Sunday, August 8, 2010
Offered by Adam H. Fronczek, Associate Pastor

Gracious God, we meet here together.
We sit among family and friends,
neighbors and strangers,
and we gather to listen for your Word and to sing your praises.
And we come to pray, because sometimes this world has been too much for us.
This day, may our songs and praises be pleasing in your sight.
Have mercy on us and hear our prayers.

We look around our world and see a world of violence, O God.
We pray for violent places,
whether it is the mountains of Afghanistan or the streets of our city,
or in the kitchens and bedrooms of our very own homes.
We pray for your presence, Lord, in the midst of violence.
We pray for those who are responsible for violence, even as we pray for victims.
Hear our prayer.

We pray for the sick, for those who are in hospitals today and cannot get out of bed.
We pray for those who suffer from addictions.
We pray for the lonely and
we pray for the oppressed.
We pray for people whose voices are not heard because of the color of their skin
or the size of their bank account.
We pray for people who think they don’t count.

We look around us, Lord, and we see a world of injustice.
Just like those in ancient times,
we see those who have much and do not share or give;
we see the wicked prosper and the good suffer.
When we live this way, our prayers and sacrifices mean nothing.
We pray for those who work hard and still cannot provide what is needed;
we pray for those who cannot find work or who are unable to work today;
we pray for children who need a safe passage to school
and families of police officers who have lost their lives.
We pray for your presence in the midst of gun violence.

Why God? Why must it be this way?
Come now, let us argue it out, hear our prayer, tell us which way to go.
We are called to be your disciples but we do not follow your teaching as we ought.
We allow fear and anxiety, insecurity and confusion to immobilize us.

Help us Lord.
Help us to know that our lives can be different,
our decisions can be better.
Help us to truly feel sadness and anger when we must,
and then help us to get up and move.

Make us the church we need to be.
Make us a bigger gang than the one on the streets.
Move us from “Isn’t that tragic” to “Let’s go do something together.”
We are tired, God, of things as they are, but you can wake us up;
you can restore us with hope.

Your promise to us is this:
that when we are overcome by sin, you can make us new.
Make us new, God.
Teach us to love.
Teach us to sing praises and say prayers that move with us out into your world.

Make us pay attention.
We pay attention because you are God.
You cause the sun to rise and the rain to fall,
and under the canopy of your love you mind
the sparrow and you tend every hair on our heads.
And when we lost our way, you sent your Son Jesus Christ to walk with us,
to forgive us and make us new,
to teach us to pray.
And so we pray as he taught us, Our Father . . .

Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church