Sunday, February 18, 2007
Offered by Martha Langford, Pastoral Resident

Great and awesome God, we lift up grateful hearts to you, thankful for your loving care, for your incredible grace and mercy that meets us in Jesus Christ. We approach with reverence, lifting up these our prayers before you.

Creator of the cosmos, we lift up prayers for your world. You set the planets in motion, creating the world and pronouncing it good and entrusting it to human care. Yet we exploit creation and live in a world filled with human brokenness. Lord, let your light shine upon us. Give us eyes to see the poverty, hunger, prejudice, and inequity that endanger us all. Transform our hearts and strengthen our resolve to work for justice as you continue to transform the heavens and the earth in Jesus Christ.

Sovereign and mighty God, we lift up prayers for the nations. You guided Moses and the people of Israel with life-giving laws for the ordering of society and sent us your Son, the Prince of Peace. Yet we live in a world where nations are at war, where humankind proliferate weapons of incredible destruction, where violence blights our communities and our very homes. Lord, let your light shine upon us. Give all peoples eyes to see your sovereign power revealed in Jesus Christ. Transform the hearts of all humankind so that peace and justice become the priorities of nations, for you are a God of justice and steadfast loving-kindness.

Reconciling Author of Salvation, we lift up prayers for the church. In the waters of baptism, you claim us as your own and make us one in Christ. Yet our intolerance of our differences fractures the church and threatens our witness in the world. Lord, let your light shine upon us. Give us eyes to see that our unity is in Christ, who reconciles us to you and to one another. Transform our hearts and strengthen our resolve to be Christ’s reconciling community as you continue to reconcile peoples across the face of the globe

God of healing and compassion, we lift up prayers for those who suffer: for the sick, for those who mourn, for those who are lonely, for those who despair, for those who stand in need of your healing touch. You have called us to ministries of love and service—to be the hands and feet and voice of Christ. Yet in the pursuit of our daily lives we often overlook those around us who stand in need. Lord, let your light shine upon us. Give us eyes to see those who are in need of care. Transform our hearts and strengthen our resolve to serve those who know pain and uncertainty as you continue unchanged, the hope of all generations.

Glorious and faithful God, to those who seek you with a sincere heart you reveal the beauty of your face. Strengthen us in faith to embrace the mystery of the cross, and open our hearts to its transfiguring power, that clinging in love to your will for us, we may walk the path of discipleship as followers of your Son, Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit.

And with the confidence of the children of God, we raise our voices, praying together the prayer that Jesus taught those he called brothers and sisters and friends: Our Father . . . 

(Sources: Book of Common Worship)

Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church