O God beyond all praising, and God beyond our wildest imaginations,
we come before you to bring our prayers and the prayers of this world.
O Lord, hear our prayer.
We are surrounded by suffering and confronted with the suffering in our own lives.
There are some among us who carry sickness in their bodies or minds or spirits,
Some have carried their suffering for years or even decades, silently –
hoping that Jesus just might pass by.
May this be the day as we come before you to intercede on their behalf,
to bring them close enough to you so that something miraculous might happen.
For the sick, we pray for healing.
For those who mourn, we pray for comfort and peace..
For the confused and conflicted,
we pray for faith to step into the unknown when the way is not clear.
Remind us that, even as suffering is woven inextricably into this journey,
we know by faith that the destination is not suffering, but healing,
the destination is wholeness, the destination is resurrection, the destination is you.
May it be so for us and for this world you so love.
We offer prayers for those who by their actions or neglect
contribute to the suffering of the world.
For the cruel and unjust and violent and deceitful, we pray for their forgiveness:
Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.
But may the forgiveness we extend never lead us to complacency, but to action.
Make us repairers of the breaches in our world and in our communities and in our homes.
Help us to lead others to the source of life that we ourselves have discovered.
For we know the sweetness of Jesus’ invitation:
Come to me all you who are weary and carrying heavy burdens and I will give you rest.
So may all who suffer today be surprised by a sign and promise of resurrection and new life.
For you have indeed created us for resurrection and our hearts cannot accept anything less.
And when we find it, we will have found you.
We pray in the name of the One who is the Healer of our Souls,
the One who is the Resurrection and the Life, even Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray saying:
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever.
Amen.