Sunday, March 4, 2007
Offered by Adam Fronczek, Associate Pastor

The Lord is my light and my salvation;
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life;
of whom shall I be afraid?

Stretch forth your healing hand, O God,
for in our minds we become anxious about our jobs, our children,
our parents, our friends.
Hear our prayers for healing in our relationships,
for priorities that make life manageable,
for choices that give life.

Stretch forth your healing hand, O God,
for in our bodies we are fragile.
We ask your compassion on those who are sick and on those who love them.
Strengthen doctors and nurses, policy makers and citizens,
that we all might care for one another with wisdom and humility.

Stretch forth your healing hand, O God,
for we have reasons beyond our bodies to seek health and wholeness, O Lord,
for our souls are in need of healing. When we feel distant from you,
when we do not understand our suffering, when we have questions that need answers, embolden us to seek you, God, to look for you in the great and small,
in the triumphs and tragedies.

Here in your house and around your world, people long to be restored, to feel whole,
to feel healthy and worthy and complete.
We struggle today; strengthen us.
We walk anxiously through the day and toss and turn through the night; calm us.
We battle with discomfort and disease, we wake and sleep with tears and loneliness; comfort us.
We are able to help, and we pass by; convict us.

Lord God,
lift our minds, our bodies, our souls to see you.
Our words cannot contain our desires;
our words cannot contain you.

So stretch forth your healing hand, O God, on all of us this day.
We each know someone who today is fragile in mind, in body, or in spirit.
We remember them to you in the silence of this moment.

Stretch forth your healing hand, O God, on all of us this day,
for we know that one day we too will be fragile in mind, in body, in spirit.
In this hour, teach us to pray. Remember us in the silence of this moment.

Our Father . . .

Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church