Let us pray together…
O Love that will not let us go…we lift our hearts and voices together to you today. We are grateful for the rest found in You, for the richer, fuller life found in You, and for the joy found in You, even in the midst of heartache, brokenness, and despair.
Thank you for the opportunity to collectively come to you and bring what is on our hearts and minds, knowing that you are listening and acting on our behalf.
We are grateful for the reminders from your word today. Help us continue loving each other in this body. Let us show hospitality of all kinds to our neighbors. Give us compassion for those whose needs are great and show us the spaces we can fill with our presence and our practical gifts. Bless and protect those who are unhoused, ill, hungry, or in prison. May we remember Jesus’ words that whatever we do unto the least of these, we have done unto Him.
Father, let us hold all our commitments in honor, especially those commitments of family and marriage. We are grateful for the relationships that are life giving and pray for those where estrangement has crept in. May we see one another as your image bearers, even in the midst of difficulty. May we love others like you love us.
Help us to be content wherever You have placed us, relying on your promise to never leave or forsake us. Help us say with confidence that You are our helper and we are not afraid.
Bless those who lead us–in our church, in our city, in our country, and in our world. We pray they will be people of integrity, who uphold their word, provide for those in need, and lead with courage.
And Father, let us continually offer a sacrifice of praise to you, both as we confess our faith and as we live out that faith each day. May we offer the sacrifices that are pleasing to you, as we pray in the way Jesus taught us, 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.