Sunday, September 18, 2016
Offered by Judith L. Watt, Associate Pastor

Gentle, humble, savior Jesus, we are a strong people, gifted in many ways. Each one of us, by your grace, has experienced the joys and endured the sorrows of this life. We are survivors. And being survivors, we resist admitting that we are also weary. So let us rest into your ever-loving arms. In this week to come, may we be reminded every day to accept your invitation to kneel at your feet, to lift up our burdens, to realize you carry those burdens with us.

Hear again our prayers for the world. Again we pray for what seems impossible—peace in places where war reigns. An end to strife over boundaries. Food for the hungry. Shelter for the impoverished. Understanding of differences between peoples. We pray for world leaders as they deliberate during the meeting of the United Nations General Assembly this week.

We pray for our own nation, for those who were injured in yesterday’s bombings. O God, change the hearts of those who see violence and harming innocent lives as an answer. Bring justice to neighborhoods where injustice reigns.

Gracious God, there are people in this sanctuary who have suffered great loss. Wrap your arms around them and give them a sign of your care. For those who have lost jobs, grant provision and hope. For those who wonder about their health and worry about the future, lead them to sound medical advice, and remind us all that you hold our lives, that you know our futures. For those who have experienced the loss of a dream for themselves or for others they love, we pray for trust and the miracle of assurance that can only come from you.

Thank you for this place, for people who dreamed the vision of this sanctuary and this church. We sit in pews where others have sat in years past. And we sit in pews that will be filled in the future by those not yet born. But for now we are the stewards of your manifold grace in this time and in this place. Help us to be good stewards of that grace, shrewd managers of that grace, dedicated investors in the good news of your saving grace for the sake of others.

For our many blessings, poured out each day, we give you all praise and thanksgiving. Hear us now, as we pray the prayer Jesus taught, the prayer that asks for your ways to prevail on this earth: Our Father, who art in heaven . . .

Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church