God, who does not let us go,
We are so grateful that you hear our prayers at all times and we give thanks that you are faithful and that your mercies are new every morning.
You have shown us, in the person of Jesus your Son, a new way to live and be. You have poured your light into the world and have asked us to live in the light of Christ rather than run and hide in the darkness of doubt and despair. You promise to be with us all of our days and ask us to place our trust in you. Just as you called the disciples, you also call us. You call us to trust you, to face our own fears, to lean into hard conversations, to forgive others, and to simply hit the pause button in our own lives so that we can actually be still, renew our minds, and experience your presence.
Each of us have people in our lives who we care about and we know of so many who are struggling even in this very hour. So we take a moment to pause in silence before you and to offer up those things on our minds.
Silence
We have situations in our lives where things have not gone as we had planned and we pray for your light to shine so brightly that we will never forget you are present with us through all things. We pray that you will help us to see others the way you see them and to love others the way you love them. Help us to have grace and compassion for everyone around us – even when we don’t want to. Help us offer forgiveness to those who have wronged us, even when it seems impossible to forgive.
We give thanks for those in our lives who help us see your love and for the ways they extend their arms to offer us a hug and for the ways they use their words to offer us encouragement and affirmation. We give you thanks for those who love us well and help us to laugh. For those who find the good in all and for those who help us see you more clearly. We give you thanks for our faith community here at First on Fifth and pray that you will continue to bind us together in the great work of Love you have called us to do.
And we echo the prayer of our brother, Martin Luther King Jr., who said “we thank you for your church, founded upon your word, that challenges us to do more than sing and pray, but go out and work as though the very answer to our prayers depended on us and not upon you. Help us to realize that humanity was created to shine like the stars. Help us to walk together, pray together, sing together, and live together until that day when all God’s children will rejoice in one common band of humanity.
We pray all these things in the name of the one who is patient with us when we doubt, who offers peace for us when we are restless, and who loves us no matter who we are and where we come from – Jesus, the Christ – and the one who taught us to pray saying….