Sunday, September 11, 2011
Offered by Adam H. Fronczek, Associate Pastor

Gracious and holy God, we come before you today humbled by the brokenness of our world and yet awed at your power to bind up our wounds, to relieve our fears, to restore our hope. Without you, we are nothing, a stubborn and conflicted people, so we pray for your presence in the midst of our fragile lives.

Lord, in our bodies we see both the weakness and the possibility of what it means to be human. We pray for the sick and the infirm and for those who have suffered injury and disability in acts of war. We pray that you would strengthen weak hands and make firm feeble knees; open our closed eyes and ears to the world around us; help us to see and hear new things. Where we see different colors of skin, different shapes of our faces, and different textures of our hair, where we see outward signs of our different religions, may those differences be sights of beauty and not a cause for fear.

Lord, in our minds we have created fears and prejudices that separate us one from another. We pray for those who are trapped by bad habits and harmful addictions, anxiety and depression, and memories of our past. Save us, Lord. Where our minds have trapped us and we do not see the truth, set us free. Open us to speak words of truth in our relationships, in our workplaces, in our political dialogue. Open us to the idea that peace can conquer war. Help us truly to pray for our enemies as Jesus Christ taught us, and help us humbly to pray for ourselves, that we might be better people.

God of eternal life, we pray remembering the lives lost on this day ten years ago. Joining our hearts and minds with others around our country, we hold silence and remember . . .

We remember the promise of the Holy Spirit: “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord. . . . They will rest from their labors, and their deeds follow them.”

Lord, in our hearts and our souls, we know there is a need for the hope you can provide. Save us from our hopelessness. Help us to see that there is no reason to fear. Help us to see your vision for life in this world. We pray for the children who are baptized into your church today; may they grow and thrive. Bless their parents and this church family who promises to nurture them. May these new lives be signs to all of us of the new life that is possible for all. Make us, the children of your church, bearers of a dream, carriers of light into the world. May the majesty of our God, the glory of the Lord, be shown in the way we love and accept one another. Amen.

Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church