Gracious and Loving God,
You who gather us like a mother hen beneath her wings, We come before you today with open hearts, bearing the weight of a world that often feels upside down— and yet, in your kingdom, that is precisely how grace begins to work.
You tell us that the last will be first, and the first will be last. We are reminded that all are worthy and all belongs. Undo the hierarchies that have been built—in our communities, in our churches, even within ourselves— and help us see each other not through the lens of status or success, but with the eyes of your mercy.
As we read about your lament over Jerusalem— we hear the ache in your voice, the longing in your heart. How often you wanted to gather your people, to hold them close, to offer them peace— but they were not willing. And so we pause to confess, O God:that we, too, have turned away at times. We have chosen safety over solidarity, comfort over courage, control over compassion. Forgive us when we close our doors to the prophets among us— the voices that speak hard truths, that call us to justice, that ask us to imagine a more generous world.
We pray today for all who find themselves last in line— the unhoused, the underpaid, the forgotten, the cast aside. We pray for the children who hunger for food and for belonging. For the single parents stretched thin, for those looking for a place to be seen and loved, for the refugees and migrants navigating hostile borders and uncertain futures. God, draw near to them. And stir our hearts until we, too, draw near.
Let church houses not be fortresses, but a nest— places where people are gathered in, not pushed out. Where safety is rooted in mutual care and radical welcome. May we learn the sacred work of lament— not as an end, but as a beginning. As a way to grieve with one another, to hold space for pain without rushing to fix it, and to find hope not in avoidance, but in presence.
God of fierce love and boundless mercy, teach us to walk in your way— even when the path is narrow, even when it leads to places we’d rather not go. For we know you have gone ahead of us and also walk right beside us. Gather us in. Turn us around. Make us brave enough to follow. We pray this in the name of Jesus, the one who transforms lives and who taught us to pray saying….Our Father…..