Sunday, July 6, 2008
Offered by Calum I. MacLeod, Associate Pastor

We praise you, living God, provider and sustainer of our lives, through whose word is created all that lives and moves and has being.

We praise you, Jesus Christ, son of the loveliest Mary, friend of the friendless, liberator of the shackled, who in life and in death identified with our humanity; who in rising reconciled us to God and to each other; who in ascending is our loyal advocate and merciful judge, omnipotent to save.

We praise you, Holy Spirit, God above us, below us, within us, around us; our guide and teacher and comforter.

Three in One, One yet Three, hear our praises and draw near to us as we offer our prayers of gratitude and concern for the world.

We give thanks for this holiday time, for space to relax and enjoy family and friends. We pray traveling mercies for all who will be on the roads, on water, or in the air in the coming days. We remember those whose work takes them away from family and home for long periods and pray that this may be an opportunity for reconnection and renewal.

Bless this nation, Lord, and give wisdom and compassion to those set in authority over us. May the life of the nation be an example of welcome, tolerance, justice, and peacableness for the world.

Bless the soldiers, sailors, and Air Force personnel. Defend them in danger, and guide them to serve the cause of peace in your name.

Bless our young people. May they never see the flames of war or know the depths of cruelty to which humanity can sink.

We pray for the cities and nations that still know violence, division, bigotry, and hate. Bring near the day when all people will live in peace and in the knowledge of your love.

Bless our friends and those who were our enemies; comfort those who mourn loved ones today.

And now, rejoicing in the communion of saints, we remember those whom you have gathered into the peace of your presence, and we give you thanks for those whom we have known, whose memory we treasure. At the last grant that we, being faithful till death, may receive with them the crown that never fades, through Jesus Christ our Lord, in whose own words we pray: Our Father . . .

Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church