Sunday, March 19, 2000
Offered by John Wilkinson, Associate Pastor

God eternal, we know that your ear is attentive to the voice of our supplications, and so we would turn to you in these moments, in these days, to draw upon your strength, to draw upon your grace, to claim your presence in our lives, to express gratitude in the best ways we might. You have chosen out of sovereign love to make common cause with us, to journey with us, and even now, your son’s journey with us gives us strength and courage. His ministry among us sought to transform, and so it did. It brought change, radical change, new life, life eternal. It brought hope and healing, healing that moved beyond physical limitations so that we might live fully as heirs of grace and children of God. And so this day we would seek to make access to that healing, for ourselves, for our beloved ones, for our city and nation and world.

We would seek restoration of relationships that have slipped too easily into the mundane. Help us to know that we might find the best of ourselves in the other, and that your son’s face is reflected in all those whom we meet. Help us to be faithfully attentive to the needs and aspirations of our children, our parents, our partners, our colleagues and neighbors. We would seek restoration in our civic life, and pray this day for all who serve us—for judges and police officers, for teachers and state workers, for aldermen and mayors. We pray for all those standing for public office in this season and would ask by your grace that their vocations may be to serve and to seek the common good, the just, the fair and equitable. We would seek restoration for those we know whose bodies ache this day. Some ache from the long walk with cancer or HIV/AIDS, gracious God. As it is your will, bring healing, and share with us your healing touch that we might reach out. Some ache from loneliness or anxiety or depression or addiction. As it is your will, bring your healing, and share with us your healing touch that we might reach out. Share with us your healing touch this Lenten season, as we consider again and again what it means to live as your children in this broken and fearful world.

Heal us through the poet’s verse, through the painter’s brushstroke, through the singer’s note, through the blooming flower, through the wild, blowing wind and the falling rain and the strong rush of the wave. Heal us through the scholar’s word, through a walk along the lake, through the gentle touch of a friend. Heal us, and make us whole, gracious God, that we might be as healers of the world, for the sake of the one whose touch makes us whole, the one who brings peace, even Christ Jesus our Lord, who taught us to pray together by saying, Our Father. . .

Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church