Sunday, November 22, 2009
Offered by Victoria G. Curtiss, Associate Pastor

Gracious God, we do indeed praise and thank you for the countless blessings you have lavished upon us. For the very gift of being alive, able to breathe into our lungs the air that sustains us, conscious of the beautiful creation that surrounds us, and vital enough to engage in the adventure life holds, we give you thanks. For nurturing us through the abiding love of others throughout seasons of ease and of challenge, we thank you. For days free of concern for our own safety or worry about where we will sleep or what we shall eat or wear; for meaningful work and encouragement to express ourselves creatively; for laughter and joy in simple delights, we praise and thank you, God. And most of all, loving Creator, we thank you for your steadfast and abiding presence with us that not only brings comfort in times of distress but waters seeds of hope and trust in who you are and what you are bringing to fruition for the world you love so much.

We are mindful of those who have less. We lift up to you persons for whom life hangs in the balance, with the diminishment of physical or spiritual stamina. Strengthen them. We pray for those weighed down by grief or loneliness or burdens that seem beyond bearing. Be with all who mourn those who have died, including Michael Scott. We pray for those who are hungry, without safe or warm shelter, for refugees all over this world, for homeless outside our door, for those displaced by a harsh economy. We lift up to you all who suffer from violence, in the war-torn Middle East, Congo, Sudan, Afghanistan, Iraq; and we pray for communities seeking to rebuild after decades of civil strife or gun violence. May your goodness, peace, justice, and compassion rule victorious throughout the nations, that we may live in harmony and well-being as you so deeply desire. All this we pray with gratitude for your grace and in the name of Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray, Our Father . . .

Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church