Creator God,
We come to you this morning knowing that you are with us and hear our prayers at all times and so we offer up to you the things in our hearts and on our minds…
In a world where our minds are cluttered with so much chatter and distractions – through our phones, our TVs, and our computers, our tablets – we often overlook the voices of those crying out for help, those who are asking for people to notice, those who put their pain on full display and we still just scroll past it, those who the world overlooks because of who they are, what they look like, who they love, or how they choose to display their emotions –
God, help us to have the courage to turn over tables and speak out for those whose voices aren’t being heard.
We pray for the family of Nex Benedict – whose life was lost because of who they were. Next was a precious child who was created in your image. We know that the death of Nex Benedict represents so many who we have lost because of a lack of education about who people are, because of people being unwilling to understand someone who is different from them, because of fear that runs deep –
God, help us to have the courage to turn over tables and move to action to prevent the heinous crimes that happen to people in our LGBTQ community.
We pray this morning for so many who are living in fear overseas right now. For the families of the over 30,000 people who have been killed for no reason, with over 12,000 of those being children. We pray for the indescribable pain that is piercing their hearts and souls and for the fear that overwhelms them with each passing minute
God, help us to have the courage to turn over tables and say enough is enough with the senseless killings happening overseas.
Even right here in our own community, we know there are people dealing with unexpected illness or received a diagnosis that has changed their life. We pray for those who are facing surgeries, for those who are struggling with physical pain every day, for those who aren’t quite sure what direction their health will take them, and for the caregivers who are with them every single day.
God, help us have the courage to step into the hospital rooms and homes to be with those who are suffering
We also pray this morning for those in our lives who we would rather not even talk to because of past conflict or difference of personality. We pray for those who are estranged from their families and friends. We pray for those who feel like they are alone and afraid with nobody to turn to.
God, help us have the courage to pick up the phone and call those in our lives we have avoided for so long
In a world where there is so much distracting people from truly seeing you and worshiping you, we pray for the conversations we need to have about hard things, we pray for egos to be set aside, we pray for courage to say what we feel needs to be said even when we are the only one who is willing to say it
God, help us have the courage to lean into hard conversations with love and compassion.
As we follow in the way of Jesus, whether it’s turning over tables, speaking truth in hard situations, or simply following in the way of prayer…
We join together to pray the prayer he taught us to pray saying…. “Our father…