Sunday, September 4, 2016
Offered by Judith L. Watt, Associate Pastor

God, be our refuge and strength, even when it seems as though our earth is reeling, even when mountains tremble and fires blaze and winds and rain pour down. Be our refuge and strength while nations are in uproar and refugees journey in desperation and people bury their dead; when troubles keep coming faster than we would like. Transform our feelings of helplessness into prayer and direction. Use words of scripture to sustain us. Help us see your handiwork in the rising of the sun and the whiteness of the moon, in the ever-changing blue of our great lake, in the eyes of a child, or the good deed of a coworker or the kind wisdom of an elder.

You know, O God, that we are overloaded with images of the world’s tremendous discord. So overloaded that it’s tempting to close our eyes and harden our hearts, to escape in whatever ways we can. But we pray that you keep our hearts opened, that we not shut down our compassion and replace it with cynicism and hopelessness. Remind us continually to pray for peace.

We pray for our own city and its leaders. Bring justice to neighborhoods where injustice and poverty reign. Bring support to parents trying to keep their children safe. Bring understanding and cooperation between police and community residents. Bring an end to gun violence, dear God, through the laws we create and the collective wisdom and desire of your people.

We pray for our schools. Give wisdom to school leaders. Thank you for dedicated teachers and school administrators. Be close to our children as they face new classrooms, new teachers, new friends, the first experience of being away from home. Be especially with those students for whom school is always hard.

Remind us tomorrow that our holiday is about more than the symbolic end of summer, but also a time to give thanks for workers of all sorts. May our celebrations tomorrow include prayers for healthy working conditions and fair pay for all.

Loving God, most of all, grant us the gift of grateful hearts and a reminder that you truly are in this place with us, because we really are the lost and the forsaken in so many ways and we know we need you. Hear us now as we pray the prayer our Lord Jesus taught, asking again for the coming of your kingdom. Our Father . . .

Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church