Sunday, July 12, 2009
Offered by Linda C. Loving, Minister for Evangelism

We are yours, holy Creator; the earth is yours and all that is in it. The universe is yours; all that is created is yours and depends upon your divine breath. Therefore our joy is deep and our gratitude profound that this morning has broken and that your Word springs fresh for each of us this day. We delight in being part of your grand improvisation and pray that we might be our fullest, most creative selves in this unfolding.

We are mindful of Jesus’ presence, of his wisdom that “today’s troubles are enough for today”—such a grace-filled perspective for the tangle of anxieties we bear, the litany of worries we rehearse, as if to repeat them and clutch them might lead to healing. Yet you are our healer, our source of life, and your Word and your Word made flesh show us time and again that we are precious to you, as beautiful to you as the lilies of the field. We are glad to rest in your loving embrace this morning and be reminded of your constant care.

We pray, O God, that all in your creation might know of your care and comfort as they struggle with unemployment, lost dreams, illness, uncertainty, grief. There are lives choked with anxiety. blind to the beauty of creation, deaf to your song of deliverance. There are those who fear violence this day and those who will impose violence—a horrible cycle that tramples your vision for creation and cries out for transformation. This day there will indeed, around the world, be trouble enough for today. We seek your tender mercies not just for babies baptized in this safe and sacred place but for all your children in every land. Grant us wisdom and courage to create a world where they need not grow up in threat of nuclear war and ecological and financial disaster. We dare to pray for a laying down of arms not just in North Korea and Iran but in all nations. We dare to believe that our mindfulness opens others to your wisdom and will and that your Spirit can be at work in leaders in government and business and education. We dare to work day by precious day for a world that truly looks like your world.

We dare to offer our faithfulness to today’s troubles, knowing that our angst and anxiety are not the answer, knowing the only answer is to live as Jesus did; Jesus who told us not to worry, rather to work for your righteousness; Jesus who, when we stop striving and start serving, shows us the way; Jesus who taught us to pray together, saying, Our Father . . .

Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church