Prayers for the Week of December 8, 2024

Please feel free to join us in the prayers prayed in worship Sunday, December 8, 2024:

Sovereign, Loving God,

God of power and tender mercy,

you are present with and in every part of your creation,

more powerful than any power that does us harm,

you are present with us now,

and you are always on the way.

And so, in a world full of suffering and strife,

trusting you,

we pray for all those who long and love and live

beneath life’s crushing load.

We pray Mary’s prayer –

scatter the proud,

fill the hungry with good things,

lift up those who have been held low.

For those who are on the move,

for refugees,

for those who are unhoused,

we pray for safe shelter.

For those who are hurting, we pray for healing.

For those who are lonely, companionship.

For those who mourn, comfort.

We know you are more powerful than every power,

and so we pray an end to systems that oppress and harm.

An end to entrenched systems of American racism,

an end to privilege that comes within those systems,

raise up a world

We pray for an end to war,

and for your reign of peace –

peace with justice for people everywhere.

We pray for the healing of your earth,

stop us from our wasting ways,

teach us how to embody your healing will for the world,

in our continuing experience of the unravelling we have set in motion.

Turn the world rightside up – even us.

Give us wisdom, give us courage, give us humility,

for the living of these days,

so that those beneath life’s crushing load,

might rise up, and live free,

that we might share all that we have,

and thrive together.

Standing in solidarity with all you have created,

and with everyone who has ever called your name,

we pray the prayer that Jesus taught, saying:

Our Father/Mother, 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 sins, as we forgive those who sin 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.

 Photo credit: Abhishek Chadha, used with permission via Unsplash