Sunday, March 29, 2009
Offered by Victoria G. Curtiss, Associate Pastor

Glorious God of heaven and earth, we praise you for loving us beyond measure and comprehension. The mystery of your abiding presence in our lives comforts us in times of need and calls us forth to love others. We thank you for withholding nothing of yourself to show the depth of your desire for us to be one with you. We are especially mindful in this Lenten season of the obedient sacrifice that Jesus Christ made to show us your eternal love. Thank you for his constant faithfulness that strengthens us. Empower us to be followers who hold fast to your Word.

As signs of spring seem overcast with stubborn winter, we thank you that your grace persistently breaks through into our lives. You restore our souls after times of darkness, doubt, or discouragement. Your Spirit makes each day new and revives our hope. We thank you for laughter that breaks through tension, forgiveness that makes all resentments flee, reconciliation that reverses rifts, clarity and purpose that restore meaning.

We lift up to you those whose struggles make it hard for them to turn to you in prayer and know your peace. We pray for those who are unemployed, for those who hunger, and for those with no place to call home. We pray for those who are oppressed, who are beset by stresses, who live in unsafe places, who do not know joy. Help us to trust in you in these difficult economic times and to grow in generosity with neighbors who have less.

We pray for those who doubt their own worth and seek to feed their souls with food that does not satisfy. We pray for those who are grieving, who feel lost, who are ill or facing or recovering from surgery. Grant your strength and healing. We pray for all who are in harm’s way where there is war and violence, that you would protect them and bring soon the day of peace. We pray for our enemies, those who threaten our nation and those we perceive as a threat to our own being. Guide us all, particularly those in positions of power, to seek and obey your wisdom and work for the common good. All this we pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church