A Prayer for Palm Sunday
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This is the day that the LORD has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.
We have just laid our palm branches on the ground as if beneath thy feet…
YET have we laid down our envy, our strife, our fears, anger, and resentments?
O Save us, we beseech you, O LORD!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the LORD.
On this day, we cry Hosanna – Lord, save us!
YET are we willing to have you save us from prejudice, addictions,
selfishness, possessiveness & Self-sufficiency?
We shout Hosanna and lay our palms in an act of worship & Service to you…
Yet when we see you homeless, hungry, poor, and in need of our assistance… do we serve you then?
For indeed you are seen in the least of these. And what we do to these least of these, we do you!
We confess that we so often fail you… but you never fail us.
We are overwhelmed by Your grace, mercy, and compassion.
We bless you from the house of the LORD.
You are the LORD; You are our God,
You have given us light.
The light of hope that is found in You and in You alone…
For those who suffer greatly this day due to the death & destruction of recent tornadoes and storms in Mississippi, Arkansas, and across the South… we pray for your comfort, your healing and restoration.
May your very presence be felt and experienced in the midst of their grief and loss and
through the daunting task ahead as they seek to rebuild their lives.
For the families of the victims of the recent school shooting this week at Covenant Presbyterian in Nashville… we cry out to you for grace, healing, comfort, and peace.
We cannot begin to imagine the pain that those families are going through.
In your mercy, O Christ, help us to overcome the infection of gun violence in our nation.
Heal us! We are desperately in need of you, Lord!
For those among our own community of faith who are in the hospital, facing medical procedures, in rehab or recovering from surgery… we pray to you as our healing God to be ever present with them this day and assure them of our love and care.
We thank you that you are such a loving, ever-present God who will never leave us nor forsake us.
We bind the festal procession with branches,
We lay down our guilts, our fears, and our sins at your feet and trust in you, God…
Hosanna. O save us!
You ALONE are our God, and we extol you.
We give thanks to you LORD, for you are good, your steadfast love endures forever.
In Christ’s name we pray. AMEN
R. Mark Green
Pastor to Senior Adults and Youth & Children's Music