Sunday, August 24, 2008
Offered by Elizabeth B. Andrews, Parish Associate

Generous God,
Your love is foundation and framework for our living,
            light and sustenance for life’s journey,
            and so we gather again to worship you.
As the air and earth about us shimmer in the beauty of these days,
            may we also rejoice in a fresh awareness of your life-giving presence,
                 your movements that suggest, shape, surprise, and sustain.
Still us, stimulate us to receive the love that forever flows
            to surround and fill us, 
            to call us out and onward.
Gratitude we bring for blessings we have enjoyed:
            for the joyful moments shared with those we love,
            for turnings and healings, 
            for good news, for answered prayers, for barriers broken,
            for energies and insights born of your grace.
And for grounding us and guiding us,
            for giving us—each one—gifts that we can share,
            we offer you thanks and praise.
In trust we also bring before you, our God,
            our questions and our fears,
            concerns for those we love and for the wider family of
                        the world that you love:
We are mindful of movements traced and followed in recent days:
            movements of troops, of storms, of markets, of news cycles,
       of so much in life that we cannot predict or control,
    and we look for the movement of your providence at work
             in the midst of human hardships, overcoming suffering and injustice,
             stirring and meeting best hopes and efforts.
We remember especially this morning those for whom
            the week ahead may hold special challenges: 
        those facing hard choices, those persevering in long struggles,
            those undergoing surgery or treatment:              
                        grant comfort and courage to these, and may they
                                    sense your powerful and tender presence
                                                accompanying them in the difficult passages.
            Draw near, God of all compassion: be companion
                        through and beyond the mysteries and the shadows.
For those who are discouraged, send new heart, new trust.
            For those who are grieving loss or change, draw near
                        with consolation and willing hands reaching out.
We remember those who are hungry or homeless
            in body or in spirit, the lonely,  the anxious.
Call and use us as you will to make a difference.
In silence now we name before you those whose particular needs
            are known to us,
                and we hold them out into your stream of light and life.
We pray in the spirit of the one who lived out your love in our midst and as Jesus taught us, we say together, Our Father . . .

Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church