Sunday, September 25, 2016
Offered by Judith L. Watt, Associate Pastor

Everlasting God, settle us. Settle our hearts. Settle our souls and our minds. Not for the purpose of complacency or escape. But settle us in you. Let us rest in you so that we can trust again—trust that you do have the whole world in your hands, trust that we are your children, trust that all shall be well. That all shall be well.

Every morning we open our eyes to the news of a world that is not well at all. New York, Tulsa, Charlotte, Seattle. Lost lives, tremendous questions, stereotyping and scapegoating in all directions. And grief. Grief that seems too much to bear. So we pray again that justice would be served, that people would come together in humility, ready to admit our own prejudices, that all of this unrest would be redeemed in some way by the power of your people working toward that redemption fueled by your Holy Spirit, fueled by the power of love.

We pray again for the people of Syria—those who have been forced to leave and those who remain. We pray that humanitarian aid can reach its intended destinations. We pray for troops in harm’s way. But most of all, O God, we pray for an end to brutal war everywhere. Pour out your blessings on peacemakers and aid workers everywhere, doctors and nurses, children who go year after year without education.

You know, dear God, our focus on the current presidential campaign. You know our political preferences and the anxiety we carry about the future of this nation. Remind us first and foremost to be for you. Remind us to make you our refuge and fortress.

All of us have cares and concerns in our own lives—children who need special care, aging relatives who worry us, concerning medical challenges, the constant concern over money and provision, ruptures in family relationships. Some of us wonder and worry about our sense of worth. In all of our worries and concerns, you know what we need. So help us continue turning to you, lifting up our prayers every day, imagining ourselves climbing up on your lap or walking alongside you or being taken under your wing. “For you are our refuge and fortress, our God, in whom we trust.”

We thank you for your saving grace, for blessings too numerous to count, and for the gift you’ve given us in Jesus, our brother and friend, who taught us to pray together, saying, Our Father . . .

Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church