Prayer of Hope

Prayer for Hope

Gracious God of hope,

I look out my window each day and see the beauty you have created.  Each creature is unique, with its own beauty and grandeur.  You care for each of them, providing food for their needs.  All creation is satisfied with good things of the earth and sea. 

And yet, all of creation eventually suffers.  Every living thing completes life and returns to the dust.  We join the psalmist in seeing your glory in each cycle of life and death.

I read the news each day and see that suffering eventually comes to every life.  You provide our world with good things, yet many suffer from poverty and hunger.  You call us to love one another, yet our world is filled with hatred and violence.  You give us the gift of life, but our bodies are fragile and easily broken.  God, help us.

Help us, O God, to see that even in our suffering your hand is at work in our lives.  By your grace may we see how our suffering builds endurance, and our endurance produces character, and our character results in hope which turns our hearts beyond our own suffering toward you. 

Even in our suffering, we rejoice in the hope of your love poured into our hearts by your Spirit.  As we see the glory of your creation, let us find strength for the suffering of each day and hope for the blessings of tomorrow.

In the hope of your Spirit, we pray,

Amen 

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Submitted by:
Greg Smith, Director of Legacy Ministry, First Baptist Decatur