A Gathering Prayer for God’s People
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Dear God,
Today we have gathered here together to worship you, to praise you, and to join our hearts together with you and with one another in love.
Today some of us have gathered here to celebrate and to give our thanks and praise to you for many reasons…
For the completion of degree programs and graduations from
school.
For the beginning of a summer break, full of fun, downtime,
and vacations.
For birthdays, anniversaries, and days full of sunshine and
abundant life.
Today, others of us have gathered here with hearts, minds, and souls full of worry and heavy with burden for loved ones, and for ourselves, who stand in need…
For those who are sick in body, mind, and spirit.
For those who face terminal or continual illness, and constantly
wonder what the next day will or will not hold.
For those who are separated from us through distance or loss
of relationship, and feel so very far from our touch, our care,
and our love.
And still today, many of us have entered this space of worship to gather and to pray and to cry out from the deep spaces of our souls…
For our communities in which so many of God’s children
experience homelessness, hunger, poverty, racism,
bigotry and inequity.
For our country in which so many of God’s children experience
the harmful consequences of gun violence, intolerance,
hatred, bullying, and indifference.
For our whole world, where God’s children continue to live in
places which are now increasingly experiencing extreme
weather because of climate change and our lack of
stewardship for God’s good creation.
Today, connected through you and through these moments of praise and prayer, God, we pray you would hear us, help us, hold us, and heal us.
Hear our praises and our petitions.
Heal our burdens and release us from worry.
Hold our broken hearts and our aching bodies.
Heal our troubled spirits and bind up our fractured creation.
Through the power of your Holy Spirit and the hope of Jesus Christ, we pray today all the prayers we have spoken and those we have left unspoken.
God, we pray you would gather each of us here into continued connection with you, and with all your creation.
Guide us and help us to live our lives to authentically reflect
your truth,
your grace,
your faithfulness,
and your steadfast love.
Amen.
Andrea Corso Johnson
Pastor to Families