Sunday, January 4, 2009
Offered by Joyce Shin, Associate Pastor

Holy God, we turn to you, because you are the only genuine light we see in this world. You never lead us astray. Rather, from the beginning you have warned us not to place our trust in what is false. And when we have, you have never abandoned us to dwell in the darkness of our foolishness. We ask you to remind us that not everything that glitters is gold. Keep us from spending our lives in pursuit of things less than you.

Holy God, we turn to you, because only your light can expose the extent to which the world’s paths have become crooked and its covenants corrupt. Help us to hear again the voice of your prophets calling us to be accountable for the part we have played. Help us to hear again the good news of your faithful promise that the world can be renewed. Shed your light upon us, Lord, to expose how things are and to guide us toward how things can be.

Holy God, we turn to you, because only you can illuminate the whole of our lives. Only your light can reach into the covered crevices of our hearts and the deepest corners of our minds to bring out of the shadows all that we have conveniently forgotten or neglected. We pray, O God, that we not shrink away from your light, that we not experience it as harsh. Help us, instead, to feel its warmth and life-giving power so that eventually we can stand before you, offering our whole selves for your service.

Holy God, we turn to you, because in your wisdom the light of this world has come to us in the form of a vulnerable life like ours. How can we not put down our defenses and not open our hearts to receive a baby born in a manger? Though we are foolish, crooked, and corrupt, we are nevertheless drawn to your Son and to the precious world he has come to save. We pray that in the light of Jesus Christ the world will come to see the beauty you intended in creation and the beauty of your image you have set as a seal upon humanity.

In the name of your Son we pray the prayer he has taught us to say: Our Father . . .

Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church