Sunday, January 22, 2012
Offered by Adam H. Fronczek, Associate Pastor

God of the ages, God near at hand, we are grateful that you summon this day into being, a new creation for our benefit. We are grateful that you are near to us and that you invite us to bring the deepest joys and greatest concerns of our lives and lay them at your feet. Hear us as we pray.

We pray for the earth, our home,
  and for people within it who need help;
  for people who are lost and need to be found.
  We pray for prisoners in the midst of war,
  for soldiers and their families separated from one another,
  for people who have suffered immeasurable losses due to violence or disaster:
  the roadside bomb; the tidal wave that changes life forever.
  We pray for children who are without families or homes or a place to go to  
  school,
  and for people across the globe and in our own city who live in the midst
  of domestic violence or abuse.
  Lord, hear our prayer.

You are the God of the hungry, the God of the sick, the God of the prodigal.
  We pray for people who are out of food or money—none of it is left—
  and for people who will spend the day in a hospital bed
  or who are sick outside of a hospital because they have no healthcare.
  We pray for people whose bodies may be intact
    but whose hearts and spirits are broken.
  For the mentally ill, the anxious, the addict, the depressed;
  for mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, sisters and brothers who are    
    estranged;
  for the lost who need to be found,
  for the sinner who believes that forgiveness is out of reach.
  May they hear the ancient voice:
    “Where can I go from your Spirit, where can I flee from your presence?
    At the farthest limits of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me,
    and your right hand shall hold me fast.”
  You will never let us go.

You are the God of the rainbow, the God of the cross, and the God of the grave
   that is empty.
  Help us, in our unbelief,
  to believe in forgiveness,
  to believe in redemption,
  to believe your promise that new every single day is your love for us.
  Help us to believe in beginnings, to make a beginning, to be a beginning
  for ourselves and for all those we meet.
  Bless us as we gather here in your house.
  May this be a place where we may be signs to each other of your grace and peace,
  of possibilities that seem impossible;
  may this be a place where we enjoy a great feast, because we love one another.

We pray in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ, the one who taught us that what was dead has come to life; the one who taught us that what was lost is found; the one who taught us to pray, Our Father . . .

Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church