Sunday, May 13, 2012
Offered by Adam H. Fronczek, Associate Pastor

God, silence the noise of our lives and help us to pray.

We come into your house today with our hearts heavy and our minds full, and we need you to calm us down. We struggle to silence the many voices within us, voices of uncompleted tasks and broken relationships, bodies sick and dying, and a world full of pain. We want you to be real and relevant to us, God, and do something about it. We want to feel some meaning in our daily tasks. We want to know if you are present at our desks and at our bus stops, in our kitchens and our bedrooms. We want to know if you are present among the woes of this world, in North Korea and Sudan. We want to know if you are present in our city, with the young man who has been shot and the woman who has been beaten and in the places where our brokenness is hidden. These are our concerns, God. We are thankful that you know every one of them already. Silence the noise of our lives long enough for us to abandon our worries, to give our lives and our world into your hands and pray. Hear us as in silence we lift our prayers to you.

We thank you, God, for we know that you live and move in the places that need you most. We thank you for the way you make your presence known to us. Where there is suffering, you are there. Where there is joy, you are there also. We believe that you are present this day to every kind of mother in every kind of situation. We believe you are present to our newly baptized children and to all the children of the earth, born into every religion and condition.

We praise you, our Creator, for we are fearfully and wonderfully made, every one of us. Even in our brokenness, you are with us, for you, God, have a love for broken things. Give us the strength to acknowledge the damage in our lives and in the world around us, and give us the courage to live on and forgive ourselves and others. May we allow your love to heal us, and gracious God, teach us to love one another as you have loved us.

We praise you, for you walk with us always, O God.

Like a father who runs to welcome the prodigal home; like a mother who will not forsake her nursing child, you, O God, are faithful still.

Our Father . . .

Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church