Sunday, January 24, 2016
Offered by Victoria G. Curtiss, Associate Pastor

Glorious Creator, when we pause to consider all the wondrous creatures you have made on earth, we are in awe of their evolution, their variety, and their beauty. From exotic tropical fish to large polar bears, from rare nocturnal animals of the rain forest to our own house pets, the diversity of the thousands of species you create is amazing. Help us to have reverence for life itself and to honor all species by protecting their habitats and preventing further extinction.

Help us also to honor the diversity you have created among human beings. Teach us to seek to understand and celebrate, rather than fear, our differences. You have purposely embedded a variety of gifts and called forth differing roles in members of the Body of Christ, knowing that we need one another. Guide us to embrace the particular offerings each of us makes. Deepen our relationships as a faith community, so that when one of us is suffering, the rest of us know and share in her burden, or when one is celebrating we share in his joy. Erase any strife among us, that we may witness to Christ by the ways we love one another. Align our priorities so we take time for our families and friends. And for our enemies, we pray that you would shine your light upon them and bring us peace.

We also pray, loving God, for all who are grieving the loss of loved ones. Comfort them. We pray for those who are ill, live with a disability or chronic condition, or are recovering from surgery. Bring your healing and strength. We lament the suffering faced by so many in our world—from war, danger, poverty, disease, racism, polluted water. We ask that you restore life and justice. Call us to repent, to turn to you, to mend our ways, to move toward one another so all people may thrive and be safe.

All this we pray in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray together saying, Our Father . . .

Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church