Prayers for the Week of August 31, 2025

Photo credit: Ruthann Zimmerman, used with permission via Unsplash

Please feel free to join us in the prayers prayed in worship Sunday, August 31, 2025:

O God, our God,

how majestic is your name in all the Earth!

You created all that is

the sun. moon, and stars,

the herds and flocks that roam the hills,

the fish that swim the seas.

In Jesus Christ, you extend your healing touch,

to all that we have broken.

And by the power of your Spirit,

in the body of Christ,

you enable our hands

to share in the work of yours.

We are in awe, and we give you thanks and praise.

In the ordinary moments of our days,

help us to see the need of the world,

and respond in love.

Bless thou the handling of our hands,

as we work for peace,

for an end to the bombing in Gaza,

an end to the killing of children,

for a return of hostages,

for peace with justice that honors the dignity and worth of every life.

Bless though the handling of our hands,

as we work for justice,

and for an end to every system that oppresses.

Bless thou the handling of our hands,

as we work for an end to violence everywhere,

including our own nation, and its violent, murderous gun culture.

We pray especially for the families and community in Minneapolis,

who are grieving the gun-violence murder of two children.

Surround them and fill them with all the comfort that they need,

and knock some sense into this nation,

that we might change and come to value human dignity

more than our idolatry of guns.

Bless thou the handling of our hands,

as we work for the healing of the world we have damaged,

for insight to live faithfully in the new realities have caused

in this age of climate unravelling.

Bless though the handling of our hands,

as we respond to the need we encounter in our ordinary days,

for those who are unhoused, shelter,

for those who are hungry, food enough and more,

for those who are lonely, companionship,

for those ailing in body or spirit, healing.

May the healing touch of your hands

be in the steadfast, loving work of ours.

We pray all this in the Body of Christ,

and with all those around the world, and down through the generations,

we join our voices with theirs, praying 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.