Sunday, February 8, 2015
Offered by Judith L. Watt, Associate Pastor

Holy God, so many thoughts swirl in our heads. Ideas race. Worries invade. Opinions circle around us and come at us from all directions. Slow us down, Lord. Bring us, all of us, to this moment, to this place, to a sense of rest in you, to a sigh of relief, to a deep, deep breath as we inhale your love.

We’ve got a lot on our minds, dear God. Good friends in trouble. Paychecks that don’t seem to be enough to sustain. Illnesses and maladies that keep hindering us. Relationships that are complicated. Needing to bid farewell to people we have loved. We need your help. We want a touch of your grace.

So on this day help us to imagine ourselves lifting a hand up to you and help us to imagine you taking hold, as together we walk into this next week of our unknown futures.

We pray for our world. For the refugees everywhere streaming away from danger. For aid workers. We give you thanks again for those who have died for the sake of others—soldiers, journalists, aid workers, medical workers, missionaries.

We pray for parents who have lost children to violence or illness, that you would bring them comfort and the kind of assurance only you can provide. We pray for those awaiting surgery or news of a diagnosis.

We thank you for improved job reports, for an improving economy, but we still pray for our poorest areas, where joblessness and boredom and a feeling of uselessness overwhelm.

We pray for this church, dear Lord, for our officers as they discern your will. For groups of people throughout the church bringing light to this city and its people through their ministries. We pray for individuals, waking each day and dedicating themselves to another day of attempted faithfulness to you. Help us, through our combined efforts, to grow in discipleship and service. Help us to continue to welcome the stranger. Help us to be faithful. And help us, O God, with humility, to relish the gift you have given us in Jesus Christ, who came to show us your nature, your love, your grace. It is in the name of Christ we pray, saying together, Our Father . . .

Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church