Sunday, July 29, 2012
Offered by Calum I. MacLeod, Executive Associate Pastor

O God who brings good things to those who hunger and thirst,
your care for us is shown in how the world is turned upside down for us:
in the wilderness your children ate bread which came from the skies;
your presence and care was shown by water which gushed forth from a rock.
Bread from the sky, water from the ground.

With five loaves and two fish, your Son filled the bellies of the hungry,
and the reluctant, rational disciples had each a basket leftover.
The hungry fed, the skeptical transformed.

And you come to us today,
we whose bounty leaves us empty,
whose surplus decays and breeds the bacteria of sin;
you come to us, saying “take, eat” and “drink, see,”
offering your very self, that we might be filled, forgiven, and made whole.

Accept our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, scandalous God.

God of the topsy-turvy,
we pray for a world which needs to be turned upside down,
where power needs to be exercised in service of the weakest,
where the haves need to recognize the have-nots,
where weapons need to be transformed into welcome signs.

We pray for this nation, that its superpower may empower those who struggle for justice, fairness, and peace.

Hear us as we pray for our city, for those who lead, administer, teach, care, support. Grant that we as citizens might hear again the word of your prophet that in the city’s welfare we will find our welfare.

And we pray for your church, that it too might know the unsettling, upsetting stir of the Spirit’s breath in its life and work.

Now draw close, Lord, as we, in silence, offer our prayers for others and for ourselves:

Our Father . . .

Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church