person and online.
In this challenging time of transition and renewal for the church, our church, we ask your blessing on our beloved pastors Teressa and Debbie as they are called out of our midst, on our new pastor Rebekah as she comes into our community, and on our congregation as we live into changes, known and as yet unknown, in our congregational life.
We pray also for our United Methodist Church, and for all within Christian connection, that we may embrace your love for all your children and live into your vision for beloved community. Bring healing to those excluded because of orientation or identity, and be with us all, as we gather in your holy name, today and always.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
God of justice and mercy, God of right relationships, we thank you for your presence and guidance and overarching love, as we navigate pandemic-stressed and polarizing times, in our nation and our world. We give thanks for public leaders who honor you in their vision of the common good; for courageous citizens who challenge the powers of this world and point us toward right relations; for those who work behind the scenes for justice, reconciliation, and peace.
We pray for communities under siege and in turmoil, at home and abroad– for victims of armed violence and racism, for migrants and embattled minorities, for Covid sufferers and workers who lack basic access to health, shelter or personal safety. We pray for the families of George Floyd, Daunte Wright, and Adam Toledo; for FedEx workers in Indianapolis; for so many more, wantonly lost, that they, and we, may find justice, compassion, and a way forward. And we pray for those, including ourselves, who have been blinded by custom or comfort to the rights and needs and very identities of others. Help us to see one another as your children, and, risen with the risen Christ, to love, and forgive, one another as you have loved each of us.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
Lover of all Creation, whose Spirit yet dances in each of us and all the world, bearing us through and beyond our pain and loss: We give you thanks—here, today– for this beautiful spring season, for trees abloom and aleaf, for flowing waters and greening hills, for the resources that sustain us, for the living creatures, flora and fauna, red fox and gold fish, with whom we share this world. And we give thanks for human community, charged in sacred text and inner voice with care for creation and one another.
Especially today, on the eve of Earth Week, we honor those who have gone before us in this space, our native American sisters and brothers who treasured this land as hunting ground, and who continue to plead for sustainable use of earth’s resources. May we be mindful of their losses, dreams and visions for this earth, and learn, ourselves, to live, to dance, in resonance with your Spirit and the heartbeat of the world.
Help us to curb our shortsighted use of resources, and to embrace a future grounded in stewardship and equity. Help us, too, to honor you, in gratitude for all whose lives shape and support ours, from families and friends to the essential workers who supply our needs. And be with those among us in special need of your care. We pray particularly for
A.J., Andrea, Ann, Bob, Cindy, Connie, Danny, David, Eleisha, Gina, Irene, Jackie, Kathleen, LaVerne; Margaret, Kate and John; Mary, Matthew; Meg and her family; Raymond, Robert, Sara, Sheila, and Shirley; the Hughes family in the loss of their beloved, Richard; and all those we hold silently in our hearts.
Be with each of us, Loving Spirit; open us to your presence and care; attune us to your dance of love for this world, in this time together and in changes and challenges yet to come.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
All this we pray in the name of your beloved, Jesus the Christ, who taught us to live as we 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 trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.