Sunday, May 31, 2015
Offered by Judith L. Watt, Associate Pastor

Gracious God, architect of our world; Jesus, Son of God and friend to all; Holy Spirit, breath upon breath of life—what might we say to you on this day, when the winds are still raging and the rain is still pouring and the world is not as we think it should be? What do we say when our lives take turns that surprise us or unsettle us or interfere with our plans? How do we pray when someone we love dies or is facing deep struggle? How do we pray when we wonder where the joy of life has gone?

Perhaps, O God, we step back a bit and dig down deep so that we can give thanks—give thanks that we cannot control you; give thanks that our questions and our challenges, our disappointments and our doubts, have the power to take us to our knees, and that even then you are there with us on the floor, and you are here with us in this sanctuary, and you are everywhere, even when our belief and trust has diminished to microscopic bits.

Thank you.

Thank you for beauty we can see. Thank you for family and all of the complexities that come with it. Thank you for friends who speak truth. Thank you for this body of Christ, for each person in this place, seekers and searchers all of us.

We pray again for the world. We ask for your comfort and assurance for help that comes through your people, for those who have been affected by flooding in our southern states. We pray for places where drought has caused loss of crop and loss of job. We pray for our earth, that lawmakers and corporations and all of us would understand that the earth is our home and that our well-being is connected to its well-being.

We barely can imagine the desperation of migrants stranded between countries, forced from their homelands and yet rejected from their destinations. We pray for an end to economic injustice and persecution of any kind. Move us to be a people passionate for justice and outraged by persecution. For people in this congregation who are suffering, because of grief or loneliness or fear of the future we p ray for your tender touch and a sign of your love. For those with illnesses or disease, we ask for healing and for trust. For parents expecting babies, we ask for confidence and joy. And for children, finding their way in the world, we ask for your hand to meet theirs. We thank you, O God, for your abiding love and generous grace, for the gift of your Son Jesus, whose life teaches us, and for the sustenance of your Spirit, carrying us when nothing else is evident. Hear us now as we pray the same prayer Jesus taught so long ago, saying together as one people, Our Father . . .

Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church